ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 28, 1996 TAG: 9601290043
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: GENERAL ASSEMBLY NOTEBOOK
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE AND ROBERT LITTLE STAFF WRITERS
The crush outside Del. Vic Thomas' office in Richmond has come to rival the morning rush at his Orange Avenue grocery back in Roanoke.
Only the Richmond lobbyists aren't coming around for homemade sausage biscuits.
They are hoping to catch a word or two with Thomas, a senior Democrat who next month could be elevated to the General Assembly's most exclusive club.
Thomas is next in line to become a budget conferee, one of the few lawmakers from each chamber who retire behind closed doors to reconcile House and Senate versions of the state budget.
"It would be helpful to have Vic on there," said Del. Clifton "Chip" Woodrum, D-Roanoke, alluding to conferees' leverage to sprinkle state money on projects in their districts.
Thomas declined comment because his appointment is caught in a House-Senate standoff involving another Western Virginia Democrat, Sen. Virgil Goode of Rocky Mount.
Goode is guaranteed a seat on the Senate side of the budget conference table under a compromise between the 20 Democrats and 20 Republicans in the upper chamber.
The Senate plan calls for expanding the number of conferees from each chamber from four to five.
The catch is that House Speaker Thomas Moss, D-Norfolk, must agree to add a fifth conferee from the House. Such a move should open a slot for Thomas.
But there is speculation that Moss might refuse to appoint conferees altogether in an effort to force Goode off the Senate panel.
Democrats are anxious to find a way to punish Goode for his unwillingness to help his party retain control of all Senate committees. Instead, Goode forced fellow Democrats to share power by threatening to side with GOP senators.
The drama won't be played out until Feb. 27, the deadline for appointing budget conferees.
Moss may have little leverage because Senate Republicans likely would tap Goode even if each chamber had four conferees.
By not agreeing to add a conferee, Moss may succeed only in kicking off a Senate Democrat and denying Thomas a place at the table.
Bill would expand Senate, House
Sen. Madison Marye has nothing against the lieutenant governor, he just thinks stripping him of power would be good for the commonwealth.
Marye, a Shawsville Democrat, offered a resolution this year to change the constitution to increase the 40-member Senate and 100-member House of Delegates by one member apiece. Prompted by the 20-seat tie in this year's state Senate, the measure would erase any doubts about which party controls the government, Marye argued.
He presented the measure Wednesday before the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee.
"Have you thought what this might do to the lieutenant governor?'' asked Sen. Mark Earley, R-Chesapeake. The lieutenant governor's primary responsibility is to preside over the Senate and cast tie-breaking votes. "It would take all the fun out of the job," Earley said.
Members voted to sit on the idea until next year.
That did little to its legislative future, however, considering that constitutional amendments must be approved in two legislative sessions - with an election in between. Even if the measure passed this year, it couldn't be considered again until 1998.
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1996by CNB