ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 23, 1997 TAG: 9702240112
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: general assembly notebook
Before they left town Saturday night, state lawmakers gave a reprieve to new state bingo regulations, approved $300million in changes to the state budget and passed a loophole-laden campaign finance reform bill.
Lawmakers cleared their docket in the final day of the 1997 session, marked by a bare-knuckle fight over a Virginia Supreme Court vacancy.
Del. Jean Cunningham, D-Richmond, bid a tearful goodbye to the House of Delegates, saying she will retire after 12 years in the legislature.
"Other than raising my three children, being a member of this body has been the most rewarding experience of my life," she said.
In a last-minute compromise, the Assembly defeated a provision that would have allowed localities to opt out of regulations enforced by a new charitable bingo game commission.
The compromise exempted all volunteer fire and rescue squads, the main source of complaints since the commission came into existence in July 1996.
Critics said the commission requires too much paperwork and puts too much burden on charitable groups that sponsor small bingo operations.
Supporters say the commission is necessary because of past scandals in which bingo operators skimmed profits that should have gone to charities. In fact, the commission is looking into allegations that the bingo director for Deep Creek Little League in Chesapeake may have embezzled as much as $1million.
Under the compromise bill, the assembly must review the work of the commission in two years to see if the changes have resolved complaints.
Budget sails through
After hearing from hundreds of groups asking for money and then negotiating for weeks over the gritty details, the House of Delegates and Senate each took less than five minutes Saturday to approve revisions to the state budget.
``We debated that hybrid-dog bill longer than we debated the budget,'' said Del. Robert Hall, D-Fairfax, referring to a bill on dangerous dogs.
The budget was approved 99-1 by the House and 40-0 by the Senate.
This year's budget amendments will fatten paychecks for state workers, teachers and college and university faculty; put more police on the streets; and set up a fund to help clean up the Chesapeake Bay.
Money - in addition to possible earlier appropriations - for various projects in Southwest Virginia includes:
* College of Health Sciences, $700,000.
* Kim-Stan Landfill water runoff diversion, $450,000.
* Explore Park, $250,000.
* Non-Jail Diversion for Inebriates, Roanoke, $163,147.
* Center in the Square, $100,000.
* Roanoke Higher Education Center, $100,000.
* National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, $100,000.
* Smith Mountain Lake 4-H Center, $50,000.
* Art Museum of Western Virginia, $35,000.
Provisional reform
The assembly approved a campaign finance reform bill riddled with loopholes.
The original bill would have banned lawmakers and statewide office holders from accepting or soliciting campaign contributions during the assembly's annual winter sessions.
The version that emerged Saturday from House and Senate negotiations contained these exceptions:
* Politicians can still hawk tickets to annual party receptions, soliciting lobbyists who appear before their committees. Coincidentally, both party caucuses hold their biggest fund-raisers each winter while lawmakers have a captive audience of contributors.
* The prohibitions do not apply to politicians facing a "contested" election. That exception assures that the attorney general and lieutenant governor would be able to raise money year-round. Because there is no definition of "contested," lawmakers possibly could raise money even if a challenger has not filed an official declaration of candidacy.
Sen. William Bolling, R-Hanover, said he hoped that Gov. George Allen could amend the bill to close some of the loopholes.
Virginia is one of 26 states that allow lawmakers to accept contributions while the legislature is in session.
The bill grew out of a special House subcommittee, which concluded that money should not change hands between lawmakers and lobbyists while the people's business is being conducted.
Trees are spared
One late casualty in the legislative session was a bill to allow billboard operators to cut down ``unsightly or diseased'' trees obstructing motorists' view of their signs.
A conference committee was unable to work out a compromise. Environmentalists and garden clubs attacked the bill as a sellout to business and said it would diminish Virginia's scenic beauty.
Staff writer David M. Poole and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1997by CNB