"Okay, local legislators aren't exactly high rollers showered with gifts from lobbyists like, for instance, State Senator Kenneth Stolle. The Virginia Beach Republican went on two deer-hunting trips to Texas last year courtesy of the Virginia Sheriff's Association-- to the tune of $9,380. And he came home with a $283.50 souvenir jacket to boot.

"They ask us to go every year, and quite frankly, I have a hard time telling the sheriffs, 'No, I'm not going to go hunting with you,'" said Stolle in an AP report. Stolle, a former police officer who has headed the state Crime Commission and the Courts Committee in his 17 years in the Senate, pooh-poohs the notion that such perks would influence his votes.

And Senator Thomas K. Norment (R-James City), who also was on one of the hunting trips-- valued at $5,512-- bristled when asked about influence.

"Frankly, I'm offended you would ask me that question," AP political writer Bob Lewis quotes Norment as telling reporters. "If you think I'm going to be influenced by a hunting trip, then I'm disappointed in your professionalism." Norment, too, got a $283.50 jacket.

Among the local delegation to the General Assembly, no one reported a trip to Texas. But in Charlottesville, you can be sure UVA football tickets were distributed.

Here is the gifting report, numbers courtesy the Virginia Public Access Project.

Senator Emmett Hanger: $963

$450 Anheuser Busch Busch Gardens tickets

$400 Virginia Horse Council trail ride

$113 Altria dinner

Delegate Steve Landes: $911

$264 Virginia Tech 6 football tickets

$143 Rockingham Mem. Hospital dinner

$133 Virginia Assoc. of Broadcasters annual dinner

$123 Altria dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse

$100 UVA 2 football tickets

$75 VA Agribusiness Council annual dinner

$73 Lexis-Nexis dinner

Senator Creigh Deeds: $737

$263 VA Beer Wholesalers Assoc. beer, shad planking in Wakefield

$135 UVA pregame buffet and football games

$96 Altria dinner

$71 Hunton & Williams dinner at Bookbinder's in Richmond

$66 McGuire Woods dinner at Bacchus in Richmond

$55 VA Vines & Wines PAC 3 bottles of wine

$52 VA Chamber of Commerce Old Dominion Assembly reception

Delegate David Toscano: $351

$299 King's Dominion entertainment

$52 Dominion Power dinner

Delegate Watkins Abbitt: $198

$122 Swedish Match box of Portagas Rosada cigars

$76 Jewell Smokeless Coal Corp. dinner

Delegate Rob Bell: $160

$160 UVA events and receptions

(The Hook, February 14, 2008)