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irginia
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In our lobbyist survey 11.86 percent of lobbyists said
that they opposed a legislator’s bill in subcommittee
of committee without telling the legislator before the
meeting that this would occur.
17.4% percent of lobbyists said that they opposed a
legislators bill in subcommittee of committee without
telling the legislators before the meeting that this
would occur.
36.9 percent of lobbyists thought that this was an
ethical lobbying practice.
27.4 percent of lobbyists think that there should be a
statutory code of ethics for lobbyists.
is coming to a close, his legacy will carry on in names like Amelia
Charles as she seeks to achieve her dreams: both of ending poverty in
Appalachia and changing the world.
Ethical Lobbying at the General Assembly
By Brennan Long
Lydia Freeman, a 2013 graduate of Bluefield College, received
the following at Honors Convocation:
Communication Academic Achievement Award
Outstanding Academic Achievement in Communication
English Department Achievement Award
She was also recognized as a Honors Program Scholar.
At the end of the 2013 session, David Bailey had heard rumblings
around the General Assembly from legislators that said that they
had been surprised when lobbyists opposed their bills in committee
without previously talking to the legislators. After these incidents, we
were interested to see if this was considered a normal, ethical practice
from the legislator’s point of view and also from the lobbyist’s point
of view. We sent out two surveys via email, one to legislators and one
to lobbyists. Thirteen legislators responded to the legislator survey
and 86 lobbyists responded to the lobbyist survey. We have published
the data from both of the surveys here and we hope that it will help
our readers gain a sense of what lobbyists and legislators consider
ethical during the General Assembly.
23.1 percent of these legislators said that during the
2013 session a lobbyist opposed one of their bills in
subcommittee or committee without telling them
before the meeting that this would occur.
61.5 percent of these legislators said that during a
prior session a lobbyist had opposed one of their bills
in subcommittee or committee without telling them
before the meeting that this would occur.
76.9 percent of these legislators do not think that this is
an ethical practice.
100 percent of these legislators would like to be
informed on the issue that is being discussed in
committee before their bill is killed.
92.3 percent of these legislators think that there should
be an established code of ethics for lobbyists.
23.1% 76.9%
61.5% 38.5%
23.1% 76.9%
YES NO
Key
100% 0%
92.3% 7.7%
11.6% 88.4%
17.4% 82.6%
36.9% 64.3%
27.4% 72.6%
Donald L. Ratliff
VP–Virginia Government and External Affairs
Alpha Natural Resources
One Alpha Place
•
Bristol, VA 24202
P.O. Box 16429
•
Bristol, VA 24209
276.619.4479 (office)
•
276.623.2891 (fax)
276.275.1423 (cell)
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Fine Art Photographer
Seasons House on Trumpington Court
Chester eld, VA 23838-2110
804.739.1955
WANDA JUDD
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