Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 7, 1993 TAG: 9311070160
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BONNIE V. WINSTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long
But the most immediate result of Tuesday's Republican gain of six seats in the House and the statewide triumph of Gov.-elect George Allen, key GOP and Democratic lawmakers suggested, probably will be a halt on plans for a controversial $17.9 million state lottery building in downtown Richmond.
Legislators said Allen has a good chance of fashioning the "philosophical working majority" he spoke of after Tuesday's voting and using it to push through some of the conservative parole, welfare and education reforms he promoted during the campaign.
Republicans will hold a record 47 of 100 seats when the House convenes. Assuming Allen can keep them together - they've often been fractious on key issues in the past - he will need help from only a few conservative Democrats to enact his programs.
Chief among the changes will be legislation requiring parents to be notified before an unmarried minor daughter's abortion, restricting eligibility for parole and establishing local "workfare" projects for welfare recipients and local-option public subsidies for parents who want to send their children to private schools.
A parental notice bill got all the way through the legislature for the first time in 1992, after Republicans gained 18 of 40 seats in the Senate, only to be vetoed by Democratic Gov. Douglas Wilder.
Allen has said he would sign a parental-notice bill, or a tougher parental-consent bill, if either is sent to him. He also favors a 24-hour waiting period for all abortions.
Even without Democratic help, Allen will have a power not enjoyed by previous GOP governors: he can veto legislation he doesn't like without fear that the Democrats will have the two-thirds majority needed to override him.
"The dynamics will be completely different," said Scott Leake, executive director of the Joint Republican Legislative Caucus.
For GOP lawmakers, "it will be like having a big buddy over your shoulder, a friend upstairs who can veto anything on your behalf, and you know it will stick," Leake said.
While several Democrats denied it, Republicans said they are making quiet overtures to certain Democratic delegates to switch parties.
"It's no secret we want majority status," Leake said. The informal tete-a-tetes began even before Tuesday's election, he added.
"But there are some in the caucus who feel the rewards may not be worth the promises - like committee chairmanships or membership - or the rancor or retaliation that may result," Leake continued.
"They think maybe we ought to focus now on passing Allen's legislative agenda, and wait until we win [a GOP House majority] fair and square at the ballot box in two years."
The Republican delegates gathered in Richmond on Saturday to savor their victories and to re-elect Vance Wilkins of Amherst, a retired highway contractor, as minority leader. Wilkins, who won the leadership job in 1991, easily turned back a challenge from a more moderate Republican, John Watkins of Chesterfield.
Though they met in private, the Republicans indicated they discussed possible Democratic defections to their ranks and a House rule change that would guarantee them better representation on House committees.
The House speaker, elected by the majority party, now has unbridled authority to make appointments. Incumbent Speaker Thomas Moss of Norfolk, a fierce Democratic partisan, is expected to use that power to limit GOP influence on major committees.
For Moss and other Democrats, the new Republican strength in the House may create pressure to vote as a bloc. But the speaker and other veteran lawmakers acknowledge that some fights already are over, two months before the new assembly convenes.
Efforts at further gun control, for example, are dead. A five-day waiting period for handgun purchases, which Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Sue Terry strongly backed, has no chance in the new regime.
And the planned lottery building, which became a nine-story target for GOP attacks in this fall's House campaigns, will likely go down as well, several lawmakers said.
Under state law, the governor must consent to the sale of bonds to finance the project. State Treasurer Ronald Tillett said Friday that the first bonds are not scheduled to be sold until next summer - well after Allen has taken office.
While the timetable for the sale could change, Tillett said, the project cannot be completed without financing.
Money for construction of two state prisons also was part of the bond package, which was approved by the last General Assembly. Moss said if Allen decides to block the bond sale, he must take some action to save the prisons.
"And he can do away with parole if he wants," Moss said, sarcasm tinging his voice. "I have no problem with it. But how do you find the money to build all those prisons, too? I don't know."
Several lawmakers said money may prove the major sticking point between Allen and the Assembly. As long as they retain a majority, however small, Democrats can keep control of the state's purse strings.
And with four openings coming on the 20-member House Appropriations Committee, Moss said he will carefully judge who will get those seats. Chances are slim to none they will go to Republicans.
Republicans already hold four seats on the committee. A fifth belongs to Del. Lacey Putney of Bedford, an independent who generally votes with the Republicans.
by CNB