Mountain Empire legislators received race tickets, other gifts from lobbyists

The job of making laws has its perks: It’s often good for a seat in a corporate suite at Bristol Motor Speedway and a high-end dinner paid for by lobbyists. But there is a catch – if the gift is valued at more than $50, lawmakers must report it.
In their 2009 financial disclosure statements, eight area Virginia legislators reported receiving nearly $5,000 in gifts, ranging from dinners and receptions to airfare and tickets to sporting events.
Perched atop the gift list is Delegate Dan Bowling, D-Tazewell, who reported $1,817 in perks – more than twice the value reported by the next most-gifted legislator. Bowling’s gifts included two dinners, three receptions, tickets to two NASCAR races and a football game, and lodging and travel for a coal industry tour.
At the opposite end of the spectrum is Delegate Clarence “Bud” Phillips, D-Castlewood, who reported a comparatively paltry $78 – his share of the bill for a lobbyist-sponsored dinner. Phillips also received a $100 gift certificate from the Breaks Interstate Park Commission, but wrote the clerk of the state House of Representatives to say that he will not use it.
Legislators in Southwest Virginia don’t have detailed policies on what kinds of gifts to accept, but employ a common compass in navigating ethical terrain: their gut.
“There’s no rhyme or reason or methodology to it,” said Sen. William Wampler, R-Bristol. “The gifts I report are mostly of a dinner or event nature.”
Wampler reported attending a Virginia Coal Association reception, and dinners sponsored by Wellmont Health System, multinational pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline and Carilion, a Roanoke, Va.-based health system. He also reported $400 in airfare to Richmond, provided by Appalachian Energy Inc.
Though he hasn’t been to a NASCAR race in a couple years, Wampler said, accepting a hot speedway ticket isn’t necessarily a leisure activity; it’s about “showcasing the region, selling the region. You’re not watching the race, you’re working it.”
As to what gifts he won’t accept, Wampler said, “You’ll know it when it’s offered. It’s just your gut.”
Some legislators have guts that are more discriminating than others.
“I take gifts from most of the people in Southwest Virginia,” said Bowling, the top gift-getter. “If you can work with lobbyists, have a good relationship with them, you can get them to change their minds on certain things that would be bad,” he said.
Bowling, who has spent three years in the House of Delegates, has one political litmus test, though: “I wouldn’t take a donation from someone who’s anti-coal.”
Bowling accepted four separate gifts from lobbyists with ties to the coal, oil and gas industries.
Virginia Delegate Joe Johnson, D-Abingdon, also said he rejects gifts from organizations whose mission he opposes. For the workaday ethics questions, he lets instinct guide him.
“Just yesterday, I sent back to a person a $25 gift certificate to Red Lobster for a legislative favor,” Johnson said. “I didn’t feel comfortable taking it because it was something I enjoyed,” he said.
The favor?
“For a young fella who had some difficulty with his driving record. I called and talked to some people, we got it worked out, and a refund was made” to the young man in question, between $55 and $85, Johnson recalled. “I knew someone in the [Department of Motor Vehicles] who was able to help.”
Last year, Johnson declared four tickets he received to the Ringling Brothers Circus when it came to Richmond, but he didn’t go.
“I’ve never been to the circus,” he said.
He didn’t know who went in his stead.
“Normally, my office finds out who would like tickets. Most times it’s underprivileged kids. I do not know who the tickets were given to.”
He added: “I’ve never introduced any legislation or had anything at all to do with legislation that had to do with the circus.”
One legislator does have a policy, born of heartburn over the easy money culture in Richmond.
“This year, I turn down all dinner invitations,” said Delegate Annie B. Crockett-Stark, R-Wytheville. Last year, she attended a dinner at an expensive restaurant that was sponsored by tobacco giant Altria, and balked at the entrée prices.
“So I had a salad. And a bowl of asparagus. And later I got a bill and my part of the evening was $117,” Crockett-Stark recalled. “All the men had big steak dinners.”
She stopped short of repudiating lobbyist-sponsored meals.
If other legislators want to attend, “that’s the way it’s been done for 200 to 300 years. I think it’s wonderful they go out,” she said.
For Crockett-Stark, a former school teacher, a more appropriate gift is the other item she reported on her disclosure form: a seminar on the state of federal courts at Montpelier, Va., including an overnight stay. The experience, focused on studying the U.S. Constitution, made her a “stronger legislator.”
Asked to compare the value with that of the Altria dinner, she said it was “not as fattening.” Not that she didn’t grow.
“Any time you personally grow from an experience, you represent your constituents better,” she said.

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