THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 1, 1997 TAG: 9702010307
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVID M. POOLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: 109 lines
Lobbyists plying the halls of the General Assembly business committees thought they had rid themselves of Jean Ann Fox.
So there were some furrowed brows this week when the silver-haired consumer advocate was spotted at the House Corporations, Banking and Insurance Committee.
``What's she doing here?'' one gray-suited lobbyist was overheard muttering in the back of the room.
Several members of the House committee gave her a gracious reception. But one lobbyist let his true feelings show.
``I wish I was as glad to see Ms. Fox as you are,'' quipped Mike Toalson, lobbyist for the Virginia Banking Association.
For a decade, Fox needled the powerful interests - banks, utilities, car dealers - long accustomed to getting their way in the state's pro-business legislature. She won a few battles, lost many more. But her presence meant that business interests could not ignore consumers.
Fox has left her position as volunteer lobbyist for the Virginia Citizens Consumers Council, opting instead for a paying position with the Consumer Federation of America, a Washington-based group.
Her departure has diminished an already weak consumer lobbying effort. A part-time lobbyist and a volunteer from the Consumer Council have taken her place, but it could take years for anyone to gain Fox's institutional knowledge and her stature.
``Jean Ann was kind of a conscience, to remind people that things are not always as they appear,'' said Del. R. Creigh Deeds, a Bath County Democrat who sits on the House corporations panel.
Consumer matters before the General Assembly often get little notice. The issues routinely involve arcane laws that are difficult to explain. Few news reporters bother to darken the door of the Assembly money committees.
Behind these doors - away from the easy publicity of issues such as the lyrics of the official state song - takes place the real business of the General Assembly.
Electric cooperatives lobby for tax breaks. Banks and loan companies skirmish over control of installment loans. Doctors and insurance companies spar over managed care.
Each decision affects consumers: their utility rates; their bank service charges; their access to medical specialists.
Lawmakers encourage the competing business interests to work out their differences. Lobbyists decamp to the back of the room, where they cut deals and strike compromises.
This year, with Fox gone, business lobbyists often have the room to themselves.
Earlier this month, the House Corporations, Insurance and Banking Committee got bogged down on a bill that would allow banks to raise fees charged to consumers for installment loans.
``Where is Jean Ann Fox?'' inquired chairman George H. Heilig Jr., a Norfolk Democrat.
In 1985, Fox drove up to Richmond from her home in Yorktown to speak on behalf of a bill requiring contracts to be written in ``plain English.''
She never got a chance to speak. The Courts of Justice Committee was behind locked doors discussing judicial appointments.
``I stood in the hall the whole day and then went home,'' she recalled.
Her first trip to the General Assembly only made her more determined to break through to the state legislators. Her journeys to Richmond - all as an unpaid volunteer - became more frequent. By the 1990s, her falsetto became the state's most recognized consumer voice.
``I'm tall, I have white hair, I'm loud and I'm opinionated,'' she said.
Some of her admirers say Fox's tenacity could be a liability, that she sometimes did not know when to let go of a losing issue.
``A lot of time she offered tremendous insight into legislation,'' Deeds said. ``Other times, she would have blinders on.''
Under Fox, the Consumer Council won reforms in credit insurance sold to people who finance cars and appliances, rescued the state Office of Consumer Affairs from budget cuts and strengthened penalties in the Virginia Consumer Protection Act.
But most of the time the Consumer Council got squashed. The volunteer group, with a $25,000 annual budget, has been no match for business lobbyists who are backed by tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions.
``The problem is that legislators don't hear from individual consumers,'' she said. ``People don't think to call their legislator when they get overcharged, ripped off or tricked. . . . They (legislators) hear from the lobbyists from the industries who want to keep favorable treatment or less regulation.''
Heilig said his committee has been careful not to let business groups take advantage of the situation while the Consumer Council is in transition.
``Those of us on the committee, we've been there a long time,'' he said. ``We have a pretty good idea when they're trying to grab more than they should.''
Fox rolled her eyes when told about Heilig's remark. She paused, as if to choose her words carefully.
``From my point of view, they lean over backward for certain special interests,'' she said.
Moments earlier, Fox had gone before the House committee seeking to ban an archaic formula that allows banks to overcharge customers who pay off installment loans early.
Seven years ago, the Consumer Council managed to end the practice for mortgages and most other loans. Fox asked the lawmakers to complete the task.
But the bill died, after no one on the committee would second a motion for approval.
``Amazing,'' she said. ``I was feeling nostalgic about being back here. But now I'm not quite as nostalgic as I was.'' ILLUSTRATION: HUY NGUYEN color photos, The Virginian-Pilot
``I'm tall, I have white hair, I'm loud and I'm opinionated.'' At a
news conference in Richmond, Jean Ann Fox's presence furrowed more
than a few brows.
For a decade, Fox has needled such powerful interests as banks,
utilities and car dealers in Virginia. She's won a few battles, but
lost many more.