In the new millenium lobbyists from Payday Lenders started filling the pockets of elected officials across Virginia. In 2002 they recieved a return on that investment in the form of the Parasite, er, Payday Lending Act, which allowed them to do business here in the Commonwealth. According to the Virginia Public Access Project, as reported by the Free-Lance Star, total contributions to Virginia legislators have gone from a paltry $57,440 in 2000, to nearly $400k last year. Thankfully, however, not every politician in our state can be bought.
Sen. Yvonne Miller (D-Norfolk), for example, recieved a nice fat check from these lobbyists recently, but promptly returned it. Others have recieved large amounts yet still voted to repeal the act. Predictably, it's members of the Commerce and Labor Committees in both bodies that have been hit up the most.
In the House Committee, Johnny Joannou (D-Portsmouth) recieved the most at $11,300 in the past two years. Vince Callahan (R-McLean) and Terry Kilgore (R-Gate City) were next at just under $10,000. However it was only Joannou of that group who voted to repeal the act. On the Senate side, Walter Stosch (R-Henrico) recieved a whopping $17,650 since '04, but he too voted to repeal the Payday Lending Act. I guess the lobbyists priority is to influence first, reward second. It'll be interesting to see if their "investment" pays off in the future like it did in 2002....