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RICHMOND Amid fear that new technology is handing police unprecedented power, an unlikely coalition of liberals and tea party conservatives in Virginia is trying to curtail the use of drones, license plate readers and wiretapping devices.

Lawmakers have passed several bills despite fierce law enforcement opposition an unusual turn in a state where the General Assembly has historically embraced tough-on-crime measures, particularly in an election year such as this one.

Members in both parties say the curtailments of police power are necessary because technological advances have outpaced the law.

The Ben Franklin Liberty Caucus, a bipartisan group formed last year, pushed several of this years bills.

Weve got to get a handle on it, or were going to be living in a surveillance society, said Del. C. Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah).

Its a weird alliance, acknowledged Del. Mark L. Cole (R-Spotsylvania), a conservative who sponsored legislation to limit civil asset forfeiture in the state. The American Civil Liberties Union and libertarian-minded tea party activists together lobbied lawmakers to support the bill.

This could be a really important session for protecting peoples property and rights from government overreach, said Claire Gastanaga of the Virginia ACLU. But, she added, theres plenty of room before the end of session for it all to come crashing down.

Under the measure restricting the use of license plate readers, which has been approved by both bodies of the General Assembly, police would be allowed to keep plate data for only seven days unless it is relevant to an ongoing investigation. Some departments have been holding onto and sharing such data for years.

Both chambers have also voted to shore up a law, passed last year, that requires a warrant for electronic searches and bans tracking devices, such as Stingrays, that mimic cellphone towers and trick cellphones into transmitting their location and other identifying information.

And after years of attempts and despite police desire for free rein, lawmakers are negotiating a regulatory framework for the use of drones, versions of which have passed both chambers.

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Va. bills that would curtail police powers create a weird alliance

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On a sunny Saturday in September 2009, with Wisconsin in the throes of tea party fervor, conservative starlet Michelle Malkin fired up a crowd of thousands at a lakefront park in Milwaukee with rhetoric about White House czars and union thugs and the "culture of dependency that they have rammed down our throats."

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, a Republican candidate for governor, casually attired in a red University of Wisconsin Badgers sweatshirt, stepped to the podium to amplify the message. "We're going to take back our government," he shouted, jabbing the air with a finger. The attendees whooped and clapped. "We've done it here, we can do it in Wisconsin and, by God, we're going to do it all across America."

In a way, the event was Scott Walker's graduation to the political major leagues. The audience had been delivered by Americans for Prosperity, a tea party organizing group founded by Charles and David Koch, the billionaire energy executives whose fortune helps shape Republican politics. With Americans for Prosperity, the brothers had harnessed the tea party's energy for their own policy goals, including deregulation and lower taxes. And in Walker, they'd found the perfect instrument to help carry them out.

The rally was one of the first times Walker and the Kochs joined forces. Their relationship was cemented during Walker's bitter war against public unions that led to a 2012 recall election. During the weeks of standoff at the capitol in Madison, it was the Kochs' tea party troops who provided the main counterforce to the tens of thousands of union activists protesting the governor, in a battle Walker eventually won.

As the struggle raged, Walker's alliance with his benefactors was satirized when a blogger posing as David Koch whom Walker had not yet met kept him on the line for 20 minutes.

This year, the relationship may evolve in unpredictable ways. With three tough statewide election victories under his belt, Walker, 47, is poised to pursue the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. The Kochs have pledged to marshal about $900 million to spend on a fight for the presidency, and their ties to Walker appear stronger than to any other hopefuls. While the older brother, Charles, has a personal affection for Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, the most libertarian-leaning potential candidate, Paul doesn't hold the same appeal for the Kochs' donor friends. Another high-profile contender, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, hasn't attended the high-profile donor summits the Kochs host near Palm Springs, California, though he was invited this year.

Tim Phillips, president of the Koch-founded Americans for Prosperity, said his group won't endorse a candidate in the primaries but had effusive praise for Walker.

"The difference Scott Walker has made with his policy achievements is as transformative as any governor anywhere in a generation," he said in an interview. "That's why his appeal flourishes for activists and for donors."

The Kochs and Walker now share a donor pool-a moneyed set that isn't the establishment Jeb Bush is counting on. One Koch stalwart solidly in Walker's corner is Stanley Hubbard, a billionaire Minnesota broadcast executive.

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Walker and the Kochs: A mutually effective GOP partnership

Posted on February 20, 2015

Kirk Groenig addresses a crowd of people protesting the proposed national health care plan Aug. 14, 2009 in Yakima, Wash. Groenig, the founder of the Central Washington Tea Party, died Wednesday. He was 59. (GORDON KING/Yakima Herald-Republic file)

ELLENSBURG, Wash. Kirk Groenig, founder of the Central Washington Tea Party, died Wednesday. He was 59.

Groenig, a tireless and outspoken critic in recent years of Democrats and Republicans alike, pushed a hard-line conservative stance on social issues, the economy and immigration. He organized many tea party rallies in Yakima.

Groenig, formerly of Yakima, died at his home in Ellensburg, according to a death notice received by the newspaper from Brookside Funeral Home and Crematory. Further arrangements are pending, according to the notice.

The cause of death could not be confirmed today, although Groenig recently made public posts on social media discussing his struggle with bone cancer.

Groenig is survived by his wife, Lisa Groenig; his children Shawn Groenig, Christine Groenig, Jesse Kuntz and Shannen Kuntz; his sister, Jenny Mansfield; and his brother, Kraig Groenig.

Attempts to contact Groenigs family and friends were not successful Thursday afternoon.

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Kirk Groenig, Central Washington Tea Party founder, dies at 59

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