Sponsor: McDonnell watered down ethics bill

RICHMOND

An amendment proposed by Gov. Bob McDonnell to legislation seeking to reform state ethics investigations of lawmakers would "water the bill down," its sponsor said Wednesday.

The change that troubles House Minority Leader Ward Armstrong would end active investigations into General Assembly members and refer them to the attorney general if a person left office before the inquiry was finished.

Armstrong, D-Henry County, said that would weaken his bill.

He said he plans to ask his colleagues to reject it when the legislature reconvenes next Wednesday to consider McDonnell's amendments to legislation and the state budget.

"For the integrity of the process, the investigation should be brought to a conclusion," Armstrong said Wednesday during a phone interview.

Clarifying that an investigation should proceed if its subject leaves office was one of the main thrusts of his bill, Armstrong added, noting that McDonnell inserted a "serious flaw" in the bill after publicly expressing support for updating state ethics rules.

That's not so, McDonnell spokeswoman Taylor Thornley said.

"This amendment ultimately strengthens ethics oversight. All a legislative panel could do once a member resigns from office is make a finding. This amendment now requires the Attorney General's office to receive the case materials," Thornley wrote in an e-mail. "The Attorney General's office can now continue to pursue the case even after the member resigns. Unlike a legislative panel, the AG's office has actual prosecutorial and enforcement powers over a legislator who has resigned."

Under current law, the ethics panel has the ability to refer complaints to the attorney general if an investigation reveals that a legislator willfully violated conflict of interests law.

One open government advocate expressed concerns about how McDonnell's amendment, if sustained, could affect the bill's goal of enhancing the transparency of ethics inquiries.

"If it goes to the attorney general, the concern for us would be whether or not that takes the public out of the process," said Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government.

The push to revamp state laws governing conflict- of- interest investigations involving General Assembly members came after reporting by The Virginian-Pilot last year about then- Del. Phil Hamilton.

A series of stories published by the newspaper revealed that Hamilton, a Newport News Republican, had negotiated a $40,000 job for himself at an Old Dominion University teacher center while securing $500,000 in state money for the facility in 2007.

Hamilton's actions were investigated by a state ethics panel, but its work wasn't completed. Hamilton resigned after losing his re-election bid last November. T he investigation ceased when he left public office.

A federal grand jury also began an investigation but no further action has become public.

Other aspects of the ethics reform package, including a provision that would make the process public if ethics complaints proceed beyond a preliminary investigation, remain in the bill.

Another amendment from McDonnell would prevent complaints from being filed within 60 days of an election.

The language in the bill as it passed allowed complaints within that window, but required that they be held until after an election to avoid politicizing them.

Armstrong also expressed disappointment that McDonnell did not strengthen the bill by changing the standard for evaluating complaints.

He said the Republican-controlled House of Delegates changed it from "probable cause" to "preponderance" of evidence despite his opposition.

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