
DATE: Tuesday, March 4, 1997                TAG: 9703040260

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY TONY WHARTON, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   91 lines

ANALYSIS TRACKS UPS AND DOWNS OF LOBBYISTS' CONTRIBUTIONS ATTORNEYS AND LAW FIRMS TOP CONTRIBUTION LIST WHETHER IT'S AN ELECTION YEAR OR NOT.

The state home builders' lobby, finding that Virginia legislators were asking for money more often than they had in the past, has chosen to concentrate on election years for its contributions.

``It used to be an unwritten rule that Senate candidates didn't ask for money during House election years,'' said Natalee Grigg, legislative coordinator for the Homebuilders Association of Virginia. ``Now everybody asks every year.''

Decisions like the home builders' showed up as a trend in campaign contributions, The Virginian-Pilot found in a computer analysis of campaign finance reports for the House of Delegates.

Both the state Senate and the House of Delegates were up for re-election in November 1995. In 1996, there was no legislative election. This year, only delegates will be on the ballot.

In 1996's non-election year, some groups, such as real estate developers and general contractors, dropped in the rankings of lobbies giving the most money to delegates.

Other lobbyists also suspected that the election cycle was having the most effect on giving.

``My guess would be that much of what you're seeing is the effect of an off-year, when a lot of other entities do not contribute as much as they would during an election year,'' said Bruce Wingo, a Richmond lobbyist for Norfolk Southern railroad.

``In our case, we often help in years that are non-election years,'' he said. ``Many of the members supplement their staff salaries by using campaign contributions in order to do constituent services.''

The railroads rose higher in the rankings compared with other lobbies. Yet there were no big railroad bills in the just-concluded General Assembly session.

Finding patterns in the ebb and flow of cash to lawmakers' campaign accounts is difficult, given the multiple forces involved: what legislation is being considered, how the economy is affecting donors' wallets, whether it's an election year. Plus, each legislator is unique.

``In your area of committee jurisdiction you're more likely to have contact with industry representatives and citizens on those issues,'' said Norfolk Del. Jerrauld Jones, D-89th District. ``I'm not surprised that there have been declines or increases in any particular category from one year to the next. But I can't say that I've heard anymore from those at the top of your list than any others.''

In the analysis, contributions were grouped by lobbies and divided into two periods: the first includes all of 1995 plus the first six months of 1996; and the second includes the last six months of 1996 and the beginning of this year.

While the amounts for the second period were inevitably smaller, the analysis did show some consistent patterns. Attorneys and law firms, a staple of Virginia campaigns, were on the top of both lists. Lawyers are interested not only in issues that affect their work, they also follow issues that affect their clients.

Doctors also stayed among the top 10 groups giving money, and so did beer and wine distributors.

But some moved up significantly. Railroads, for one, leaped from the 24th rank in 1995-96 to fifth place in 1996-97. All of that came from CSX Corp. and Norfolk Southern Corp., based in Norfolk.

The two companies are vying for control of Conrail, a third railroad, but that had nothing to do with their contributions, since state legislators have no role in that issue.

``Actually, we have endeavored not to let any of the Conrail issue affect our working relationship with CSX in the legislature,'' lobbyist Wingo said. Another interest group that rose in the rankings, from 28th to ninth, was the lobby for HMOs and medical insurance providers. Again, there's no one obvious issue in 1997 that they focused on.

Spokeswoman Brooke Taylor of Trigon Blue Cross Blue Shield said, ``There was no single bill we were out there on.

``In fact, it looks like to me we actually gave a little bit less in '96 than we did in '95, or at least we were in the same ballpark.'' ILLUSTRATION: TOP LOBBIES

The top 10 lobbies contributing to Virginia House of Delegates

campaigns; the numbers in parentheses are each group's 1995 rank:

1. Attorneys & law firms (1)

2. Electric utilities (11)

3. Physicians (2)

4. Beer & wine distributors (7)

5. Railroads (24)

6. Banks (9)

7. Tobacco farmers/manufacturers (25)

8. Realtors (6)

9. HMOs and medical plans (28)

10. Oil companies/refineries (12) KEYWORDS: CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS LOBBYISTS