Now, of course, there’s a new crop of gubernatorial candidates offering their own ideas for reform. Cuccinelli, the Republican, has said he would eliminate the disclosure exemption for gifts to family members of public officials. Democratic nominee Terry McAuliffe has called for a ban on gifts over $100. Meanwhile, State Sen. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, has called for the creation of an ethics board, a $100 cap on gifts to lawmakers and immediate family members, and a lowering to $5,000 of the threshold for disclosure of investments, which is currently twice that figure.
In the weeks and months to come, plenty of the coverage is sure to be devoted to tracking the fall from grace of McDonnell, who not long ago was considered a rising star with national ambitions. But Virginia reporters and editors should devote just as much attention to tracking the fate of ethics reform. That means nailing down the details of the various proposals—scrutinizing how they compare to national norms, and how responsive each one is to specific problems in the commonwealth. And do any meaningful reform proposals have a practical chance of passing, or is the next legislative session set for a replay of 2010—a flood of lip-service measures with no follow through?
There is also a ripe opportunity to expand journalistic scrutiny beyond the issue of gifts and influence-peddling. The State Integrity Investigation on which Virginia did so poorly examined hundreds of other questions about the state’s code of laws and the risk for corruption across 14 areas of state government. On several other key categories, including judicial and legislative accountability, public access to information, lobbying disclosure, political financing, and ethics enforcement, the commonwealth got an “F.” The report comes with a narrative story behind the score that offers context for the grades. It’s a valuable tool and a source of story ideas for muck-raking reporters.
Of course, for the moment, the gift-giving angle is likely to drive the reform debate. As the Center for Politics’ Sabato tweeted recently: “Ban on gifts is a totally nonpartisan reform. Both D and R pols have taken plenty. Voters, shut off the gravy train.”
If this were a Republican administration conducting a criminal investigation of one of its potential rivals and leaking heavily to the press, the Post would be screaming "Watergate." It's interesting to see that when the sides are switched, the Post lines up in service to power.
#1 Posted by Tom T., CJR on Fri 19 Jul 2013 at 08:47 AM