
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 9, 1991                   TAG: 9104090625
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

WILDER THREATENS PLAN TO REDRAW VA. LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTS

Gov.Douglas Wilder threatened to veto or substantially alter a plan to redraw the state's legislative districts that would create only one additional majority-black Senate district.

The plan cleared the Senate in a special session Saturday. It was approved 12-4 by the House Privileges and Elections Committee this morning and was headed for a floor vote later today.

"I have not heard anyone speak approvingly of the plan. In fact, I haven't heard anyone who considered it legal," Wilder said.

The Senate plan would increase majority-black Senate districts from two to three. But Wilder and a coalition of black and civil-liberties groups have said the Senate must create four largely black districts to accurately reflect the state's population. The Senate has 40 members.

Del. Kenneth Melvin, D-Portsmouth, joined three Republicans in voting against the Senate plan in the House committee. Melvin, the committee's only black, said the plan "is flawed on its face. It makes no attempt to comply with the provisions of the Voting Rights Act."

Meanwhile, the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee voted 10-2 to approve the House redistricting plan after rejecting several amendments offered by Republicans who were paired with other GOP incumbents.

In a prepared statement Monday, the governor also took a slap at the Democratic leadership in the Senate, accusing it of "turning back the clock" on black political progress in Virginia.

"The action speaks poorly of the leadership of the Senate," the Democratic governor said. "More importantly, the people of Virginia don't deserve a reputation for turning the clock back on the progress that has been painstakingly made."

Wilder has indicated he approves of the House plan, which increases black-majority seats from nine to 11 in the 100-member chamber.

The legislature redraws political lines every 10 years, using census figures. Both houses meet today to review one another's plans. Wilder must sign off on both plans, which then go to the Justice Department for clearance under the Voting Rights Act.

The Senate plan adds the third district in Southside and strengthens the black voting-age population in the two existing minority districts in Norfolk and Richmond.

Sen. Joseph Gartlan, D-Fairfax, head of the Senate redistricting committee, was not surprised by Wilder's threat.

"I'm not so sure this is talking tough; I think it is fully expected," he said. "Anyone who thought the Senate plan was going to get by him wasn't being realistic."

Keywords:
POLITICS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

by CNB