Terry McAuliffe, criticized by a gubernatorial rival for cozy ties with fellow Washington insiders, says Virginia legislators should be banned from taking gifts from lobbyists.
McAuliffe, one of three candidates for the Democratic nomination, yesterday called for a prohibition on "all gifts and trips from lobbyists" to legislators and executive-branch officials, including the governor.
The proposal follows a report Sunday in the Richmond Times-Dispatch spotlighting widespread weaknesses in the state's mandatory disclosure rules under which entertainment and gifts go unreported.
McAuliffe rolled out a package to promote accountability and transparency in Virginia government while fending off an attack from opponent Brian Moran for seeking fundraising assistance from Ed Rogers, a prominent Republican lobbyist who has criticized President Barack Obama.
McAuliffe, a McLean resident and former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, also proposed a state-run "sunshine Web site" -- similar to one operated by the nonprofit Virginia Public Access Project -- as a clearinghouse for data on political fundraising and related legislative activity.
McAuliffe suggested making it easier to explore the online version of the Virginia budget, now $77 billion, as well as setting up a searchable database of government contracts.
Moran, a former state delegate from Alexandria, and the third Democratic prospect for governor, state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds of Bath County, depicted themselves as veterans in the fight for ethics reform and dismissed McAuliffe as a newcomer motivated by expediency.
"This would be like doing a fundraiser with Rush Limbaugh, and 48 hours later calling for a ban on right-wing talk radio," said Moran spokesman Jesse Ferguson, adding that his candidate supports a gift ban.
Brooke Borkenhagen, Deeds' press secretary, said Deeds would support a ban on gifts and noted that Deeds has favored for eight years searchable state-run databases "to bring sunlight to state government."
Reaction among legislators and lobbyists to the McAuliffe gift-ban measure was mixed.
House Minority Leader Ward L. Armstrong, D-Henry, who is backing Moran for the nomination, described it as "fair proposal that we ought to consider." Armstrong also said the General Assembly would have to rewrite the definition of a gift.
Currently, the definition is limited to meals, entertainment, sports or theater tickets, and trips -- anything valued at $50 or more. However, the definition does not include services, such as a free, lobbyist-sponsored workshop for lawmakers on ways to improve dealings with the news media.
Don Hall, president of the Virginia Automobile Dealers Association, said he favors a prohibition on gifts, adding that he is troubled by such lavish offerings to lawmakers as exotic hunting trips.
"That goes above and beyond what we should be doing," Hall said. "That's not appropriate."
However, he said, lobbyists should be permitted to take legislators for cocktails or dinner because "it's critical we have opportunities to engage in discussions that are not within the framework of the 10-hour days down there."
Contact Jeff E. Schapiro at (804) 649-6814 or jschapiro@timesdispatch.com.
Politics Editor Andrew Cain contributed to this report.
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