THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 31, 1995 TAG: 9501310300
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE AND GREG SCHNEIDER, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
The Virginia Senate passed a bill Monday that would limit the amount of money candidates for state office can receive in campaign contributions, but not before a Virginia Beach senator added an escape clause to keep wealthy candidates from running away with the race for dollars.
Senate Bill 697 would limit personal contributions to candidates running for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general to $5,000 per election, with primaries counting separately from the general election.
Contributors to a state Senate or House of Delegates race could give no more than $1,000 a year.
Corporations and political action committees could give as much as $10,000 for statewide races and $2,000 for General Assembly races.
Virginia currently sets no limit on campaign contributions. The Senate bill would take effect next January, meaning General Assembly races in the fall would not be restricted.
Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, amended the bill, hoping to make it easier for candidates to compete with wealthy opponents. The ``rich man amendment,'' as some called it, eliminated the fund-raising limit in races in which one candidate contributes more than 20 percent of his own war chest.
``If someone is of average means, but they have a good message or good ideas, they should be able to run,'' Stolle said. ``They shouldn't lose to someone who's rich just because they can't raise the money.''
A version of the bill failed last year because lawmakers tried to set separate spending limits for the state Senate and House of Delegates. The bill still must clear the House and be signed by the governor to become law.
A busload of 47 Eastern Shore residents trekked to the State Capitol on Monday to press for changing how the state decides where to build prisons.
Many members of the group, upset about a proposal to put a prison near their homes in Northampton County, had taken off from work and gotten up at 2 a.m. to make the trip. Once in Richmond, they discovered that a National Association for the Advancement of Colored People rally they were hoping to attend had been canceled.
Undeterred, the group made the round of legislative offices to push House Bill 2584, which would set guidelines for where the state can build a prison. Virginia has no law specifying standards for appropriate prison sites. Many said they would return today to speak at a public hearing on the topic.
``We feel like our officials did us wrong'' by not informing local residents of the proposed prison, said Cozzie Lockwood of Bayview. Lockwood's home is across the street from the site in question. ``I know they have to put a prison somewhere, but the lack of public input on this was wrong. They're trying to shove this down our throat.''
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