Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 2, 1995 TAG: 9502030007
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-15 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY L. GARLAND
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The governor appears to have lost his proposals to create "charter" schools as innovative competitors to ordinary public schools; parental notification in the case of minors seeking abortions; making it easier for parents to remove their children from sex-ed classes; and repealing the local tax on the gross receipts of retailers, contractors, etc. And most of his ideas for reducing state spending to accommodate a sizable reduction in personal income taxes appear in a parlous state of health.
The legislative clock ticks relentlessly against those who must work their way from the outside in, as Allen is forced to do. That's particularly true in an odd-year "short" session like this one, where the House and Senate must complete action on bills originating in their respective chambers, except the budget, by Feb. 7. At that exhausting point, shortly to be reached, only 18 days remain to compose all differences between the houses and adopt a budget.
Allen will have a second chance to score at the "veto" session April 5. If Democrats fail to act on his proposals to change the welfare system or finance new prison construction, he can always put them on the spot by calling a limited special session.
Though Democrats lost the governorship, and control the assembly only by narrow majorities in both houses, they still enjoy important advantages. For one thing, while giving Republicans their fair share of seats on less important committees, they kept the lion's share of seats on Senate Finance and House Appropriations. Even those few Republicans who sit on the "money" committees tend to develop a loyalty to their Democratic chairmen in hope of being cut a slice of pork when they ask for it nicely.
Democrats also enjoy the advantage of being led by those long accustomed to calling the dance. It's too bad the governor hasn't at least one first-class legislative infighter on his team.
While most gubernatorial initiatives were dead on arrival in committees where few if any Democrats were prepared to break ranks, there may be some opportunities for Republicans to offer floor amendments forcing Democrats to go "on the board" yea or nay. But I'm told they're being careful to let bills out of committee that could be used to incorporate the governor's tax-reduction ideas only if the sponsor agrees to move to kill the measure if it attracts unwelcome amendments.
But like their Democratic colleagues, and unlike Allen, GOP legislators must face voters in the fall. While there has yet to be recorded any strong public outcry to reduce state taxes, those who want to keep the money tap flowing surely have been heard. It's an old story, best explained by the veteran politico who was asked whether he voted with the people or the special interests. "I always vote with the special interests," he replied; "the people forget."
Allen seems confident he can take it to the people and prevail. If anybody can, he can. But he must know that no sooner do the American people embark on a new course, as they did with President Clinton in 1992 or Speaker Gingrich in 1994, than they have second thoughts.
Even Republicans are storing up nuts they believe will be useful in the fall. State Sen. Malfourd "Bo" Trumbo, R-Botetourt, has offered amendments to the 1995-96 budget that not only eliminate the nine or 10 new staff positions for Cabinet secretaries the governor requested, but reduce the entire Cabinet secretariat well below what it was when Allen took office. Trumbo estimates this will save $2.3 million in the next fiscal year and believes it an appropriate gesture in a climate of austerity for state government. This, too, is an old story: Tickle the troops in the field by cutting the general staff.
Before Linwood Holton was elected in 1969, a long succession of Democratic governors functioned with a very small executive staff. There were good reasons for this. When a governor said "jump," rock-solid majorities of very conservative Democrats in the assembly asked only, "How high?" And the people who headed the various state departments had risen in the "organization" and knew what they were supposed to do without being told.
Holton, the first Republican governor this century, believed a chief executive, with only a few years before him, needed a small team of his own choosing to help him ride herd on the bureaucracy to implement his policies. I have yet to be convinced it has ever worked as well as it should.
But unlike most past governors who accepted what they inherited and passed it on more or less intact to their successor, Allen has a true agenda of change. In the short time allotted, he must have people around him who share his vision, and upon whom he can depend utterly. I'm in no position to judge the quality of the members of his team. But a Cabinet and personal staff numbering less than 125 seems by no means unreasonable for the task of supervising an apparatus employing 100,000 people and disbursing $17 billion a year.
Legislators always like to take something home from a session. In this case, it will be more a matter of boasting about what they kept from happening. In politics, it is always better to be able to tell various groups you saved most of what they had than to describe the great battles you fought for the brave new world that might have been.
Ray L. Garland is a Roanoke Times & World-News columnist.
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1995
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