Virginia

Corporations, trade associations, non-profits, other organizations, and individuals face significant penalties and reputational harm if they violate state laws governing corporate and personal political activities, the registration of lobbyists, lobbying reporting, or the giving of gifts or items of value to government officials or employees. To help organizations and individuals …

Continue Reading Covington Releases 50-State Survey of Campaign Finance, Lobbying, and Gift Rules (2022 Edition)

Companies doing business with state and local governments or operating in regulated industries are subject to a dizzying array of “pay-to-play” rules. These rules effectively prohibit company executives and employees (and in some cases, their family members) from making certain personal political contributions. Even inadvertent violations can be dangerous: a…
Continue Reading Covington Releases 400-Page, 50-State Survey of Pay-to-Play Rules (2022 Edition)

Companies doing business with state and local governments or operating in regulated industries are subject to a dizzying array of “pay-to-play” rules.  These rules effectively prohibit company executives and employees (and in some cases, their family members) from making certain personal political contributions.  Even inadvertent violations can be dangerous:  a …
Continue Reading Survey of the Pay-to-Play Laws of the United States

Organizations represented by lobbyists in Virginia should be aware of a new law enacted today.  The law eliminates a controversial exception to the state’s $100 limit on lobbyist gifts to legislators and officials, adds a key new exception to that law, and also includes an additional gift notification requirement for…
Continue Reading Virginia Makes Key Adjustments to Law Governing Gifts to Officials, Adds New Lobbyist Gift Notification

The Ferrari carrying former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell appears to have made a U-turn this week on its way to the federal penitentiary.  Covington released today a Client Alert on the Supreme Court’s decision in McDonnell v. United States, a decision which vacated Governor McDonnell’s conviction and redraws the…
Continue Reading The Supreme Court Redraws the Lines for Corruption Prosecutions

Those active in Virginia politics should note that portions of Virginia’s new ethics law take effect tomorrow, July 1, 2014, including the new $250 annual limit on “tangible” gifts from lobbyists and government contractors.

Governor Terry McAuliffe has said that this is not the end of ethics reform in Virginia. …
Continue Reading New Virginia Ethics Laws Take Effect Tomorrow; More Changes May Come in 2015

The Virginia General Assembly passed new ethics legislation on Wednesday to little fanfare.  Legislators voted unanimously to adopt the new law with Governor Terry McAuliffe’s technical amendments.  We previously blogged about the law’s major provisions.  The law supplements the much stricter executive order limiting gifts to the executive branch,…
Continue Reading Virginia Enacts New Gifts and Ethics Legislation

As we predicted in January, the Virginia General Assembly has passed an ethics reform law and sent it to Governor Terry McAuliffe who can sign it into law, veto it, or propose amendments and return it to the General Assembly for further action.  If signed into law, it will supplement…
Continue Reading Virginia General Assembly Sends Ethics Bill to Governor

Virginia has often been referred to as the “Wild West” of politics because of its limited campaign finance and ethics laws.  The Commonwealth’s ethics laws are undergoing major changes, however, with more to come during the legislative session.

On January 11, in his second act as Governor, Terry…
Continue Reading Virginia: New Executive Gift Ban Takes Immediate Effect, with Ethics Reform Moving Through General Assembly