The Virginia General Assembly took action on campaign finance reform this year, but a Richmond delegate’s proposal to study beefing up enforcement didn’t make the cut.

The legislation introduced by Del. Mike Jones, D-Richmond — which he said was partly inspired by controversy over the paperwork filed by former Richmond City Council candidate Tavares Floyd — was never brought to a committee hearing in the Democratic-controlled House of Delegates.

A Senate version sponsored by Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, passed the upper chamber. It too failed when it got to the House.

In an interview, Jones said the outcome doesn’t necessarily mean there’s strong opposition to the measure. Instead, he said, it reflects the limits of how many things the General Assembly can do at once.

“Only so many pieces can be looked at,” Jones said, adding that he intends to reintroduce the idea in 2026.

In a rare breakthrough on campaign finance policy, the legislature passed a bill this year to ban politicians from spending campaign cash on themselves. Though Virginia has no limits on the size of contributions from wealthy donors and corporations, campaign finance reform advocates have long argued that political candidates should only be able to spend the money they receive for campaign purposes instead of dipping into it for personal expenses unrelated to politics. Previous proposals to ban the personal use of campaign cash had failed year after year, but the bill is now awaiting action by Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

Even though the Jones-sponsored campaign finance measure stalled in the House, Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, said the legislature had taken action on the issue in other ways.

“We are proud to lead Virginia in making progress on our campaign finance laws,” the speaker, who leads the House Rules Committee, said in a statement. “For the first time in decades, we have made significant strides, and unanimously passed a bill banning the personal use of campaign funds.”

The unsuccessful proposal by Jones called for the General Assembly’s research arm — the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission — to conduct a study to find potential gaps in campaign finance enforcement and consider the possibility of creating a new agency to more strictly enforce rules governing money in state and local politics. The study would have produced recommendations for the General Assembly to consider in future sessions.

Multiple discrepancies emerged in campaign paperwork filed last year by Floyd, a former Richmond City Council aide who was running to unseat the member he worked for, Councilor Ellen Robertson (6th District). Robertson won a three-way race after Floyd was accused of inflating his fundraising numbers by listing contributions from donors who said they hadn’t given him any money. 

On a separate form listing his financial interests, Floyd indicated he was making significant money from an ownership stake in a funeral home, but a representative for the business said he had only worked a part-time job there.

Floyd disputed the accusations, but offered no explanation of the issues with his filings. He called a news conference on the matter in early November, but took no questions from reporters.

Intentionally false statements on election paperwork can bring felony charges in Virginia, and the forms candidates file include clear warnings saying as much. However, when the allegations against Floyd arose, state and local officials seemed unsure whose responsibility it was to review Floyd’s filings and take action to enforce rules requiring campaign paperwork to be accurate.

Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Colette McEachin has said her office is looking into the allegations against Floyd, but she initially indicated she could not take action unless some other governmental authority formally referred the matter to prosecutors.

When Rouse presented the proposal in the Senate Rules Committee, he too referenced the Floyd controversy as he said the Virginia Department of Elections only has a handful of staffers dealing with campaign finance.

“There was an issue that arose I believe in a Richmond local race that kind of highlighted this,” Rouse said at the Jan. 24 hearing.

Several senators said they supported the measure.

“I spoke to a commonwealth’s attorney about this and got different options,” said Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria. “I think it would be interesting to have JLARC analyze how it’s done in other states and give the General Assembly a menu.”

Lawmakers also try not to request too many JLARC studies at once, and the commission already has a substantial workload for 2025. 

The Senate version of the proposal called for the study to be completed in 2026, with recommendations due in time for the 2027 legislative session.

“We’ll bring it back again next year,” Jones said.