Ethics review measures pass Va. House, Senate

RICHMOND

After some contentious debate in the House of Delegates, both chambers of the General Assembly passed ethics legislation Tuesday.

The measures are in large part a response to the scandal that engulfed a veteran lawmaker last year. Del. Phil Hamilton, R-Newport News, was defeated in November after more than two decades in the House following revelations that he had negotiated a job for himself at Old Dominion University while he was securing the state funding for the position.

Hamilton's actions were the subject of a state ethics inquiry. It ended before reaching a conclusion when he

resigned from office after losing his re-election bid.

The measures approved Tuesday would prevent that scenario from being repeated, making it clear that an investigation must continue to its conclusion even if a lawmaker resigns or isn't re-elected.

The changes also would open up the proceedings of the ethics panel to the public once a preliminary inquiry establishes that there is a sound basis for the allegations of misconduct. Under existing law, those proceedings are shrouded in secrecy unless the lawmaker under investigation asks that they be made public.

The primary bill in the House, HB655, was the last measure debated on the last day the House could consider its own bills. At times it seemed the bill might be derailed as delegates expressed discomfort with it. At one point, Del. Clay Athey, R-Front Royal, tried to get the measure sent back to a House committee, which would have killed it for this session. The bill needed more work, he argued, and there was no reason to rush it to passage in response to the Hamilton case.

"The citizens held him accountable. They un-elected him," Athey said. "We move deliberately in Virginia. We don't move quickly. We don't base our decisions on emotion."

Del. Tim Hugo, R-Fairfax County, warned that the proposed measures would expose lawmakers to unfair attacks from political opponents.

"If you vote for this bill today, you will unleash a firestorm," he said.

The sponsor of the bill, House Minority Leader Ward Armstrong, D-Henry County, urged his colleagues to act while the memory of the Hamilton scandal is fresh.

"It is our responsibility to instill public confidence in this process," Armstrong said, "confidence that we are down here doing the people's business with the people's best interest in mind, and that we are not subject to being bought."

In the end, several of those who expressed misgivings about the measure - including Athey and Hugo - voted for it. The final tally was 88-10. One lawmaker from South Hampton Roads, Del. Johnny Joannou, D-Portsmouth, voted no, saying he was concerned that ethics complaints would become the vehicle for unwarranted attacks by legislators' re-election opponents.

Athey succeeded in amending the bill to insert a slightly higher threshold of evidence that must be met before an ethics inquiry can be opened to the public. He said after the debate that his aim was to protect lawmakers against frivolous charges.

"I don't think it's helpful to let every javelin thrower with a political ax to grind into a public forum," he said.

The scene was much more placid in the Senate, where the primary measure, SB186, sponsored by Sen. Ralph Northam, passed unanimously with no discussion.

"I'm real pleased with it," Northam, a first-term Democrat from Norfolk, said of the bill after its passage.

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

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