Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 4, 1991 TAG: 9103040211
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B5 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Those are a few of the questions the General Assembly hopes to get answered before it convenes in January for the 1992 regular session.
While the assembly is not in session, its work will continue as lawmakers and state officials study issues that may be the subject of future legislation.
The 1991 General Assembly passed dozens of resolutions creating new studies or continuing old ones. Lawmakers say the between-session studies are a vital part of the legislative process.
"The studies have been extremely valuable for us," said Del. J. Samuel Glasscock, D-Suffolk. "Some of the best legislation has come out of these studies. You have time to really work on it, and you can bring experts in to provide information."
The testimony of experts is not the only benefit, said Del. George W. Grayson.
"In meetings around the state, we really learn what people think about things," said Grayson, D-James City. "It puts us cheek-by-jowl with the people."
For example, Grayson said legislators studying transportation problems in the Tidewater area assumed bridge and tunnel tolls would be a popular solution because local government officials liked the idea. Citizens attending a public hearing convinced them otherwise.
Such studies keep Virginia's citizen-legislators busy year-round. Grayson estimated that he attends an average of one meeting a week while the assembly is not in session.
However, Grayson said the state's budget crunch has forced the legislature to rein in its spending on studies. He said fewer studies are being conducted, and the budgets for those studies are smaller than in the past.
"Also, there's a trend toward asking state agencies to study an issue instead of having legislators do it," Grayson said.
As an example, he cited a study on preserving the historic integrity of Virginia 5, a highway that runs along the James River between Richmond and Williamsburg. "Five years ago, it would have been a legislative study," Grayson said. "This year, we asked the Department of Historic Resources to study it."
The fungal threat on the dogwood, Virginia's official floral emblem, will be scrutinized by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service.
Issues that are not probed by special legislative committees or state agencies sometimes are examined by the assembly's regular committees. The House Appropriations Committee and Senate Finance Committee, for example, will study funding for the arts.
Glasscock sponsored a resolution continuing a joint subcommittee studying preventable death and disability. He said the panel is examining ways to promote disease prevention.
"We have a health care system, but not a health care policy," Glasscock said. "The system is designed to develop technologies to fight disease, to cure people, but not enough attention is given to prevention."
For example, he said the state "spends scads of money" treating babies born with various maladies that could be avoided through better prenatal care.
Grayson serves on the subcommittee examining the problem of crack-addicted babies. "It's an extraordinarily complicated issue," Grayson said.
by CNB