Speaker Bill Howell has released the report of the House Ethics Panel inquiry into Newport News Delegate Phil Hamilton. The report (pdf) is, as expected, brief: since Hamilton has resigned, the panel says it lacks jurisdiction to proceed.
In an email, Speaker Howell says:
While I regret that their fact-finding inquiry did not reach a final conclusion whether an actual violation of state law occurred, I understand the decision by the Ethics Panel and respect them for not wanting to operate outside of the legal authority granted by the Code of Virginia.
Howell initiated the ethics panel inquiry after a series of stories in the Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press exposed the potential conflict of interest, with Hamilton having obtained a job with Old Dominion University after having inserted a line into the budget to fund the project.
Howell promises to “lead in ensuring that the manner in which legislative ethics inquiries are conducted is thoughtfully examined during the 2010 Session of the General Assembly.” I suspect we will see some well-needed ethics reform in the coming session.
The federal inquiry into the Hamilton/ODU matter is ongoing.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
The “report” is less than a report. It’s a letter saying there won’t be a report.
Yeah, I should have put that in quotation marks.
If you believe that there will be “ethics reform” under Howell, then I’ve got some prime land in the Dismal Swamp you’ll want to buy, do you can put a big house on it! House Ethics is an oxymoron in Virginia!
A gal can hope, can’t she? 😉