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State Sen. Nathaniel Exum (D-Dist. 24) of Capitol Heights is seeking to repeal a 16-year-old ethics law that prohibits developers with projects in the pipeline from giving campaign contributions directly to County Council members.

Senate Bill 391, introduced Monday by Exum, has sparked questions from legislators and government watchdogs, who say repealing the rule designed to prevent developers from wielding influence through payments is already too weak.

"It's certainly a bold bill to introduce," said Ryan O'Donnell, executive director of the group Common Cause Maryland. "We need to strengthen our pay-to-play laws, not weaken them."

Exum did not immediately return a call to his office for comment Wednesday.

Exum's daughter, Camille Exum, also of Capitol Heights, has served as the District 7 representative on the County Council since 2002. According to The Washington Post, Senator Exum denies the legislation is intended to help his daughter, who is not able to run again for her council seat in 2010 because of term limits.

Camille Exum said Tuesday afternoon that she had "heard about but has not seen" the legislation introduced by her father. Calls to Exum's council office were not answered Wednesday morning.

The proposed legislation has been referred to the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee for a hearing, though none had been scheduled as of Wednesday.

According to the first draft of the legislation, Nathaniel Exum is seeking to repeal the restrictions that prevent anyone involved in a development under review for approval by the County Council from contributing to council members, and would lift rules preventing council members who have taken a contribution from the applicants in the past three years from voting on the projects.

Prince George's County has seen a boom in subdivision development and other projects in the past 20 years. While the growth has positioned the county better financially, anti-sprawl activists say the county has compromised too often with wealthy businessmen championing the projects.

"This is an embarrassment to [Exum], his daughter, the County Council, the whole of Prince George's County," said Kelly Canavan of the Accokeek Mattawoman Piscataway Creeks Council, a south county environmental group that has filed several lawsuits challenging the council's land zoning decisions.

"It doesn't give citizens faith in good government," said Canavan, who added that freeing up developer donations creates "a very, very direct quid pro quo situation" with the council.

The link between elected officials and developers also appears to be the subject of at least one ongoing federal investigation in the county. This fall, FBI agents searched county offices seeking information about a Greenbelt Metro Station development, and the investigation is continuing.

County Council candidates have been able to bypass the restrictions on developer contributions for years by raising money through slates, or joint committees with state-level delegates and senate candidates, dividing the money for individual races.