Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 22, 1992 TAG: 9201220375
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
DELUGE OF LEGISLATION FILED
An influx of freshmen legislators and reaction to a surly electorate combined Tuesday to produce a torrent of bills and resolutions and a near-record workload for the 1992 General Assembly.As the assembly reached a self-imposed deadline for introducing legislation, more than 1,000 measures were dropped in on Tuesday alone.
"I've never seen so much junk," said Del. Lewis Parker, D-Mecklenburg.
Clerks in both Houses worked into the night sorting and adding up the proposals, but said they were sure the 1992 legislature will end up considering well over 2,000 pieces of legislation - approaching but not exceeding a 14-year record of 2,700.
As usual, the final day for introducing legislation had legislators lobbying one another to sign on to various measures as co-sponsors. The thinking is that a few powerful lawmakers or just a long list of supporters can improve a bill's chances.
"People are running around here today like orphans, looking for someone to sign their bills," observed Del. Jay DeBoer, D-Petersburg, who admitted to carrying an all-time personal high of measures.
House and Senate leaders all but begged their colleagues for restraint. House Majority Leader Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton, warned that if all the 3,000-plus measures legislators had asked to be drafted were actually introduced, the assembly would have about 6.5 minutes to consider each bill.
"We've got a lot of new members with bills they requested from campaign promises and the people seem to have their political antennae as finely tuned as I've seen," Cranwell said in explaining the onslaught.
"The general population is not that happy with the politicians these days, so we try to do something," said Sen. Frank Nolen, D-Augusta.
Many of Tuesday's bills were copies. In both parties, legislators often rush to back politically popular measures, introducing multiple bills to accomplish the same thing.
This year, measures calling for the direct election of school boards are common. There are a variety of plans to carve up the state's lottery profits, all of which now go to the general fund and would continue to do so in Gov. Douglas Wilder's budget.
Some veteran lawmakers were scratching their heads at the legislative proclivity of their juniors.
"I think the first year I was down here, I had one bill," said Sen. Madison Marye, D-Shawsville. Offhand, he couldn't remember exactly what it was for, or even whether it passed.
Legislators who have been around are old hands at many of the issues they will study in the coming weeks. And for the uninitiated, many of the bills come from the state's legislative drafting service with strong hints as to their practicality.
A gray folder around a measure means that several lawyers in the drafting department think the bill has constitutional problems. A red folder indicates they think it almost certainly is unconstitutional.
And a blue binder means that the state's drafting department did not draw the bill - an indication that they either felt it impractical or the member rejected the department's proposed draft.