Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 12, 1995 TAG: 9501120089
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARGARET EDDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Times have changed.
The philosophical direction and political control of a state are on the line this year, and already the 1995 session appears unlike any other.
Welcome to Day 1.
9:30 a.m. Linda Byrd-Harden, executive director of the Virginia chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, is digressing from a news conference on banks to launch an angry tirade against the policies of Gov. George Allen.
Allen's plans to cut $403million from the budget and to overhaul welfare are ``demonizing the poor,'' she charges.
Byrd-Harden admits that she doesn't know where Allen stands on the specific legislation she's addressing - a bill that would let banks hold some lawyers' escrow money in interest-free accounts and that she dubs ``welfare for the rich.''
But she's convinced that Allen's philosophical bent makes him an opponent. ``Look at his pattern ... We can safely say he is going to go with anything that promotes big business and penalizes the poor.''
Democrats, she adds, aren't much better. ``The Democratic leadership is running scared. They want to be closet Republicans, and they're ready to come out of the closet.''
11:30 a.m. On the third floor of the Capitol, Allen's staff is preparing for Wednesday night's televised State of the Commonwealth address.
Press secretary Ken Stroupe is getting ready to head over to the mansion to help Allen practice his lines. Deputy press secretary Melissa Herring Dickie is working on technical details for the telecast.
``The message is that this is a time of reckoning for the General Assembly,'' Stroupe says of the upcoming speech.
Noting the relative calm of the office, Dickie adds, ``It's like the calm before the storm.''
That's just a figure of speech, she quickly adds, not a prediction.
Noon Both houses convene. There are 22 Democrats and 18 Republicans in the Senate; 52 Democrats, 47 Republicans, and one independent in the House. All face re-election this fall.
12:20 p.m. Following tradition, a delegation of lawmakers - including the Assembly's three most powerful Democrats - heads to the third floor to formally notify Allen that the Assembly has convened.
Allen isn't there.
Describing the moment later, House Speaker Thomas Moss said the delegation was informed that Allen was at the mansion preparing for his speech and ``dressed in a casual manner,'' not ready to receive guests.
The group delivers its message by telephone. Moss calls the moment the day's first break with tradition.
12:38 p.m. Debate begins in the Senate on a resolution setting timetables and procedure for the session. Usually, this is a routine matter. But this year, Democrats want to give extra power to the speaker of the House and the president pro tempore of the Senate, both Democrats. Democrats need some Republican support to pass the measure because two-thirds of the members have to approve.
Sen. Malfourd ``Bo'' Trumbo, R-Fincastle, complains. Only the governor should be able to introduce legislation late in the session, he argues.
12:50 p.m. The Senate adjourns for 15 minutes so Republicans can caucus.
During the recess, Sen. Joseph Gartlan Jr., D-Fairfax County, explains that Democrats may adjourn - blocking Allen's speech to the legislature - if Republicans don't agree to the change. ``It's delightful,'' chuckles Gartlan, a critic of many of Allen's proposals.
Meanwhile, two Republican senators have scurried to the third floor to confer with the governor. He's not there, but aides tell them to do what they have to do.
1:15 p.m. After several procedural moves, Republicans vote as a bloc against the notion of giving more power to the House speaker and the Senate president pro tempore. Led by Majority Leader Hunter Andrews, D-Hampton, Democrats move to adjourn for the day. Lt. Gov. Don Beyer gavels the session to a close.
1:30 p.m. ``It's a serious change in the way the General Assembly has operated,'' says Sen. Brandon Bell, R-Roanoke County, predicting that Senate Republicans will not back down.
Across the Capitol, House Democrats laughingly applaud an announcement that the Senate has adjourned.
``The Republicans have accomplished something a lot of Democrats quietly would have liked to accomplish: ... keep George from speaking,'' says Del. Jay DeBoer, D-Petersburg.
3 p.m. In the governor's office, Dickie begins calling television stations and newspapers to tell them the governor will deliver his speech from his conference room.
The Allen troops know the Democratic leadership is meeting to explore ways of getting around the impasse. But in this game of political one-upsmanship, they hold a trump card.
``We had to make a decision,'' shrugs Stroupe. Television cable lines have to be in place for the telecast, and Allen couldn't wait for the Democrats to decide, he says.
Stroupe's office has already been stripped of its desk. The desk belonged to former Gov. Mills Godwin Jr. in the mid-1970s when the opening of one General Assembly session was delayed for an hour because of a bomb threat.
Allen thinks it would be a nice touch to speak from behind that desk.
7 p.m. Delegates are milling around the House floor, more out of habit than purpose, because by now it is clear the traditional appearance by the governor is not to be.
Shortly after the hour, Allen's voice issues from the sound system and members stream downstairs to find television screens. House Majority Leader Richard Cranwell, D-Roanoke County, stays behind, listening to the speech in the empty chamber.
Afterwards, Cranwell wanders downstairs to his office and waits for reporters to seek him out. ``I think the conflict the Republicans in the Senate created today was calculated,'' he says. ``I think you're seeing a lot of fluff. They want the gravy but not the gristle.''
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1995
by CNB