THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, July 28, 1995                  TAG: 9507270001
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A10  EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Editorial 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   48 lines

BILL WOULD HAVE HELPED LEGISLATOR'S KIN BROTHERS' KEEPER

House Majority Leader C. Richard Cranwell recently offered an unusually lame excuse for his co-sponsorship earlier this year of a bill that would have abolished a state agency that keeps tabs on nursing-home costs and efficiency.

He said a lobbyist for nursing homes described the bill as a simple measure to ease the state regulatory burden on private industry.

Had Cranwell wished to check further into the matter, he might have consulted his brothers, William and Robert, who own part of Heritage Hall, one of the largest nursing-home chains in Virginia. As staff writer David M. Poole reported last week, Cranwell's Vinton law firm does legal work for the chain, and he takes business and political trips on its jet. According to his state financial-disclosure form, he has sheltered income from taxation by investing in several Heritage Hall partnerships.

If Cranwell's brothers were too busy to discuss the bill earlier this year, Cranwell might have asked its opponents about it. They called the bill a move by nursing-home operators to keep their customers in the dark about prices and efficiency. Despite Cranwell's efforts, opponents saved the watchdog agency, the Cost Review Council.

One might wonder, did Cranwell's co-sponsorship of a bill of likely benefit to his brothers' company violate Virginia's conflict-of-interest laws?

Of course not. Virginia's conflict-of-interest laws have been described as a sieve with a tear down the middle, but that description is far too kind.

In this case, Poole wrote, there was no conflict of interest because Cranwell's bill would have affected all nursing homes, not just Heritage Hall's 16 homes.

It's no wonder someone once declared in frustration, ``What's a crime in Virginia is what's not a crime.''

In the past, Cranwell had steered clear of nursing-home legislation to avoid appearing to help his brothers. He would be well-advised to steer clear of such legislation in the future.

Just because something's legal doesn't mean it's right - especially in Virginia. Legislators should behave as though the state had conflict-of-interest laws worth a dime, and someday they should enact such laws. by CNB