By Katy Cannady, Alexandria (File photo)

To the editor:
Virginia’s state ethics requirements are extremely lax — almost non-existent in fact.

Former Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) was tried and convicted on corruption charges in a federal court. Under state law, he had done nothing illegal. Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) has an initiative to improve our state ethics rules, which is commendable. His challenge will be the General Assembly, which usually resists his proposals.

A member of the board who is an attorney has already done some research and found that at least one Virginia jurisdiction has an ethics commission. We are now a dense urban community and one-size-fits-all state rules, even if improved from the current feeble standards, are not sufficient for us.