                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, July 12, 1996                 TAG: 9607120503
SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY DAVID M. POOLE, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:  153 lines

LOBBYIST DISCLOSURES LEAVE OUT ONE DETAIL - LAWMAKERS' NAMES

The partying lawmakers didn't flinch when the waitress dropped the $375 tab onto the table.

They didn't reach for their wallets, either.

Not when they had invited a lobbyist along for an evening of Creole cuisine and microbrews at Southern Culture, a trendy eatery in Richmond's Fan District.

Virginia Power Co. lobbyist Bill Crump picked up the tab, a time-honored tradition during the mid-winter sessions of the Virginia General Assembly.

Lobbyist disclosure forms made public last week confirm that special interests treat lawmakers to a two-month movable feast of receptions, private dinners and nights on the town.

A Virginian-Pilot computer analysis of three dozen of the most active corporate groups show food and drink expenses totaling $140,000.

Findings include:

The Virginia Chamber of Commerce threw a one-night bash that cost $28,288.

Norfolk Southern Corp. ushered small groups of lawmakers - four or five at a time - into an executive dining car parked on a downtown rail siding.

Bell Atlantic was the most prolific check-grabber, paying for 32 private dinners totaling $10,735.

The lobbyist disclosures omit one important detail: The names of lawmakers who were wined and dined.

Virginia Power, for example, reported that it entertained five lawmakers at the exclusive Commonwealth Club on Feb. 22, when the electric utility's most important piece of legislation was pending on the House of Delegates floor.

Were Virginia Power officials wooing key holdouts? Or were they huddling with House leaders to discuss ways to guide the bill around a momentary snag?

``I can understand why you might be very suspicious about it,'' said Eva Teig, a Virginia Power lobbyist and vice president for public affairs.

Teig said there was nothing sinister - just a small dinner where company officials provided key House members with a detailed explanation of its legislative package dealing with electric deregulation.

``It was complex to explain even to utility people,'' she said. ``We felt we needed some time away from the hustle and bustle.''

Teig refused to name the lawmakers, saying it is not required by state law and would invade legislators' privacy.

Lawmakers downplay all the free food and drink that comes their way; they resent the suggestion that their votes can be bought with boiled shrimp, mozarrella cubes and unlimited bourbon refills.

``It don't mean jack squat, as far as I'm concerned,'' said Sen. Malfourd ``Bo'' Trumbo, R-Botetourt. ``If you can't got out and eat somebody's food and drink their beverages and then vote against them the next day, you aren't worth anything.''

Critics reply that the running banquet greases the wheels of big business looking for special consideration.

``It's not something so bold as a vote bought, but it can have a nefarious effect on policy,'' said Sheila Krumholz, research assistant with the National Library on Money & Politics.

Krumholz said entertainment by special interests can pay particular dividends with highly complex issues such as telephone deregulation or tax policy.

``It can be a matter of an amendment not offered or a misplaced comma in a bill that is going to give a company some kind of subsidy or special benefit,'' she said.

Legislators can use several ways to maintain a full waistline during assembly sessions without dipping too deeply into the $93 that taxpayers provide every day for their room and board:

There are nightly receptions that can cost more than most couples have spent on a wedding; private dinners where lobbyists can command lawmakers' undivided attention for a few hours; and informal gatherings where lawakers invite a lobbyist for a turn on the town.

``If you are going to one, you eat a lot,'' advised Fairfax Del. James H. Dillard, a 22-year veteran of the reception circuit. ``If you go to three or four, which is usually the case, you eat a little here and a little there and drink a lime and soda, instead of a gin and tonic, so you don't drink too much.''

Big business has been doling out beefsteak and bourbon to lawmakers in Richmond as long as anyone can remember.

Mel Carico, a retired Roanoke Times reporter who covered the General Assembly from 1958-81, recalled one insurance lobbyist who kept a room at the old Hotel Richmond, where most out-of-town lawmakers stayed.

``He never stayed in the room, but he kept it open and well stocked with booze,'' Carico said. ``To make it look good, he always had a rack of the state code on the dresser, so you could look up a code section if you wanted to. But I don't think those books got too worn.''

Over the past 25 years, lobbyists have come under greater scrutiny in Richmond. The 1994 General Assembly passed a reform law requiring lobbyists to provide a year-round accounting of their spending and to disclose their expenses in greater detail.

Lobbyists must disclose the date, location and number of lawmakers and state officials present at any event that costs more than $100. But the law does not require lobbyists to name their guests.

Asked if lawmakers wrote the loophole into law to avoid disclosure of their entertainment life, Norfolk Sen. Stanley C. Walker replied, ``I think that's a likelihood.''

In Kentucky, lawmakers began paying for their own dinners this year after lobbyists had to begin disclosing recipients of any entertainment expense, down to a cup of coffee.

``For all intents and purposes, that kind of expense is almost gone,'' said Earl Mackey, executive director of the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission. ``Everything has to be reported, and by and large the legislators would prefer not to have that on their record.''

Chesapeake Sen. Mark L. Earley said the 1997 General Assembly might want to close the loophole in order to dispell any public perception that something ``cynical or malevolent is going on.''

``I think it's a logical extension of disclosure,'' agreed Virginia Beach Del. Glenn R. Croshaw. ``I don't think people will mind if you have five dinners a session, but if you have 25 dinners with the same lobbyist and you are carrying his (legislation), that might be another story.''

While several lawmakers say they would support tighter disclosure, no one said they were ready to lead the charge.

``I just don't have an internal barometer telling me that this is something that has to be done,'' Earley said.

``These people (lobbyists) are there every day of the session. So, like it or not, we are going to develop a relationship. I don't think that (discouraging meals) solves the problem.''

House Democratic Leader C. Richard Cranwell of Vinton said he thought reporters and groups like Common Cause were making too much of a few free meals.

``When we're talking about the price of a meal or the price of a cocktail, it's a matter of common courtesy that people do all the time.''

Cranwell was one of eight Democrats that Virginia Power treated to dinner at Southern Culture on February 2. The other lawmakers included Sen. John Edwards of Roanoke, Del. Brian J. Moran of Alexandria, and Del. C.A. ``Chip'' Woodrum of Roanoke.

The utility's disclosure report did not contain the names, but a reporter witnessed the company's lobbyist pick up the tab.

Without a change in the law, the public will not know if their representatives are getting free meals - except if a lobbyist takes it upon himself to name names.

``I didn't want anyone to say I didn't fill the darn thing out right,'' said Dave ``Mudcat'' Saunders, a lobbyist for Hollywood Casinos.

Saunders listed several Democrats including Del. William S. Moore Jr. of Portsmouth.

The lobbyist reported treating Moore at two Richmond eateries.

Moore said there was no connection between Saunders' hospitality and Moore's decision to vote for riverboat gambling legislation, after years of opposition.

``I don't remember him buying me any damn meals,'' Moore said. ``I don't want to get sideways with him, but I was out in a social setting with others, and he was there. If he says he picked up the check, so be it.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

SETTING THE TABLE IN '96

Most lavish reception

Virginia Chamber of Commerce: $28,288

Most likely to pick up the tab

Lobbyists for Bell Atlantic: 32 private dinners totaling $10,735