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A Republican lawmaker from Prince William County said Wednesday that he would support “a very constraining cap” on gifts that legislators could accept.

“I want to be very aggressive,” Del. Richard L. Anderson, R-Prince William, said at AP Day at the Capital, an annual gathering of newsmakers and reporters from around the state, held at the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Anderson, a delegate since 2010, retired in 2009 as a full colonel after a 30-year Air Force career.

He said the state has reached a “defining moment” on the issue because of what he termed “the recent unpleasantness,” a reference to the September convictions of former Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, on public corruption charges.

A federal judge will sentence Bob McDonnell Jan. 6, about a week before the General Assembly convenes its session.

The discussion panel Wednesday also included Whittington W. “Whitt” Clement, a partner at Hunton & Williams and head of its state government practice group, and Chris Piper, a veteran state elections official who is now executive director of the Virginia Ethics and Conflict of Interests Advisory Council.