Legislators unleash flood of ethics-reform proposals

In the wake of the ethical lapse that brought down veteran lawmaker Del. Phil Hamilton last year, ethics reform is shaping up as a major theme in the 2010 General Assembly.

Lawmakers have introduced 19 bills aimed at tightening the way they police themselves.

Hamilton, a Newport News Republican who had held office since 1988, was defeated in November after revelations that he had negotiated a $40,000-a-year job at a teacher training center at Old Dominion University while he was securing the center's startup funding in the legislature.

Once the story came out, ODU canceled Hamilton's contract.

For the most part, the Assembly polices itself on ethical matters. That process began to play out in the Hamilton case when a House ethics panel took up the matter at the request of House Speaker William Howell, a Republican from Stafford County.

The process was short-circuited, however, when Hamilton resigned his seat two weeks after his defeat at the polls. The ethics panel determined that it had jurisdiction over only current lawmakers, not former ones, and ended the inquiry.

Hamilton remains under investigation by a federal grand jury.

Several of the reform measures introduced last week would require that once a state ethics inquiry is begun, it must be completed, notwithstanding the death or resignation of the legislator.

That is among a package of reforms introduced by House Minority Leader Ward Armstrong, a Democrat from Henry County. He plans to discuss them at a news conference today along with state Sen. Ralph Northam, a Democrat from Norfolk who has introduced a companion measure in the Senate.

"Clearly, the situation with Del. Hamilton exposed some serious shortfalls in how the General Assembly handles ethics matters," Armstrong said.

Most of the reform measures introduced last week are sponsored by Democrats. Northam, a physician who teaches medical ethics at Eastern Virginia Medical School, said he is hoping to gain Republican support.

"I can't speak for them," he said. "But I hope that if we put a reasonable plan on the table, they will agree with it."

Five reform bills have Republican sponsors. For instance, Sen. Ralph Smith of Roanoke and Del. Bill Janis of Henrico County both want to require lawmakers to report any income of more than $10,000 a year from state or local government entities on their annual financial disclosure statements.

Hamilton reported his ODU income, but not all of his colleagues have done likewise.

Del. Robin Abbott of Newport News, the Democrat who unseated Hamilton, has introduced a package of reform measures as well. As a freshman member of the minority party in the House, she said, she doesn't expect to see her name on the final product, but she is glad to see some Republicans stepping forward.

"It's encouraging to see some reform measures coming from the other side," she said. "I think we should all not be afraid of ethics reform."

Another theme running through the pending reform measures is transparency. Under current law, proceedings of Assembly ethics panels are shrouded in secrecy. They are opened to the public only if the lawmaker being investigated requests it.

Several of the bills under consideration would require that once a preliminary investigation determines that a full inquiry is warranted, the panel's proceedings must be opened to the public.

Two other bills would require that lawmakers' annual financial disclosure statements, now filed only in paper form, be made available on the Internet.

Bill Sizemore, (804) 697-1560, bill.sizemore@pilotonline.com