The View From Over Here

Taking Gifts—Bad Public Policy:  Part 1 of 2

          The sordid saga of lavish gift taking by Governor Bob McDonnell and junior partner Attorney General/Would-be Governor Ken Cuccinelli should be a lesson for elected officials and for Virginia voters as the latter decide who gets elected this November.  Recent polls reflect negative public reaction to what smells like pay to play.  McDonnell’s high popularity numbers are plummeting and Cuccinelli now trails Terry McAuliffe in the race for Governor.

          Virginians seem to be getting it.  They understand that taking gifts from special interests is a step on the path to corruption.  And, it is just plain WRONG.  In this case, Star Scientific, McDonnell’s and Cuccinelli’s Santa Claus, was involved in litigation with the Commonwealth of Virginia while Cuccinelli was taking gifts, and McDonnell was not only taking, but also requesting gifts.. 

          It seems to me that this scandal and the public’s negative reaction to unethical behavior suggests this should be the time for public servants with more integrity to insist on long overdue reform of gift taking rules  by those occupying positions of trust—including those who make the laws, our state legislators.

           My unscientific survey of public opinion in the Reston area suggests that men and women in the street are disgusted with Governor McDonnell’s unethical, even corrupt behavior and see gift taking as contrary to the public interest.  When I asked people on the street in Reston if they thought it was OK for their elected legislators to accept gifts from lobbyists and those with special interest in legislative outcomes, the response was uniformly in the negative.  When I asked if they should be allowed to take gifts of minimal value, say $50 or less, the response was typically, “why should be taking anything at all?”  Except for one middle-aged male who thought maybe they could take one of minimal value.

          Communications with a handful of area legislators and a review of elected officials’ gift taking for 2012 were not encouraging.   I communicated with four legislators and looked at the Virginia Public Access Project ( www.VPAP.org ) compilation of gift taking reported by each for 2012.  For comparison purposes, I also reviewed the same data for one other nearby legislator.  Of the 5 legislators, 4 are Democrats, the other a Republican. 

          While the legislators I communicated with all condemned the gift taking by Governor McDonnell, all in fact have taken gifts while serving as legislators, although at much lower annual levels than the Governor.   None offered to voluntarily cease taking gifts from special interest lobbyists when asked.

          The top gift taker among the local legislators was Herndon Republican Tom Rust, with a reported $8,065 including fine dining, executive suite Redskins tickets, and the occasional travel.  Senator Janet Howell took gifts reported at $4,424, including a trip to Korea reported to have a value of $3,000.  Delegate Ken Plum took the least in my sample, $1,235.  The other two Democrats in my sample received $1,965 and $1,385 each.

          Remember, these amounts are values reported by recipients themselves.  Many legislators reported no gifts in 2012.  McDonnell failed to report many high value, lavish gifts—they only came to light thanks to a well-placed whistleblower.  Cuccinelli failed to report gifts and stock holdings in Star Scientific, and only revealed some when pressure came as a result of the McDonnell scandal.  The law provides no one to check on these elected officials.  It certainly should!

          In Part 2, we’ll look at how givers can impact public policy, how some rationalize taking gifts—why it is OK to do so, and how reform might look.