Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 1, 1992 TAG: 9203010104
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: THOMAS BOYER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Disclosure forms filed for November's election show that many lawmakers - including senior members of both parties - often fail to identify major donors fully.
Imagine filing tax returns without fear of the IRS checking up on you. That's the position legislators are in with campaign disclosure forms. Under state law, no one has responsibility for auditing the forms for accuracy and compliance with the law.
In addition, state party legislative caucuses, which collect hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations and pass them along to lawmakers, are exempt from the disclosure law; they don't have to say where they got their money.
"Those [donors] who want to avoid being known, there's more than enough loopholes," said Julie Lapham, director of Common Cause of Virginia, a watchdog group. "There's enough loopholes to march an army through."
The law requires legislators to write down the name and address of everyone who gave them more than $100, and the occupation and business address of those giving more than $250. Many don't. For example:
House of Delegates Minority Leader Vance Wilkins of Amherst reported a $5,000 donation from J. Gray Ferguson, listed at a post office box in Staunton. Wilkins' form lacks Ferguson's occupation or business address. Wilkins said it was an oversight, but that he believes Ferguson is retired.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Ball, D-Richmond, named but did not disclose on his form occupations for seven donors who gave $500 to $2,000 each.
Del. Franklin Hall, D-Richmond, received a $1,000 contribution from Doctor R. Crants, identified on Hall's form only as a "businessman" from Nashville, Tenn.
Crants is an official of Corrections Corporation of America, a firm that is trying to get the state to allow privately owned prisons to hold other state's prisoners. Hall is sponsor of a bill that would do just that, though he denies that has anything to do with the donation.
By contrast, some legislators are meticulous about filling out their forms. House Majority Leader Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton; Del. Clifton Woodrum, D-Roanoke; and Del. Thomas Forehand, D-Chesapeake, all clearly disclosed the sources of donations from individuals, business and political action committees.
Forehand's form identified Incendere Inc., which gave $300, as a firm specializing in "special waste transportation, handling and destruction." Such clear disclosure was the exception, not the rule.
Michael Brown, secretary of the state Board of Elections, said it would be a "serious violation" to fail to fully identify a major contributor. But the state board does not audit legislators' forms, lacking both the legal authority and the personnel to do the job, Brown said.
If someone reports violations, Brown said, the board can investigate and refer the case to law enforcement agencies. In most cases, however, it tells legislators to file supplementary statements rectifying the problem.
In addition, some contributions may not be reported at all. Forehand, whose form showed the second-highest total of funds raised in the House, said he knows of legislators who hold receptions to raise money for "office expenses" and don't report them on their campaign finance forms.
"There are a lot of people who raise a lot of money and don't put anything down," Forehand said. As a result, an analysis of the forms "highlights the folks who do it the right way."
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB