Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 28, 1995 TAG: 9506280035
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ROBERT LITTLE AND DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long
Allen said he was ready to call the legislature into session later this week, but only if Democrats agree to his terms for limiting a special session to three days and the pipeline issue.
Democratic lawmakers refused, saying that the Republican governor was trying to usurp the legislature's prerogative to establish the guidelines under which they will meet.
The partisan tiff - similar to a two-day standoff that marred the opening of the regular assembly session in January - underscored the political complexities of passing the pipeline accord in a year when all 140 assembly seats will be on the ballot.
The compact would allow Virginia Beach to draw drinking water from the Roanoke River basin in central Virginia. The deal has drawn fire from people in the Roanoke River basin who resent what they consider a raid on their resources.
Allen and the Democratic leaders accused each other of seizing on the procedural hoo-ha as a chance to kill the pipeline - and blame the other side.
``I think the governor is trying to run from the pipeline," said House Speaker Thomas Moss, a Norfolk Democrat.
Allen said, "It makes you wonder whether or not there's a commitment to really doing it."
It was unclear Tuesday how the standoff would end.
Technically, Allen could call a special session any time before the compact expires Friday. The North Carolina legislature, which also must approve the deal, is scheduled to adjourn that day.
But Allen said today may be the last opportunity to announce a special session and give lawmakers time to gather in Richmond.
``Obviously, I could call a session with no notice at all,'' Allen said. ``But if an agreement is not reached by [today], I think the hill would get a lot, lot steeper.''
The political tussle came amid growing doubt that Virginia Beach has the political muscle to get the pipeline through the General Assembly. In addition to bipartisan opposition from the Southside delegation, some lawmakers from Northern Virginia - where highway gridlock is legendary - are concerned about terms of the agreement that would channel Virginia transportation funds into roads leading to North Carolina tourist beaches.
House Speaker Moss offered the plan a tepid endorsement Monday, and other House leaders have predicted the pipeline deal would die if it came to a vote.
Even Allen, whose enthusiasm for the compact appears to have grown in recent days, said the House of Delegates ``will definitely be a difficult struggle.''
``I was hoping to call a special session [Tuesday] to take the chance,'' he said.
The procedural dispute centers on the contents - and authorship - of a resolution necessary to outline how a special session would proceed. Until this year, the resolution was considered a formality.
As early as April, Allen said he wanted the legislature to agree to limit the session to June 30 and one issue: Lake Gaston. He said legislative sessions cost taxpayers $20,000 a day, and that there's no reason for this one to go past Friday, when the Lake Gaston agreement expires.
Tuesday, Democrats called Allen's proposed restrictions an unprecedented attempt to tinker with the state Constitution - particularly the parts about separation of powers.
Democrats asserted that Allen really wants the deal to die so he won't have to alienate the Roanoke River basin, which delivered huge margins for him in his 1993 election.
``He's trying to make us limit debate on an issue that is important all over the state,'' said Del. Franklin Hall, a Richmond Democrat who headed the House committee that helped broker the deal.
``He's running for political cover, because he doesn't want to face the people who are against this and tell them he's for it.''
Allen and Democrats acknowledged that the procedural quarrel could tarnish all sides, leaving the public with the impression that elected leaders would let something so trivial as a resolution scuttle the pipeline agreement.
Still, neither Allen nor the Democrats would budge.
"I think the people should be concerned about it," said Allen. "I was all ready to do it ... at the last second, all of a sudden, they throw up these roadblocks."
Moss replied, "I think he is going to try to paint me and the Democrats as obstructionists, but that is not so."
Allen declined to say whether he would let the pipeline deal die over the procedural resolution.
But at least one Virginia Beach Republican said he would rather give up the agreement than allow opponents to toss other issues into the special session.
State Sen. Kenneth Stolle said that expanding the time frame would allow lawmakers from other regions to extract compensation from Virginia Beach in exchange for the water from Lake Gaston. For instance, rural lawmakers might demand money to bring their schools up to par with affluent, suburban areas.
"It's something that Virginia Beach is going to be paying millions and millions of dollars for, items we have no control over," Stolle said.
"I'd hate to see the resolution to the Lake Gaston pipeline sunk on something so insignificant as whether we'll be in session past June 30."
by CNB