Officials pledge tighter ethics rules in Virginia
Source: AP-Excite
By ALAN SUDERMAN
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The days of no-limit Virginia politics could be coming to an end.
The Old Dominion has long eschewed caps on money in politics that are routine in many other states. Campaign contribution limits? Don't have 'em. Want to fly a state House delegate to the Masters golf tournament? Treat some state senators to a Redskins game in a luxury box? There's no state law stopping you.
The ethics ethos in Virginia has long been focused on disclosure, meaning that politicians were free to take what they wanted — for their campaigns or even for themselves — as long as they reported it to the public. Few questioned the approach when Virginia enjoyed a reputation for having a clean-run government.
But the epic fall from grace by former Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell, who was convicted Thursday of 11 corruption counts, has the potential to spark a major overhaul of the way state politicians behave.
FULL story at link.
Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, center, is mobbed by media as he gets into a car with his son, Bobby, right, after he and his wife, former first lady Maureen McDonnell, were convicted on multiple counts of corruption at Federal Court in Richmond, Va., Thursday, Sept. 4, 2014. A federal jury in Richmond convicted McDonnell on 11 of the 13 counts he faced; Maureen McDonnell was convicted on nine of the 13 counts she had faced. Sentencing was scheduled for Jan. 6. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140905/us-former-governor-trial-ethics-2d0e8fa02a.html
