Hunting
trips, football tickets, meals and other gifts
added up to almost $118,000 for lawmakers last year
Members of the Virginia
General Assembly last year received more than $117,700 in gifts from
businesses, special interest groups and lobbyists, according to computer-assisted
research by VCU's Legislative Reporting class.
The gifts included hunting
trips to Georgia, Texas and even Canada: Two senators hunted caribou
in the Arctic Circle, courtesy of the Virginia
Sheriffs' Association. The most generous benefactor was Philip
Morris, which treated lawmakers to almost $26,000 in meals, entertainment,
golf equipment and other freebies.
In January, legislators
filed reports listing the gifts they received in 2000. After creating
a database from the reports, VCU students identified the biggest
givers and recipients of gifts
- and for the first time put the database online so the public can
search it.
The class also posted data
on other top officials, including
the $55,500 in gifts received by Gov. Jim Gilmore.
Why do
lobbyists pick up the tab? Access, some say
Dinner from Merck Pharmaceuticals:
$123. Washington Redskins tickets from Verizon: $396. Golf balls and
tees from Philip Morris: $587. A hunting trip from Dominion Virginia
Power: $1,723. The political influence engendered by such gifts to
state legislators: priceless - perhaps. [Story
by Kevin Crossett]
Virginia
has no limits on giving gifts to legislators
Virginia is one of 19
states that have no limits on gift-giving to state legislators. Virginia
lawmakers can accept any size gift - at any time, even during a legislative
session. [Story by Laura Davis]
Virginia:
'the Cayman Islands' of campaign finance
That's how Steve Calos,
exective director of Common Cause of Virginia, describes the state's
law on political contributions and gifts. [Story
by Robb Crocker]
Sen. Wampler
got more gifts than any other legislator
Sen. William C. Wampler
Jr., R-Bristol, last year took two hunting trips at a cost of $4,077.
The senator, however,
didn’t pay for them. Lobbyists did.
[Story by Ty Bowers]
'There's
no correlation' between gifts and votes
Sen. Thomas K. Norment
Jr., who sponsored legislation about electricity deregulation, said
he sees nothing wrong with accepting a hunting trip from Dominion
Virginia Power. [Story by Olympia Meola]
Some legislators
just say 'no thanks' to gifts
Not every legislator celebrated
the holidays with a gift box from Philip Morris, enjoyed a night on
the town from Sprint or went hunting courtesy of the Virginia Sheriffs’
Association. Ten lawmakers did
not accept any gifts from lobbyists last year.
[Story by Kelly Gerow]
Eastern
Virginia's legislators got the most gifts
Legislators from Eastern
Virginia, including Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Newport News, got
the most gifts last year: an average of more than $1,000 per lawmaker.
[Story
by Robb Crocker]
Philip
Morris is tops in giving gifts to lawmakers
The tallies are in – and
Philip Morris is the winner in the category of giving gifts to Virginia
legislators. The
company gave state lawmakers 188 gifts worth almost $26,000 last year.
[Story
by Tara Stubblefield]
Gifts
are 'an investment in good government'
Dominion Virginia Power
was the second-biggest provider of gifts to legislators last year,
sending five lawmakers quail-hunting in Georgia. "We consider
these gifts an investment in good government," a company official
said. [Story by Nathan Hanger]
Lawmakers
get free tickets to amusement park
Paramount’s Kings Dominion
last year contributed gave legislators more than $3,000 in free tickets.
Lawmakers then killed a bill opposed by the tourism industry. Was
there a connection? [Story by Jennifer Lawhorne]
Offbeat
gifts include WWF tickets and eyeglasses
Most
legislative gifts involve meals or trips, but some go well beyond
the regular dinner-and-a-play combination. Other gifts include autographed
footballs, commemorative clocks and trail rides.
[Story by Nicole Johnson]
The governor's
haul: $55,500 in gifts last year
Patricia Cornwell gave
him gifts valued at $5,627. Willow
Oaks Country Club chipped in gifts worth $21,240. Together, they accounted
for about half of the $55,500 in gifts that Gov. Jim Gilmore received
last year. [Story
by Jessica Brown]
Former
first couple in trouble over taking gifts
In the political arena,
lawmakers must be careful about the presents they take. Or they could
find themselves surrounded by controversy just like former President
Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y. [Story
by Jay-Anne Casuga]
