RICHMOND — The anything-goes gift culture that once dominated Virginia’s Capitol is giving way to a game of legislative limbo, with state lawmakers and the governor competing to take the value of acceptable handouts ever lower.
Republican leaders of Virginia’s House of Delegates made their move Wednesday, proposing a $100 cap on gifts of any sort, including meals and travel. That standard would be tighter than what the legislature imposed on itself earlier this year — and what an ethics panel appointed by Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) recommended just nine days ago.
The announcement prompted McAuliffe to declare that he, too, would propose a $100 gift cap — and to suggest that the Republicans had gotten the idea from him.
All of these proposals and counterproposals stem from a gifts scandal involving former governor Robert F. McDonnell (R) and his wife, Maureen. McAuliffe and legislators made an initial series of reforms in the General Assembly session that began last January. Now comes a second push, triggered by the shock of the McDonnells’ conviction on federal corruption charges in September.
“The $250 cap proposed by Governor Terry McAuliffe’s ethics commission is a step forward, but we believe the public is demanding more,” House Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford) and other Republican House leaders said in a written statement..
Less than an hour after the Republicans announced their plan, McAuliffe issued a statement saying that he would also support a $100 gift cap for all government officials, a measure he had imposed on himself and the rest of the executive branch.
“Governor McAuliffe is heartened to see House Republicans toughen their stance on ethics reform and suggest a package in line with the standard he imposed on himself, his family and his administration on his first day in office,” spokesman Brian Coy said in an e-mail.
It sounds like Virginia will finally be getting ethics laws for all officials. Nothing has been said about family members, that I can tell. Will there be restrictions on all family members as far as what is acceptable to accept? How about appointed positions? Will the same laws kick down to local positions? How about positions like teachers? There is an area where there is room for abuse.
I suppose it won’t be quite as lucrative to be a Virginia elected official in the near future. Meanwhile, we await the sentencing of the McDonnells in January. There was lots of abuse. Who would have thunk it! I always thought Bob McDonnell was sort of a choir boy.
Why should any gifts of any value be permitted?
@Scout
I don’t know. Good question.
We don’t want to prosecute over fancy Christmas cards, flowers, bottles of booze or lunch. If it is SWAG (stuff we all get) then it isn’t worth fighting over and is worth making sure we don’t entrap politicians who could be scammed by opposition groups into accepting a nominal gift and then prosecuted. It is the special gifts that aren’t SWAG that are a problem. Since all SWAG should be less than $25 I think $100 is generous. $50 sounds better. Maybe my tastes are too pedestrian.
I’m not sure why lobbyists should be buying lunch or bottles of booze for elected officials. I guess if they want to splurge on a $25 Christmas Card, they should be able to do it. So let’s agree on a $25 limit, but no booze, no lunches.
I don’t mind if lobbyists buy lunch if it is under 25 a person. That’s within the normal range.
These guys (the GA members) have offices where citizens (or their paid lobbyists) can come visit them and make a pitch. Why does anyone have to buy them lunch?
Look for the loophole! All this sounds good and makes one wonder why it took several convictions (Hamilton & McDonnell) to create this “Come to Jesus” moment for the General Assembly. We’ll see some new laws, there will be lots of hoopla and proclamations, but look for the loophole. It will be there and will be exploited. The “Virginia Way” is too entrenched and a part of the fabric of how things work for this to just go away. McDonnell should serve ever day of his 10+ year recommended sentence. That photo of him flashing that Rolex while driving the Ferrari sealed his fate.
That’s the one side of it. Then you look at what other “criminals” have done to get 10-12 years in prison. It seems fairly innocuous along side of strong armed robbery, manslaughter, felony assault and battery, insurance fraud, etc. etc. I just don’t feel the need for revenge. The man is ruined. He cannot hold office again.
Wouldn’t all of us like to have a Rolex and be able to drive a Ferrari for a day? When I look at what he did it just seems unwise and “improprietous” rather than criminal.