Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 12, 1995 TAG: 9501120086
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Republican and Democratic lawmakers spent the first day of the 1995 session blaming each other for a procedural deadlock that resulted in Gov. George Allen delivering the annual State of the Commonwealth message from a conference room on the third floor of the Capitol.
Republicans accused Democrats of snubbing Allen. Democrats - replying that they had been set up as the bad guys - noted that Allen declined a late afternoon invitation to address a quasi-official joint legislative session.
The squabble started moments after lawmakers sat down for the start of the 45-day session.
The first order of business was the ``procedural resolution,'' which sets out dates and rules for conducting the session. It whooshed through the House of Delegates on a 99-0 vote, but ran into a howl of Republican protest in the Senate.
Led by Sen. Malfourd ``Bo'' Trumbo of Fincastle, Republicans questioned a rule that would give the House speaker and the Senate president pro tempore the right - traditionally reserved for the governor - to introduce legislation at any time during the session.
It was not surprising that the rule change created a partisan fight. The measure would put House Speaker Thomas Moss and Senate President Pro Tempore Stanley Walker - both Norfolk Democrats - on equal footing with Allen. Democrats, tired of getting outfoxed by the Republican governor, wanted an even playing field.
Republicans had enough votes to kill the resolution, which requires a two-thirds vote. So the Democrat-controlled Senate adjourned for the day - leaving in place no procedure for Allen to address a joint legislative session.
Republicans said the Democrats trampled on tradition and treated Allen with disrespect. Democrats said the whole thing smacked of a political ambush, citing the fact that senior GOP lawmakers had endorsed the rule change in advance.
The House of Delegates agreed late Wednesday afternoon to invite Allen to speak in the chamber with senators informally invited as guests, but Allen refused. He said television stations had already begun moving their equipment.
The Virginia Constitution requires governors to communicate the state of the commonwealth to the General Assembly, but does not say it has to be on the opening day or in person.
``It clearly leaves to the discretion of the governor how he makes that communication,'' said A.E. Dick Howard, a constitutional scholar at the University of Virginia.
Brent Tartar, a historian at The Library of Virginia, said this would be the first General Assembly since 1920 that had not heard the governor's message in person.
Between 1775 and 1918, Virginia governors sent the legislature a written message, said Tartar, who researched the issue in the journals of the House of Delegates and the state Senate.
In January 1920, Gov. Westmoreland Davis delivered his message in person, the first governor to do so.
The Associated Press provided information for this story.
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1995
Memo: this story ran on A1 in the State edition.