Va. lawmakers' state pay exempt from disclosure

The 2009 General Assembly was a fiscal nightmare. The national recession had left Virginia a record $3.7 billion short of revenue needed to balance its two-year budget, and everything was on the chopping block.

Nevertheless, lawmakers found $250,000 in planning money for a new library at the University of Virginia's College at Wise.

David Prior, chancellor of the branch campus in the Appalachian Mountains, couldn't contain his excitement. And he knew just whom to thank.

"Senator....LIBRARY!!!" he e-mailed state Sen. William Wampler hours after the Assembly adjourned. "I am frickin' stunned...thrilled and deeply appreciative....thank you does not capture the depth of my feeling for all you do....I am not the huggy type, but would lay a Green Bay Packer, Brett come-from-behind winning drive hug on you were you standing here with me this morning."

A month later, Prior e-mailed Wampler with news of a different sort: He had a green light from the university Board of Visitors to offer the senator a half-time position on the college faculty. Wampler went on the payroll June 1 at an annual salary of $60,000.

He is one of eight among the Assembly's 140 members who earn income from state colleges and universities, according to documents produced by Virginia's 39 public two- and four-year schools in response to public-records requests.

Each case is different, and none is an exact parallel to that of Del. Phil Hamilton, who lost his $40,000-a-year position at Old Dominion University in August after revelations that he was lobbying for the job while he was shepherding the state appropriation that funded it. The Newport News Republican is now the target of investigations by a House ethics panel and a federal grand jury.

But they are all case studies in how members of a citizen legislature navigate the murky shoals of potential conflicts of interest.

The bottom-line defense of lawmakers who go on the public payroll is that if voters find the relationship too cozy, they can vote them out.

To do that, however, voters need to know about it. In Virginia, there is no legal requirement that lawmakers disclose income from state or local government entities.

With 22 years of service, Wampler is in a key position to advocate for institutions such as U.Va.-Wise. He is the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee and among a handful of lawmakers involved in reconciling differences between Senate and House budget bills.

He submitted nearly $4 million in spending requests for U.Va.-Wise this year, including $3.5 million for the new library. He was in e-mail contact with U.Va.-Wise administrators about their budgetary wish list from the opening days of the 2009 Assembly session.

The library project has been on the list for about 10 years, Wampler said.

Wampler is a senior lecturer for professional education programs and does strategic planning in the college's Office of Economic Development. He also teaches military science in the school's new ROTC program.

"I am just having a blast working in those classes," said Wampler, a former insurance executive from Bristol. "I'm having more fun than somebody should teaching a class."

Wampler said his job with the college has nothing to do with his efforts to get state funds for the school. He said discussions about the job began in spring, after the Assembly session ended.

Kathy Still, a college spokeswoman, said there was "absolutely no connection at all" between the job offer to Wampler and his efforts in Richmond on the school's behalf.

As for potential conflicts of interest, Still said: "I know that Sen. Wampler will make sure that everything is aboveboard. That's the type of man he is."

Wampler said he will have to give "a lot more thought" to potential conflicts when he returns to the legislature in January.

"If it's a conflict, even if you don't see it, even if it's not so glaring, if you get close to it you better pause and think about it," he said.

But his new job won't stop him from representing the school's interests in Richmond, he said: "I don't think that precludes you from advocating for an institution in your district."

Lawmakers are required by state law to file an annual disclosure of their financial interests, including sources of income in excess of $10,000 a year. But they are specifically exempted from having to disclose income from state or local government entities. Some do, some don't.

Sen. Fred Quayle doesn't. The Suffolk Republican's disclosure statement includes no hint that he is a faculty member at ODU with an annual salary of $40,000. He teaches three courses each summer and fall in political science and business.

A part-time instructor since the 1990s, he was hired full time in March 2007, weeks after carrying $14 million in spending measures on ODU's behalf in the Assembly. None was adopted.

Quayle, an attorney and Finance Committee member, said his $18,000 Senate salary, his ODU job and Social Security are his only sources of income. He gave up his law practice about six years ago.

He said his salary is fair compensation considering his course load, which is "a normal load for any full-time faculty member."

"If you do the arithmetic, I'm not making a ton of money from ODU," Quayle said.

As for the spending measures, he said he's carried them for ODU over the years because the school is "our region's university. As it thrives, the region thrives."

Sen. Tommy Norment, who makes $160,000 a year as a part-time faculty member at the College of William and Mary, got an opinion from then-Attorney General Bob McDonnell before he took the job in 2008 concluding that it would not be an impermissible conflict of interests.

McDonnell said Norment, a James City County Republican, would have to disqualify himself from participating in college-related business in the Assembly. But the current attorney general, Bill Mims, has said that sponsoring a budget measure is not a conflict so long as it doesn't personally benefit the legislator.

Most other lawmakers on the payrolls of state universities held their college jobs long before they were elected. Here's a rundown:

Sen. John Miller, D-Newport News, has worked for Christopher Newport University off and on since 1996. He is now associate director of CNU's Virginia Electronic Commerce and Technology Center. The center will cease operations Dec. 31, and Miller plans to leave the university then.

Elected to the Senate in 2007, he has taken unpaid leave during Assembly sessions. He earned $79,000 in 2008. He introduced $33 million in CNU-related budget measures this year.

"I would hope we would not require everyone who works in the public sector to find another career after they are elected to the legislature," Miller said. "Christopher Newport University is a big part of my district, and the folks that work there are my constituents.

"When the president of the university comes to me and says 'I'd like you to offer budget amendments' that don't affect me in any way, I'm proud to introduce them."

Miller's wife, Sharron Kitchen Miller, also works at CNU in the Office of University Advancement. She earned $62,000 in 2008.

Del. David Nutter, R-Christiansburg, has worked for Virginia Tech since 1988. After his 2001 election to the House, he moved from the school's Office of University Relations to the Office of Economic Development. He takes unpaid leave during Assembly sessions and earned $61,000 in 2008.

Nutter said he is careful to avoid potential conflicts between his legislative and university work.

"I just try to walk the line as best I can," he said. "Fortunately I haven't had to abstain much."

Nutter said he abstained from voting on a 2006 bill authorizing management agreements that gave Tech, William and Mary and U.Va. greater autonomy "because that was so specific" to those institutions.

Del. Dan Bowling, D-Richlands, is a longtime professor at Southwest Virginia Community College. He was elected to the House in 2005 and serves on the budget-writing Appropriations Committee. His college salary is $65,500.

Del. Bill Janis, R-Henrico County, has been an adjunct professor at two schools, earning $2,000 per semester course at William and Mary and $2,550 at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Del. Kenneth Plum, D-Reston, has earned $5,000 to $6,000 a year since 2004 as a contributor to ODU's annual State of the Region report.

Michael Sluss of The Roanoke Times contributed to this report.

Bill Sizemore, (757) 446-2276, bill.sizemore@pilotonline.com

Julian Walker, (804) 697-1564, julian.walker@pilotonline.com