Media reports have accused House Republicans and Delegate and Tobacco Commission Chair Terry Kilgore of cutting a deal to provide State Senator Philip Puckett a cushy job at the Tobacco Commission and judgeship for his daughter in exchange for his resignation, swinging control of the State Senate. If true, the deal raises serious questions about Speaker Bill Howell and Terry Kilgore’s manipulation of government jobs as leverage to prevent closing the coverage gap for 400,000 Virginians.

This isn’t the first time accusations have arisen regarding mismanagement and patronage at the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission. In fact, in 2010 a commissioner was convicted of defrauding the Commission of $4M and a 2011 JLARC report questioned the Commission’s governance practices and called for better oversight. Virginians deserve answers over how state jobs were used as leverage in a political fight over extending affordable health care to Virginia families, and assurances that Tobacco Commission resources haven’t been misappropriated for political purposes under the current management.

Join us in asking the Department of Justice and State Attorney General Herring to investigate now.