THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 14, 1995 TAG: 9502140318
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE AND DAVID M. POOLE, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
Riverboat gambling lacked the votes needed to win legislative approval this year, but a Chesapeake senator thinks casino operators will try another strategy in the November elections - and he wants to pass a law to prevent it.
State Sen. Mark L. Earley has proposed a ban on political contributions from out-of-state casino operators. He plans to push the measure before the General Assembly in its closing weeks.
The proposal would bar individuals or companies that hold casino gambling licenses anywhere in the country from contributing campaign funds to Virginia candidates.
The sponsors of two riverboat gambling bills that failed in the General Assembly this year questioned whether the plan is constitutional.
``Could you pass a law banning contributions from the teachers' association? I don't think you could,'' said Sen. Stanley C. Walker, D-Norfolk, who sponsored riverboat gambling in the Senate.
``I haven't seen the bill, but it doesn't sound to me like it can work,'' said Del. Jerrauld C. Jones, D-Norfolk, who sponsored the riverboat legislation in the House of Delegates.
Earley, a Republican who opposes riverboat gambling, will have to weave the plan into an existing bill, or get a two-thirds vote to have it introduced separately, because the deadline for submitting legislation this year has expired.
``If something like this isn't passed, you're going to see a tremendous amount of casino money pumped into Virginia politics this year,'' said Earley. ``Candidates who supported gambling in Virginia could just become a pipeline for cash.''
Earley said the reputation of the gambling industry played a role in his decision to seek the ban.
``It hasn't always been a rosy picture in terms of ethics,'' he said.
A House-approved bill that would give companies that voluntarily disclose pollution violations immunity from state enforcement action advanced Monday in the Senate.
The so-called ``environmental audit'' bill would grant immunity from state fines and enforcement action to companies that voluntarily disclose pollution problems. The bill also would allow companies to shield from release any information gathered through in-house environmental assessments.
Environmental groups, which contend the bill goes too far in letting polluters off the hook, have worked behind the scenes in hopes of derailing the measure before the Assembly adjourns Feb. 25.
Despite the 10-5 setback in the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee, environmentalists have made gains in recent days. The powerful Virginia Association of Counties came out in opposition to the bill last week. House Speaker Thomas W. Moss Jr. of Norfolk directed a Senate-approved version of the bill to a potentially unfriendly panel, the House Courts of Justice Committee.
The Senate also approved a bill that would allow local governments to adopt laws requiring bicyclists under 15 to wear helmets. Currently, only some Northern Virginia localities have the authority.
The Virginia Beach City Council last month endorsed the helmet requirement after hearing from a group of five Kempsville Middle School students. The students cited figures from the National Safe Kids Campaign that bicycle helmets have been shown to reduce the risk of head injury by 85 percent and the risk of brain injury by almost 90 percent.
KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY RIVERBOAT GAMBLING CAMPAIGN FINANCE
ENVIRONMENT HELMET LAW by CNB