Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 8, 1992 TAG: 9203080160
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ROB EURE and GREG SCHNEIDER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long
A series of parliamentary moves that befuddled even Senate leaders ended with the death of a bill to allow authorities to immediately revoke for 10 days the licenses of those charged with drunken driving.
The Senate then adjourned, leaving the House still in session, as opponents of the measure rushed to prevent revival of the so-called "administrative revocation."
The House quit a half-hour later, leaving at 6:32 p.m.
Terry and what seemed to be a battalion of her deputies worked the halls of the Capitol all day as first the House rejected a compromise and then the Senate killed a different version of the drunken-driving bill. A dejected Terry left quickly after the Senate's action, suggesting that Republicans had ganged up against her to damage her political standing as she prepares her run for governor in 1993.
Most Republicans teamed up, with five defecting Democrats to kill the measure 19-21. The Senate earlier passed a measure that would have permitted revocation for even longer than the 10 days in the final compromise.
Sen. Joseph Gartlan, D-Fairfax County, fumed at the parliamentary antics that killed the measure he sponsored for Terry, likening the Senate's final moments to "a disorganized sandbox of infants."
At one point, the Senate voted to adjourn for the year, sending perplexed leaders scurrying to find a way to declare the vote out of order. They did, and the Senate promptly voted again to adjourn for the day.
Senator Madison Marye, D-Shawsville, held up a sign that read "SEND POLICE" as the leaders found a way to keep working even after voting to adjourn. Advocates for Terry's bill finally gave up, and a few minutes later so did Majority Leader Hunter Andrews of Hampton.
Lt. Gov. Donald Beyer, leaving the podium where he had ruled, unruled and reruled over the frenzy, asked reporters, "Did anybody understand what I did?' "
Earlier Saturday, the legislature sent Gov. Douglas Wilder their work on his $28 billion, two-year budget after Republicans complained of being shut out of the final spending decisions.
Wilder, who saw some of his cuts in arts and education restored and lost his top priority item in a tax on health-care providers, nonetheless praised the lawmakers' effort.
"I'm pretty much satisfied . . . [but] to the extent we have some fine-tuning, we'll do that," Wilder said.
Wilder can suggest changes in the budget at a special session in April, when the assembly considers any items the governor has vetoed.
The only real budget criticisms Saturday came from Republicans explaining their votes against the budget compromise, crafted by senior Democrats of the House and Senate money committees.
In the House, Republican Clinton Miller of Woodstock argued that Virginia is "heading down the road of debt" with major increases in the budget over the past decade.
But Democrats said a vote against the budget was a vote to deny localities money for education, transportation, corrections and other major needs addressed in the document.
The House spent about an hour on the political speeches before voting 64-35 to pass the 1992-1994 budget.
In the Senate, Minority Leader Joseph Benedetti of Richmond complained that only three Republicans were named to the powerful committee that shapes the budget, and that none was put on the team that brokered the final compromise with the House.
Still, half the Senate Republicans joined in the 31-9 majority for the budget deal. Some who previously served in the House even praised the Senate Finance Committee for allowing them a greater say in the process than they had enjoyed as delegates.
Some major features of the final budget are:
Increased state aid to education of about $180 million beyond Wilder's recommendations, including $80 million directed to poor school districts.
Money to give state employees their first raise since July 1990. They will receive a 2 percent increase in December.
Cuts of about 9 percent in most state agency budgets, bringing total agency cuts since the recession began in 1990 to about 25 percent.
Partial restoration of funds Wilder recommended cutting for public television, libraries, arts, the Virginia Tech Cooperative Extension Service, the Center for Innovative Technology in Northern Virginia, and tourism.
Restoration of $40 million in the lottery department's advertising budget that had been cut by the House.
Increased spending for Medicaid, the state's health insurance program for the poor, of about $300 million. The money was provided despite the failure of Wilder's proposed tax on doctors, hospitals and nursing homes.
Allowing state colleges and universities to raise about $200 million in the next two years through higher tuition.
by CNB