Del. Albo: Virginia Disclosure Laws Should Change In Light of Gov. McDonnell Controversy

The continuing controversy over $125,000 in gifts to Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has some Northern Virginia legislators rethinking rules on donations public officials in the Commonwealth can accept. Delegates Dave Albo (R-Lorton) and Rob Krupicka (D-Alexandria) told WTOP that Virginia disclosure laws should be revisited by the General Assembly.

Gov. McDonnell recently apologized and vowed to return over $120,000 from Star Scientific chief Jonnie Williams.

See: Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell Apologizes, Returns $120,000 to Jonnie Williams

"Obviously there are problems in disclosure systems and I think everybody would be looking forward to doing something to tighten them up. I'm not quite sure that going as far as banning gifts is going to be the right way to go," Albo told WTOP. "We will certainly pass some types of laws to at least increase disclosure. But it's not going to be an easy task.”

The problem with future legislation will be in eliminating loopholes, said Albo.

"Anytime you ban something, all you do is put it underground. I mean a perfect example is in Congress when they banned gifts, for example, you couldn't take a dinner. But they did allow receptions, and so they took the food and put it on toothpicks and said that was okay," Albo said.

Why Virginia disclosure laws are among the most lax in the nation:

• Virginia has no ethics commission to investigate disclosure violations
• There is a $10,000 limit on gifts that are required to be reported
• There is no limit in the monetary value of gifts that the chief executive can accept
• Politicians are not required to disclose gifts or loans given by political organizations to their spouses or family members