Byline: CHRISTINA NUCKOLS
RICHMOND -- BY Christina Nuckols
THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
RICHMOND - State law prohibits legislators from taking campaign donations while the General Assembly is in session, but corporate givers showered politicians with $700,000 in the 10 days leading up to this year's session.
Further, a loophole in state law allowed legislators to hold fundraisers this spring while they were still negotiating a new budget and debating transportation spending.
"It raises the question when lawmakers are taking a stand on a bill, do they believe in it or are they reacting to a large contribution they got?" said Mary Boyle, a spokeswoman for the watchdog group Common Cause.
Contributions don't become public until after bills that may have benefited donors have already become law.
The General Assembly's top individual fundraiser during the first half of 2006 was Sen. Kenneth Stolle, R-Virginia Beach. Stolle raised nearly $156,200 over the six months, collecting most of that amount during this year's special session on the budget and transportation.
"I probably am raising a little more than normal," Stolle said in an interview. "I'm taking my re-election in 2007 very seriously."
He said he also is mobilizing extra resources to aid him in his post as recruitment chairman for the Senate Republicans' political caucus.
During a 2004 special session, Stolle and other state senators agreed to suspend fund raising even though members of the House of Delegates refused to follow suit. This year, neither chamber passed such restrictions.
"We've been in a special session for most of the year," Stolle said. "Money is part of being able to run for office, and you can't prevent people from doing that."
Stolle serves in the Senate's leadership, and he is a high-ranking member of committees that handle budget, public safety and business issues. Many of his largest donors have an interest in bills considered by those panels.
The Virginia Beach Republican received $5,000 apiece from Alpha Natural Resources, a Southwest Virginia coal company, and the Virginia Bankers Association's p olitical a ction c ommittee. Cable television companies gave him $6,500, and Verizon gave him $2,500.
The senator helped broker a deal this year between Verizon and cable companies that enabled the telephone company to offer video services to customers without complying with regulations covering cable franchises.
Verizon gave a total of $69,800 to legislators after the regular session ended this year, and the Virginia Cable Telecommunications Association gave $45,200. Legislators said the post-session contributions are a sign that the competing business groups believed they had been treated fairly in the process.
Stolle also received $5,000 from the Virginia Beach Fishing Center. Its owner, Wayne McLeskey, sought permission from the legislature to take control of state-owned river bottom adjacent to waterfront property he owns in Norfolk. Legislators initially granted the request, but budget negotiators later killed the deal, noting that the state rarely gives up its ownership of river bottom.
Stolle did not vote on the measure because the consulting arm of his law firm had advised McLeskey on the property. He said McLeskey is a longtime friend, noting that the businessman has contributed to him in the past.
McLeskey's wife, Cheryl, gave $2,000 to Sen. Nick Rerras, R-Norfolk, who proposed the measure that would have given the river bottom away.
Rerras has raised the second-largest amount of political cash this year among South Hampton Roads legislators. He collected more than $44,300.
Other top fundraisers in the region were Del. Terrie Suit, R-Virginia Beach, and Sen. Frank Wagner, R-Virginia Beach.
Suit raised nearly $34,800, including $1,000 from a political action committee operated by commercial developers. She serves on a committee that considers land-use legislation.
Wagner raised $33,700, including $2,500 apiece from a coal business and committee operated by natural gas companies. Wagner sponsored legislation this year establishing new energy policies for the state.
The measure signaled state support for exploration to determine whether deposits of natural gas and oil exist along the Atlantic Coast.
Common Cause's Boyle said Virginia at least should change its campaign reporting requirements to ensure pre-session donations are made public before lawmakers complete their work at the Capitol.
"We live in an Internet age, and there's no reason disclosure could not be made more quickly," she said.
nReach Christina Nuckols at (804) 697-1562 or christina.nuckols@pilotonline.com.
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