Newsletter

January 12, 2003

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the 2003 Session of the Virginia General Assembly! Over the next six weeks, I'll try to keep you up to date on the important (and some not-so-important) goings-on in Richmond.

Early Monday morning, I left the snowy climes of Northern Virginia and headed south to balmy Richmond for the 2003 Legislative Session. The warm weather in Richmond did little to ameliorate the cold reality of the $1.2 billion budget shortfall facing the General Assembly over the next 46 days.

 

This is our "short session" - 46 days in duration (as opposed to the even-year 60-day "long session" during which we hash out the biennial budget). Our principal item of business in this cycle is making mid-course corrections to the budget we passed in 2002. Given the immense deficit we must overcome, this could also be called the "lean year."

Tuesday found legislators and staffers double-timing their way through the halls, reviewing drafts of pre-filed bills, making corrections for bills that had to be introduced on the first day of session, requesting new drafts, tracking down co-patrons, trying to ferret out potential unintended consequences of proposals that just a few days earlier had seemed Jeffersonian in their brilliance.

Wednesday, with bill packages under their arms, Delegates lined up to file their legislation two hours before they convened at high noon for the formal opening of the 2003 General Assembly. Delegate William Howell of Stafford County was installed as the newly elected Speaker of the House (his predecessor having left office rather abruptly last summer), and three new Delegates were sworn in.

Governor Warner addressed a joint session of the Assembly that evening. While acknowledging the difficult times we face, he declared that the State of the Commonwealth is strong. Given the situation we are in, the speech was upbeat and a rousing success, if audience response is any guide: the newspapers reported that he was interrupted by applause 55 times, along with numerous standing ovations. The longest and loudest of these came when the Governor vowed that he would not sign a budget that cut funding for education. "We have made too much progress to retreat from our commitment to public schools," he said. He then proposed an additional $65 million in basic aid to public schools.

In addition to his strong stance on education, Gov. Warner called for streamlining state government, restructuring the mental health system, and fostering economic development.

The biggest surprise was the announcement that 12 recently closed Department of Motor

Vehicles service centers would reopen. Pressure has been building from DMV consumers who have been inconvenienced by the closings. With the DMV as in numerous other areas, Governor Warner is taking advantage of tight budget conditions to examine how the Commonwealth delivers services to its citizens and how it can do its job more efficiently. He proposed letting local revenue offices do some of the registration transactions and is installing computerized kiosks in the offices to cut down on long lines. (I have an idea of my own, which I'll mention below.)

The Governor unveiled several other proposals in his Wednesday speech, including:

I have mixed feelings about the gubernatorial succession issue. On the one hand, as a creature of the legislative branch -- first on Capitol Hill and now in Richmond -- I have misgivings about a proposal that would tip the balance of power even more in favor of the Executive Branch. We are just a part-time legislature, and they don't call the Governor I have mixed feelings about the gubernatorial succession issue. On the one hand, as a creature of the legislative branch -- first on Capitol Hill and now in Richmond -- I have misgivings about a proposal that would tip the balance of power even more in favor of the Executive Branch. We are just a part-time legislature, and they don't call the Governor "His Excellency" for nothing. One of the few things tilting in favor of the legislature is the reality that the Governor is a lame duck the moment he takes his hand off the Bible on Inauguration Day. On the other hand, Governor Warner is right in contending that multiple terms would enable more long-range planning. (They also might promote a greater sense of accountability on the part of the Chief Executive. After the performance of the most recent occupant of the Governor's Mansion, who reveled in the good times and pushed the unpleasant consequences off beyond his last day in office, I sometimes think that Governors shouldn't just be permitted to succeed themselves, they should be required to -

The highlights:

But wait - there's more! I'll be talking about these and other bills in the coming weeks as they make their way through the sausage factory. You can track their progress (or fate) on your own by going to http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?031+mbr+H114

Let the games begin. Until next week,

Bob Brink

POSTSCRIPT: On our first day home on Saturday, we received the terrible news that Charles Monroe, Chair of the Arlington County Board, collapsed and died while leading his first County Board meeting. He was only 46. He leaves behind his parents, his wife Babs, his sons Christopher and Jonathan, and more admirers than you could ever imagine.Charles was a quiet man whose civility masked a passion for making Arlington a better place for all of us to live. In addition to my sorrow at his loss, I feel cheated by his death. I had looked forward to working with him for years to come, sharing his grace, his courtliness, and his friendship. It's a sad time for us.