In January 1994, the Joint Subcommittee completed its study of the December 1992 report, Public Service, Public Trust, submitted by the Governor's Commission on Campaign Finance Reform, Government Accountability, and Ethics. The Joint Subcommittee reviewed each of the Commission proposals which the 1993 General Assembly had deferred for study. See Senate Joint Resolution 217 (1993), Appendix A. The table in Appendix B summarizes the Joint Subcommittee's position and the actions taken during both the 1993 and 1994 Sessions with respect to each of the Commission's thirty-seven recommendations.

The Commission concluded, and the Joint Subcommittee agreed, that Virginia has a "heritage of clean government" which warrants safeguarding. The Commonwealth is fortunate that scandal did not prompt the studies undertaken by the Commission or Joint Subcommittee. The two groups shared common goals and sought to promote accountability by public servants to the public, encourage public service, and preclude future scandal.

To further these goals, the Joint Subcommittee endorsed seventeen proposals made by the Commission, either in the terms set out by the Commission or with modifications, in addition to six Commission proposals which had been enacted in 1993. The 1994 General Assembly refined and adopted fourteen of the seventeen proposals, bringing to twenty the number of Commission proposals which have generated changes in the law.