Katie, bar the door! That’s what some are saying to the bold move by Katharine Webb, the powerful lobbyist for the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association. Asked by six Republican delegates for donations recently, Webb said a polite no to those who voted against the budget.
Polite yes, but also direct. Usually, requests are either ignored or some innocuous excuse is used to reject them. But breaking with tradition, Webb sent a letter that, according to The Washington Post’s Mike Shear, read in part:
“HOSPAC’s financial support must be contingent on a recognition that it is reasonable for health care providers to be paid for the costs they incur to deliver services to Medicaid patients,” the letter stated. “Your failure to vote for a budget that only provided a modest increase places us in the difficult position of denying your contribution request.”
That’s not the way, it’s usually done.
“It’s a real big look under the tent. It is rare that you see things spelled out with such clarity,” said Bill Allison, a spokesman for the Center for Public Integrity in Washington. “A lot of these things are usually inferred. For somebody to put it down in writing is incredibly rare.”
Webb may not be alone. At lunch with education lobbyists last month, I heard the same may be coming from education groups who plan to make an example of the delegates who voted against the budget or tax increases. Others may join the effort.
Brett A. Vassey, president and chief executive of the Virginia Manufacturers Association, said many groups will be making similar decisions about campaign contributions by tallying up the voting records for the session.
“I don’t think Katie’s alone,” he said. “We are adding a greater level of analysis to the voting history of legislators before we give anything. And we are advising our members to do the same. Katie is always pushing the envelope.”
A couple of delegates are pushing back. One is Tim Hugo (R-Fairfax) who complained, “I think this is over the top and beyond belief,” Hugo said. “We are not finished with the budget. I would be worried, Democrat or Republican, about accepting any contributions from the hospital association.” Hugo, you may recall, spent thousands of dollars on auto calls to residents around the state urging them to oppose the tax increases.
Webb said … that Hugo and the other lawmakers were the ones who asked for contributions weeks ago, prompting her letters. She questioned their concern about the ethical implications of receiving her letter before the amendments were voted on. “If that was so important to them, why did they ask for money well before the budget was done?” she asked.
I’ve said this before: The greatest pressure on Republicans in ’05 will not be from the right against those who voted for the tax increases, but from the moderates against those who didn’t. The Club for Growth will try to impose its will, of course. But watch Hugo and others back peddling when they get challenged.
Del. Dave Albo is one who may be vulnerable, not from within his own party but from Democrats. He tried to explain his not vote in a column recently, but may have shot himself in the foot:
The only good news is that McLean’s Delegate Callahan, Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, managed to get us a little bit better than our normal 7.4%….we will receive $37.3 million. It was going to be only $10 million.
A little bit? That’s almost four times what Fairfax would have gotten, and he’s complaining. He did the same a couple of years ago when the sales tax referendum for schools was in play. He opposed Del. Jim Dillard’s formula that would have returned 80% of Fairfax’s sales tax dollars to the county instead of the usual 20%. He wasn’t happy because the county didn’t get all of it.
I wonder how many of his residents would rather be living in the areas of Virginia that get all of their sales tax dollars back. Check home listings and schools in say, Wise County. Nothing against Wise, but you get what you pay for, and I’m sure many Wise residents wish they could afford what Fairfax has.
[Ed. Note: Post edited for typos after original posting.]