Gifts to Lawmakers Surpass Record

Va. Reports Show $263,000 in Trips And Other Treats

RICHMOND -- Lobbyists, companies and trade associations showered Virginia legislators last year with trips, meals and hard-to-get tickets to Redskins football games, NASCAR races and Wolf Trap concerts, according to reports to be released Sunday.

Two House members flew to the Masters golf tournament in Georgia courtesy of the payday loan industry. Two senators went on a hunting trip to Texas paid for by the Virginia Sheriffs' Association and Institute. Dozens of other lawmakers took trips to Hilton Head, S.C., Las Vegas and Boston, among other places, to give speeches, attend conferences or socialize.

In all, 117 of the 140 members of the General Assembly accepted 725 gifts worth a record $263,000 last year, according to reports collected by the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project and analyzed by The Washington Post. The reports were embargoed for release until Sunday.

Many of the gifts were offered during the legislative session, when donors often lobby lawmakers after treating them to dinners, receptions or goody bags.

"I have never ever witnessed a case where someone took a gift and it influenced their vote," said House Minority Leader Ward L. Armstrong (D-Henry), who reported $4,639 in gifts last year. "It's about the appearance of impropriety. You do have to be careful."

In Congress, lawmakers imposed a limit on gifts after a public corruption scandal involving lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Similar policies were put in place in Maryland in 2001 after two high-profile scandals there.

In Virginia, lawmakers have toughened disclosure requirements but have not limited gifts.

Many of last year's gifts came from the state's largest and most influential companies and groups.

The top giver was the Virginia Sheriffs' Association and Institute, which paid for $16,693 in hunting trips, jackets, dinners and legislator-of-the-year plaques.

The association paid for Sens. Thomas K. Norment Jr. (R-James City) and Kenneth W. Stolle (R-Virginia Beach) to hunt deer at a Texas ranch. Their three trips combined cost more than $14,000.

"Quite candidly, I have a hard time telling the sheriff's association, 'I'm not going to go hunting with you,' " said Stolle, the top recipient last year with $11,142.

"If I had to be associated with a group of people in Virginia, I don't mind being associated with the Virginia Sheriffs' Association."