ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, April 8, 1996 TAG: 9604080062
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
REGIONAL TIES AND VIEWS united or split state lawmakers more than partisanship did in this year's General Assembly, which saw fewer party-line votes than last year. The story line from the 1996 General Assembly went something like this: The Virginia Senate embarked on a course of bipartisan cooperation, while the House of Delegates engaged in partisan strife.
But the conventional wisdom is called into question by an analysis of 3,515 recorded floor votes during the assembly session.
The analysis - by The Roanoke Times and its sister paper in Norfolk, The Virginian-Pilot - also revealed that the Senate, despite an unprecedented power-sharing agreement between the chamber's 20 Democrats and 20 Republicans, was far more likely than the House to divide sharply along party lines.
"So much for shared power," said Del. Clifton "Chip" Woodrum, D-Roanoke. "It was always a myth anyway."
Senators acknowledge there were limits to sharing committee assignments and chairmanships. The system was designed to ensure the Senate conducted its business in a smooth, cooperative fashion, but was never expected to lead to bipartisan consensus on specific issues.
"It was remarkably collegial," observed Democratic Lt. Gov. Don Beyer, the Senate's presiding officer, "but that doesn't mean that people won't vote their conscience."
The newspapers' analysis confirmed that partisan temperatures were down this year compared with the overheated 1995 Assembly session, when Democrats and Republicans jostled to build advantage for last fall's election showdown.
There will be additional opportunities for partisan votes April 17, when the assembly reconvenes for a one-day veto session.
Republican Gov. George Allen and Democrats appear headed for a constitutional showdown over the governor's authority to veto portions of the budget.
During the regular session that ended last month, there were 54 partisan votes, down from 103 such votes recorded last year. The analysis considered close tallies where the outcome would have changed with a switch of five votes in the 100-member House of Delegates and a change of three votes in the 40-member Senate. Issues where lawmakers were divided along regional, not party lines, were eliminated.
As in past years, the vast majority of bills and resolutions generated no controversy. Most were routine adjustments to the state code or resolutions lauding local high school teams or bemoaning the death of local dignitaries.
Of the 54 partisan votes, 39 were in the Senate and 15 in the House.
Beyer offered several explanations why the Senate had more partisan votes despite its power-sharing experiment:
The early session fights that preceded the Senate's bipartisan accord had a unifying effect on the Democratic and Republican caucuses that carried over to floor votes on issues ranging from child custody to campaign-finance reform.
There is an ideological gulf between the two parties in the 10-member Senate freshman class, with the new Republicans tending to be committed conservatives (such as Steve Newman of Lynchburg and Emmett Hanger of Augusta County) and the new Democrats tending to be longtime community activists with a more liberal bent (such as freshman Roanoke state Sen. John Edwards, a former vice mayor).
Several issues with partisan overtones - a constitutional amendment giving people the right to enact laws through referendum - were fought in the Senate, but never reached the House floor.
On close votes, the House often divided by region, not party. Lawmakers from rural Southwest and Southside - Republicans and Democrats alike - stuck together in opposition to restrictions on tobacco sales to minors, increased weight limits on trucks and greater inmate access to reporters.
Of 26 close votes, the House divided 11 times over regional concerns.
In fact, the House had a straight party-line vote on only one issue: on a routine election bill that some Democrats feared would open the door to party identification on ballots in Lynchburg.
In the Senate, partisan considerations were inescapable because of the chamber's 20-20 deadlock between Democrats and Republicans.
"The way you count votes is to assume there's going to be a tie, and then you figure out who is going to defect," said state Sen. Malfourd "Bo" Trumbo, R-Fincastle.
Senate Democrats had trouble holding onto a trio of conservatives led by Rocky Mount Sen. Virgil Goode, whose threat to bolt the party forced Democrats to share power with Republicans. Goode sided with the opposition in 20 out of 39 partisan votes. He was followed closely by Manassas Sen. Charles Colgan with 17 defections and Isle of Wight Sen. Richard Holland with 11.
After a century in power, Senate Democrats resigned themselves to the fact that they could not muster the votes on key issues such as parental notification for teen-age abortions, shared child custody or even minor modifications to last year's plan to reduce welfare rolls.
"You can't afford to be a parliamentary bully when it's 20-20 or, as the Democrats often found ourselves, at 19-21," said Sen. Joseph Gartlan, D-Fairfax County. "When you recognize your limitations, life is far more easy."
Senate Republicans were a more cohesive bunch, with the exception of Fairfax County Sen. Jane Woods, who sided with Democrats in 19 out of 39 partisan votes.
The figures can be misleading. Chesapeake Sen. Frederick Quayle - a dependable GOP vote - ended up near the top of the list of Republican defectors. But that was because three votes dealt with an Allen administration proposal to close the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind in Hampton, which Quayle opposed because it would impose a hardship on families in his district.
In the House, Democrats most likely to side with Republicans came from conservative districts in Southside and Southwest Virginia. One exception: Virginia Beach Del. Glenn Croshaw, a pro-business Democrat who broke with his party on campaign-finance reform, preservation of the state's toxic materials regulations, press access to prison inmates and dismantling a state board for waste management facility operators.
Roanoke Del. Vic Thomas, who last year shared the lead with most defections among House Democrats, was way down the list this year. Thomas sided with Republicans on 13 percent of partisan votes, compared with 28 percent last year.
Thomas said the difference this year was that there were fewer votes on abortion and gun control, two issues where he breaks with most of his Democratic colleagues.
Thomas denied a conscious effort to toe the Democratic line in an effort to persuade House Speaker Thomas Moss of Norfolk to give him a coveted seat on the House-Senate budget conference committee.
"My position on various things has not changed," Thomas said, "but [guns and abortion] did not come up. I'm right where I was. I'm a Virginia Democrat and very proud to be one."
One final note: Bedford Del. Lacey Putney, the assembly's lone independent, sided with Republicans on all 15 partisan votes.
LENGTH: Long : 130 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Virgil Goode. Graphic: Chart by staff:by CNBPartisanship index. KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1996