ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, March 31, 1997 TAG: 9703310034
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY THE ROANOKE TIMES
Dollars spent are big by Western Va. standards but pale in comparison with other parts of state.
Giving money to politicians is a family tradition, said a Roanoke nursing home executive who is Western Virginia's largest individual and corporate contributor to state politics.
"I don't believe we have access because we give money," Heywood Fralin said Friday. "I believe anyone can talk to our legislators. I definitely don't believe any representative makes a decision based on who gave money."
Fralin, chairman and chief executive officer of Medical Facilities of America Inc., gave $14,607 to statewide candidates and state political parties in the 1996-97 cycle. His company was the largest corporate donor, with $7,750 in donations.
Fralin and his company supported both Democratic and Republican candidates, with Fralin leaning toward Republicans and the company toward Democrats.
"I don't think in terms of Republicans or Democrats. I think about candidates," he said.
Fralin said he feels an obligation to support candidates because his is one of the few statewide companies located in the Roanoke Valley.
"We never want to get to the point where only wealthy people can run for office," he said.
Roanoker Nick Taubman, owner of Advance Stores, was Western Virginia's No. 2 individual donor, with $13,000. Lawyer John Rocovich was No. 3, with $12,250.
While these dollars are big by Western Virginia standards, they pale in comparison with big givers in other parts of the state, especially the traditional big-money sources in Northern Virginia and Richmond.
In those areas, it's not unusual for a single corporate donation to exceed $100,000.
"Based on what a lot of corporations give, we're low on the charts," Fralin said.
Medical Facilities owns 30 nursing homes in Virginia and seven in North Carolina. It is one of several companies to rise out of a partnership started in 1962 by Fralin's late brother, Horace Fralin, and developer Elbert Waldron, who also is deceased.
Waldron's daughter, Karen Waldron, is now vice chairwoman of MFA.
"The founders of this company have long had a history of contributing to political figures," he said. "Karen and I are continuing what has been in place since the beginning."
Fralin and Karen Waldron make joint decisions about corporate giving, but when Elbert Waldron was still alive, he determined the donations, Fralin said.
In 1995, Elbert Waldron gave $37,393 and his wife, Evelyn Waldron, gave $5,000. In all, Fralin and Waldron sources gave $65,143 in the 1995 General Assembly races. That was almost twice as much as American Electric Power.
Karen Waldron and her mother made personal contributions in 1996 of $2,000.
Historically, the Fralin-Waldron donations have been to both parties.
While the Fralin contributions could be labeled "nursing home money," Fralin said his interests are much broader than his own business.
Of MFA's registered lobbyists - it had 44 in 1996, including all of its nursing home administrators - Fralin says he's the most active at cornering legislators.
"And 75 percent of the time I'm not talking about the nursing home business," he said.
Fralin is a member of the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors, the University of Virginia Foundation Board of Trustees and the Virginia Business-Higher Education Council, and is a director of the Virginia Biotechnology Research Park.
"I'm interested in the promotion of Southwest Virginia ... transportation, higher education, especially Virginia Tech," Fralin said.
In the past session of the General Assembly, Fralin spoke before the House Appropriations Committee in favor of increased funding for higher education.
Nursing home issues, especially regulations and Medicaid and Medicare funding formulas, are more federal than state anyway, he said.
Fralin's contributions stand out among those from nursing home operations, which in total contributed $70,055 to statewide candidates or parties in 1996-97.
Of that, 11 percent was from MFA and 21 percent was from Fralin personally. Add in Karen Waldron and Evelyn Waldron, and the total from the MFA, Fralin, Waldron constellation of interests accounted for 35percent of the nursing home money.
Unlike Fralin's diverse donations, Advance Stores' Taubman gave all of his donation to the campaign of Attorney General Jim Gilmore.
Taubman said his company doesn't give to political campaigns, and it doesn't lobby in Richmond, but that he, personally, tries to get Southwest Virginia more attention.
"If you want to have a place at the table, you have to step up to it," Taubman said. "That's why I've been participating."
In spite of aggressive legislators, "like [Dick] Cranwell," this area of the state doesn't have enough votes to get the kind of attention it needs, Taubman said.
Donations like his don't get anyone "what you want, but if you pick the right [recipient], they'll answer your phone calls," Taubman said.
WESTERN VIRGINIA'S BIGGEST CONTRIBUTOR
Heywood Fralin, CEO of Medical Facilities of America, a Roanoke-based nursing home chain, and his company have emerged as the region's biggest sources of campaign contributions to statewide candidates and/or state political parties in 1996-97. Here's how they rank:
Fralin is the biggest individual contributor from Western Virginia: Total contributions: $14,605.
Medical Facilities of America is the biggest corporate giver from Western Virginia: Total contributions: $7,750
In the 1995 General Assembly elections, Medical Facilities of America was the second biggest corporate giver in the region. Only Appalachian Power Co., now AEP, gave more. Total contributions: $22,500
Source: Campaign finance reports, compiled by Virginia Public Access Project.
LENGTH: Long : 120 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Chart by RT: Political contributors. color. KEYWORDS: POLITICS MGRby CNB