AP Day at the Capital to explore ethics, Medicaid expansion, energy

What does the future hold for lobbying and ethics in Virginia following the conviction of former Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife?

That’s one of the questions that panelists will explore at this year’s AP Day at the Capital on Dec. 3 at The Richmond Times-Dispatch. The annual event is a great way for reporters, editors and editorial page writers to prepare for the upcoming session and to meet some of the movers and shakers in state government.

Our program is still developing, but here are our plans as of now:

• We’ll start with registration at 9 a.m.
• Our opening panel at 9:30 a.m. will explore Medicaid expansion in Virginia. Panelists will include Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources William A. Hazel; Doug Gray, executive director of the Virginia Association of Health Plans; and Jill Hanken, senior attorney at the Virginia Poverty Law Center. The session will be moderated by Richmond Times-Dispatch reporter Michael Martz.
• Next we’ll hear about the environmental impact of energy. Chelyen Davis, assistant editorial page editor of The Free Lance-Star, will moderate this panel. The panelists will include Secretary of Natural Resources Molly Ward, David Botkins of Dominion Virginia Power, and Greg Buppert of the Southern Environmental Law Center.
• Following lunch, we’ll end the day with a panel discussing statehouse lobbying and ethics reform. The panel will be moderated by Dr. Quentin Kidd of Christopher Newport University. Panelists will include Sen. Chap Peterson and Whitt Clement of Hunton & Williams.

We expect to add a few more speakers and panelists to the program in coming weeks!

Once again, our registration fee will be just $15 a person and will include lunch. Virginia Press Association has joined us as a sponsor this year and will be handling registration. A registration form is attached, or you can contact Kim Woodward at kimw@vpa.net to register. The registration deadline is Tuesday, Nov. 25.

In addition to VPA, sponsors include Virginia AP Managing Editors, Virginia Capital Correspondents Association and the Virginia Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.