Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, January 20, 1995                   TAG: 9501200110
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: |Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

FORMS: FEW LEGISLATORS ARE LANDLORDS

Only two lawmakers said they own property that is leased to state agencies, according to financial disclosure forms filed by all 140 General Assembly members.

A third, Sen. Elliot Schewel, D-Lynchburg, admitted that he forgot about the law until a reporter asked him about it. He said he would amend the form to show he co-owns a building that houses the Lynchburg public defender office.

Del. Robert Ball, Democratic chairman of the Appropriations Committee, reported about $90,000 in rent from two state offices in his home county of Henrico.

Del. John Davies, D-Culpeper, said he has a 25 percent interest in a firm that owns a Virginia Employment Commission office in Culpeper. The office pays $22,200 a year in rent, he said.

The assembly approved the new disclosure requirement last year after the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that a half-dozen legislators took in hundreds of thousands of dollars from renting space to state agencies.

One legislator reported last year as having lease contracts with state agencies says it's not so.

``If I have leases with the state, it's unbeknownst to me,'' said House Majority Leader Richard Cranwell, D-Roanoke County.

Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1995