THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 26, 1997 TAG: 9701260097
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: 143 lines
Lawmakers would have to stop soliciting and accepting campaign contributions during General Assembly sessions under legislation approved Saturday by a House of Delegates committee.
Supporters say the bill will help diminish the public perception of a possible quid pro quo between campaign cash and lawmakers' votes.
``The public is cynical enough as it is, and this would eliminate that,'' said Culpeper Del. J.A. ``Butch'' Davies III, the bill's chief sponsor.
Virginia is one of 26 states where lawmakers can accept donations while voting on matters affecting special interests. A quarter of the state's 140 lawmakers reported contributions during last winter's session.
The bill, which now goes to the full House, is one of several ethics measures this year aimed at curbing practices that could be questioned or at improving disclosure of the role of money in politics.
The House Privileges and Elections Committee also endorsed a bill that would bar lawmakers from soliciting contributions on behalf of party caucus organizations during General Assembly sessions.
Supporters concede that the measures are largely symbolic. Lawmakers could get around the proposed ban by scheduling fund-raising events just before or after the session. Republican and House caucuses could still hold their biggest fund-raisers of the year while the Assembly is in session.
ALSO SATURDAY Drunken driving bill bad idea, Del. Cranwell says
Roanoke County Del. C. Richard Cranwell has opposed a lot of legislation in his 26 years in office.
Usually, it happens on the House floor in a flurry of lawmaking.
But sometimes, like Saturday when he opposed a bill requiring ignition locks on drunken drivers' cars, you do it while you're looking crime victims in the eye.
``This committee is the worst assignment in the General Assembly,'' Cranwell said. ``Because you have to make choices like this that affect real people.''
Cranwell presided Saturday over a House Courts of Justice subcommittee that considers criminal laws.
Prince William Del. Robert Marshall brought in a bill requiring drunken drivers to install devices in their cars that disable the ignition until a breath sensor shows that the driver is alcohol-free.
Marshall had brought a couple whose son had been killed by a drunken driver with a prior record. They described their son's death, detailed his killer's lenient sentence and urged Cranwell to vote for the bill.
After a 10-minute discussion of individual rights and constitutional liberties, Cranwell thanked them for coming and told them their bill was a bad idea. Judges can already order the devices for defendants if they think it is necessary.
``Virginia has got the toughest drunk driving laws in the country,'' he said. ``Regardless of what you hear or what you read in the newspaper, we're not a bunch of slobs up here. We're not up here trying to turn drunk drivers loose. We just may not agree that this bill will do what you want it to do.
``I know the agony you've gone through. I've always thought that to lose a child must be the most agonizing thing a parent could ever go through.
``But we can't fix everything. If we had some way to glean who the alcoholics are and who the repeat offenders are, it would be a lot easier.''
A legislative committee endorsed a bill extending by two months Colonial Downs' deadline for opening its horse track in New Kent County.
With little discussion, the House General Laws Committee voted 11-3 to send the bill to the House of Delegates floor. The bill extends the deadline from July 1 to Sept. 1.
``This is simply reflective of harsh winter weather last year,'' said Del. Clifton A. ``Chip'' Woodrum, D-Roanoke. Track officials say poor weather has already cost builders about 25 work days.
The General Assembly last year passed legislation saying that if the track did not open by July 1, Colonial Downs would have to close its off-track betting parlors in Chesapeake and Richmond. The betting parlors are considered crucial to the track's success.
A bill to extend the deadline also is pending in a Senate committee.
NOTICED & NOTED Ex-official opposes ABC enforcing tobacco laws
Allowing state alcohol agents to enforce youth smoking laws is a bad idea, according to a former member of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.
``It's a question of whether, when you see the headlights coming down the road at night, you would rather that Johnny has finished 10 Marlboros or 10 Budweisers,'' said Robert E. Colvin.
Colvin, who served on the ABC board from 1990 to 1994, says the plan now under consideration would undermine efforts to control teen drinking.
The new ABC Board has publicly embraced the idea, proposed by Attorney General James S. Gilmore III, the likely Republican nominee for governor.
Legislation giving ABC authority over cigarette sales is pending in both houses of the General Assembly. A Senate committee Friday postponed consideration of the bill for a week.
The bills grant ABC the authority to enforce the smoking laws but do not require enforcement.
ABC officials said they could carry out the law with relative ease at the 12,000 licensed establishments where agents already enforce alcohol law.
The department said it has to collect data on the number of Virginia retailers who sell tobacco products before it can determine how much additional money and staff it would need to enforce the law.
But Colvin thinks the agency will be overwhelmed by the number of retail tobacco outlets in the state.
``If they don't add substantial resources, then they have to divert from current efforts for alcohol control to tobacco control,'' he said.
WHAT'S NEXT
Some House of Delegates committees are scheduled to meet this afternoon.
GETTING INVOLVED
Monday is Child Advocacy Day, sponsored by the Action Alliance for Virginia's Children and Youth, a statewide organization. For more information, call the Action Alliance at 804-649-0184.
Monday is Catholic Advocacy Day. Church members will deliver their message to legislators that the needs of the poor and vulnerable are moral priorities. Participants will meet at 9:30 a.m. at St. Peter's Church on Grace Street, a few blocks west of the Capitol.
KEY DATES
Feb. 2: Midnight deadline for Senate and House money committees to finish work on budget bill.
Feb. 4: Deadline for each house to act on its own bills except budget.
Feb. 6: Each chamber approves its version of the budget.
Feb. 11: Last day for each house to act on the other chamber's budget bill and appoint members of the budget conference committee.
Feb. 17: Deadline for committee action on legislation.
Feb. 18: Midnight deadline for conference committee to reach compromise on budget.
Feb. 20: Vote on budget.
Feb. 22: Adjournment.
March 24: Last day for governor to sign, veto or amend legislation.
April 2: One-day reconvened session to act on governor's amendments and vetoes. MEMO: Staff writers David M. Poole and Robert Little, and The Associated
Press, contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Attorney General James S. Gilmore III has proposed legislation that
ABC agents enforce youth smoking laws.