Virginia ethics commission calls for tighter gift restrictions, independent review body
By Aubrey Salmon | December 3, 2014A commission created to investigate Virginia’s ethics laws released a report Monday calling for tighter restrictions on gifts to public officials, limiting board and commission members from voting on matters affecting their interests, and the creation of an independent ethics review commission to oversee and penalize violations of these rules. “By imposing an overall limit on both tangible and intangible gifts to public officials, creating an independent ethics review commission with investigative and enforcement authority, and strengthening Virginia’s conflict of interests prohibitions, these interim recommendations constitute a major step forward in the effort to ensure that in Virginia no interest comes before the public interest,” commission Co-Chairman Rick Boucher said in a press release.
