WASHINGTON — Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell’s appeal will be heard next week — less than two weeks after Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed into law new gift and ethics rules for lawmakers.
McAuliffe says the new laws will go a long way toward cutting down on corruption.
“We have now signed the legislation, so all members of the General Assembly now have a $100 aggregate gift ban: They can’t take anything more than $100. That’s great for transparency; it’s great for folks doing business with the commonwealth,” McAuliffe says.
The cap, which kicks in on Jan. 1, 2016, only applies to gifts from lobbyists and people or companies seeking state money or contracts. Gifts worth less than $20 do not count toward the total, and there are some exceptions for free travel as long as the travel is connected to specific official business.
The ethics bill does not change Virginia’s campaign finance rules, which allow contributions of cash or travel as long as the contributions are disclosed.
As part of the bill, disclosure forms will be filed and posted online, but the Center for Public Integrity wrote that there are apparently a number of ways to dodge many of the requirements.
“There’s no loopholes; you take over $100, you’ll pay a price for that,” McAuliffe says. “The $100 aggregate is for everybody. You can’t give a legislator, anybody, any more than $100, same as it applies to me.”
McAuliffe’s family and the executive branch have actually been following slightly tighter gift rules, under an executive order he issued just after taking office in the weeks before McDonnell and McDonnell’s wife, Maureen were indicted on corruption charges.
“There’s other things I wanted in [the bill]; you know, I wanted an independent ethics commission; I didn’t get everything I asked for. But clearly, the most important thing is to have the $100 aggregate,” McAuliffe says.
The McDonnells were convicted in September of trading the prestige of the governor’s office for more than $165,000 in gifts and loans from Jonnie Williams. They are now appealing their convictions.
“We’ve come a long way in Virginia; we’ve had some unfortunate instances here with elected officials, and this will go a long, long way to ending that,” McAuliffe says.
McDonnell’s appeal will be argued before a three-judge panel in Richmond Tuesday, May 12.
While the identities of the judges selected for the panel will be revealed Tuesday morning, Fourth Circuit procedures give some preference to judges who handled earlier motions in a case. An earlier panel granted McDonnell’s motion to stay out of prison while his appeal is heard, which McDonnell supporters see as a positive signal.
He was sentenced in January to two years in prison, while Maureen McDonnell was sentenced in February to one year and one day.
She is also out while her appeal is heard. Her case is proceeding separately.
Without weighing in on the outcome of the appeals, McAuliffe said he hopes Virginia does not have to go through another salacious six-week trial.
“Any time we’re not talking about how great Virginia is … every time we’re not putting our best foot forward, it’s not helpful as I compete on a global basis to bring jobs to the commonwealth,” McAuliffe says.
