As we described in a
January 16 post, moments after being sworn in as Virginia's
72nd governor on January 11, Governor McAuliffe signed an executive
order imposing new gift restrictions on Executive Branch employees
and officers and their immediate family members. The Executive
Order applies only to individuals that work in Virginia's
Executive Branch. As expected, Virginia's legislators have
followed suit and have enacted their own ethics reform rules for
members of the legislature and certain state and local
officials.
The new law limits the value of gifts covered officials may
solicit or accept from lobbyists, lobbyist principals, and
government contractors to $250 annually from a single source (the
law does not prohibit giving the gift, just receiving the
gift). Although touted by the legislature as sweeping ethics
reform, the new law has garnered significant attention not on what
it covers, but what it does not cover.
