Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 2, 1992 TAG: 9203020083
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ROB EURE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long
A group of young members, resentful of the closely held power of senior Democrats in crafting the budget, was threatening heresy: They had the votes, they claimed, to defeat the entire $28 billion spending plan.
"The very devil broke loose, and it came from the back benches," said Del. Clifton Woodrum, D-Roanoke.
Speaker Thomas Moss of Norfolk was sympathetic to the upstarts. But he knew insurgency would bring chaos. So Moss, known for congeniality, stepped out of character and took the whole room to task.
"He pleaded his case to the group collectively, a kind of `come-on-guys' speech," said Del. Glenn Croshaw, D-Virginia Beach. "It worked pretty well."
Majority Leader Richard Cranwell of Vinton also was out of character at the Feb. 20 meeting, watch- I think both men have put aside what people might think would have been a very natural battle of ambition. To credit the speaker, I think he's given Dick the latitude to lead. If he had wanted to constrain the majority leader, he's got the power to do it. Del. Thomas Jackson, D-Hillsville ing the mutiny among a group of delegates he is accustomed to leading into battle.
In the end, no budget coup materialized. But the insurgents made their point, winning the first significant budget changes on the House floor in nearly four decades.
It wasn't the first difficult moment in the House caucus this year, and younger members say such infighting may become more common.
The warfare is at once the accomplishment and damnation of the House of Delegates' new leadership team of Moss and Cranwell.
The two were rivals for the House's top leadership post last fall. Now, each man is in different ways dedicated to breaking the monopoly of power held by a handful of senior Democrats and to including newer members in the policy decisions that shape state government.
"There is a danger in that, because democracy can be messy," said Del. Thomas Jackson, D-Hillsville. "Once you are included in the process, you are never going to accept being excluded again. But I think it's a positive step, and I credit both of them."
Just three months after Moss and Cranwell ended their battle to succeed A.L. Philpott of Bassett as speaker, the men have forged - at least outwardly - a complementary working relationship.
"I think it's remarkable that these two guys have put aside many of their differences," Croshaw said. "Tom has allowed Dick to cut a pretty broad path, and I think Dick has been more than understanding in giving Tom some degree of deference."
Others say there are signs of strain, but neither man has let it interfere with legislative work.
"They are really like estranged brothers now," said Del. Jay DeBoer, D-Petersburg. "They were good friends before the speaker's battle came up; and for those of us who have watched closely, there has been some tension."
Each praises the other's work this year, and whatever the private relationship, they appear to have devised a system that plays to their respective strengths.
Moss, 63, who built his reputation on convivial relations with his peers, has made accessibility his trademark. He has spent his first year streamlining the procedures of the House, leaving the legislative agenda to Cranwell.
Moss changed House rules to allow faster action on many measures - a move that enabled delegates to finish their larger agenda of bills ahead of the Senate for the first time.
"I haven't really used all the authority the job has to guide the action of the House," Moss said. "I don't have a problem with that. This is the job I've wanted all my life, and I feel quite secure about it."
Moss said he intended to make himself approachable and he keeps office hours in the General Assembly Building, along with the other delegates. Philpott generally worked in a cozier hideaway in the Capitol, monitoring the process and policy-making of the House closely and ruling by fear and force of personality.
"I don't think Tom assumed the speakership with an agenda in mind," said Jackson, one of Cranwell's strongest allies. "He's allowed the process to work and placed greater responsibility on the majority leader to guide the House and set the agenda.
"I think both men have put aside what people might think would have been a very natural battle of ambition. To credit the speaker, I think he's given Dick the latitude to lead. If he had wanted to constrain the majority leader, he's got the power to do it."
Moss has left much of the policy work to the more energetic Cranwell, 49, a hard-edged taskmaster who is known as a quick-minded, consummate deal-maker.
Cranwell, who admits to a "combative" nature, has organized meetings of groups of younger legislators to work on issues. He also makes a daily written report to fellow Democrats on committee actions, including a synopsis of debate on various bills.
He says being majority leader has taken more time than he expected, "but I'm doing the same kind of thing I've always done."
The "same kind of thing" for Cranwell has been placing himself in the middle of the year's biggest issue. He concocted an innovative borrow-and-build program for public works, including new highways, that also would have provided money to help poor school districts.
The proposal, which would have been financed by a half-cent increase in the sales tax, crumbled under opposition from the Senate and Gov. Douglas Wilder, whose own bond plan included nothing for roads or education.
"He [Cranwell] lost, but he brought the issues of transportation and disparity in education to the forefront before others thought we were ready. He earns credit for that," said Croshaw.
Both the House and Senate budget plans include money to begin addressing disparity in spending between rich and poor school districts. When introduced by Wilder, the budget had no disparity money.
Cranwell's closest friends say they think his new leadership post has been a mixed blessing. It allows him to exercise his forceful will to a greater degree, but Cranwell sometimes has found it frustrating to answer to the disparate concerns of the 57 other House Democrats.
Most agree this year has been particularly difficult, as the legislature struggled with a tight budget, the increasing size and clout of Republican ranks and Wilder's unpredictable agenda and legislative strategy.
"It's been a situation of what are they [Republicans] going to do, what are we going to do and what is he [Wilder] going to do?" Croshaw said. "That's made it difficult."
"It's a heck of a baptism by fire," Moss said.
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by CNB