ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 23, 1997 TAG: 9701230061
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: ROBERT LITTLE STAFF WRITER
ROSCOE REYNOLDS TOLD VOTERS he would be the state Senate's next Virgil Goode - and some recent party-bucking moves may indicate he's on track.
The Virginia Senate passed a bill Wednesday with some unexpected help from its political past - the ghost of Virgil Goode, who has long since gone to Capitol Hill.
The Senate voted to strip welfare benefits from parolees who test positive for drug use twice. The bill passed 27-12, a comfortable margin by most standards.
But behind its easy ride on the Senate floor Wednesday was a vote in the Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee that nearly put the bill to rest for the year.
The Democrats on that committee, who hold an 8-7 majority, all voted against the bill - except Roscoe Reynolds.
Reynolds is the Henry County senator who took Goode's place this year, winning a campaign in which he promised to be the Senate's next Virgil Goode, the former Franklin County senator best known for his Southern twang and the quirky independence that had him siding with Republicans more than Democrats.
So will voters see in Reynolds a Goode-esque defiance that essentially hands control of the social services committee to the Republicans?
"I don't know that you will, I don't know that you won't," Reynolds said, mimicking another confounding style of his predecessor.
Democrats weren't ready Wednesday to give up on Reynolds as a faithful partisan.
"There are still a lot of differences between Roscoe and Virgil," said Fairfax Sen. Richard Saslaw, the Senate's Democratic floor leader.
"We'll just have to see," said Norfolk Sen. Yvonne Miller, chairwoman of the committee.
But one point was clear: That Republican-sponsored welfare bill would not have passed if not for Roscoe Reynolds.
The measure, which now goes before the House of Delegates, is designed to discourage drug use among people out of prison on parole. They would be denied Aid to Families with Dependent Children after failing a second drug screening. Food stamps, Medicaid and assistance for other family members would not be affected.
Opponents argued that denying welfare benefits to any family member necessarily affects the quality of life of every family member. And one of those opponents was Sen. Janet Howell, the Fairfax County Democrat whom Reynolds replaced on the social services committee.
"That's a bad bill, and I would have voted against it," she said. "I wish I could go back and kill it."
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Reynolds. color. KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1997by CNB