THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 12, 1995 TAG: 9502120067
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVID M. POOLE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
It's been a difficult year for Republican lawmakers carrying water for Gov. George F. Allen, whose agenda seems to spring another leak each day.
But Del. Robert Tata showed he could maintain a sense of humor last week in the face of the imminent demise of an academic standards bill he sponsored on behalf of the Allen administration.
In a brief floor speech, the Virginia Beach Republican recalled the jealousy he felt in past years when a Democratic lawmaker could win passage of legislation simply by describing it as a ``governor's bill'' or ``administration proposal.''
``I hoped that one day I'd be able to stand up and say the same thing,'' said Tata, who now - for the first time in his 11-year assembly career - is serving alongside a Republican governor.
``The moral of the story,'' Tata continued, ``is to be careful what you wish for.''
A few minutes later, House Democrats killed Tata's bill in a party-line vote.
For a member of the GOP ``Amen Corner,'' Del. Robert F. McDonnell displayed a shaky grasp of Biblical history last week in a floor debate on parental notification.
The Virginia Beach Republican sought to invoke the Ten Commandments when arguing against an amendment that allowed pregnant teens seeking abortions to bypass their parents by notifying a grandparent or an older sibling.
``Four thousand years ago, when Moses came down from Mount Ararat,'' said McDonnell, who immediately realized he had gotten his Biblical mounts confused. Ararat is the mountain where Noah settled after the flood.
McDonnell froze for a few seconds, before a fellow Republican prompted him with a stage whisper.
``My Biblical adviser,'' McDonnell said with a self-deprecating chuckle, ``tells me it's Mount Sinai.''
House Speaker Thomas W. Moss Jr. of Norfolk couldn't have enjoyed himself more if there had been wine and dancing last Thursday when Democrats forced Republicans to vote against the governor's budget cuts.
Minority Leader S. Vance Wilkins Jr., looking pale and sickened after the unexpected vote, asked Moss for a 16-minute recess.
``Fourteen-and-a-half,'' Moss shot back, twisting the knife.
``I'll second that,'' Wilkins offered wanly.
Moss was savoring this; he knew full well that Wilkins wanted the break to huddle with his wounded troops, but the speaker wanted to hear him say uncle.
``We are under continuing order,'' Moss thundered, invoking a parliamentary technicality. ``It's a little unusual to do this. Could the gentleman tell us why?''
``We need to have a Republican caucus,'' Wilkins said.
``Ooooooooooooo,'' Democrats cooed, and Moss nodded theatrically.
A few others wondered what would happen if the Republicans took longer than 16 minutes.
``It's not gonna be any longer,'' Moss said, holding up his wrist. ``We're going to synchronize our watches.''
Wilkins had them back in seven minutes.
Here's how the Hampton Roads delegation voted that day when Allen's proposed budget cuts - but not tax cuts - came before the House of Delegates:
Voting against the cuts: All Democrats and Republican Harry R. Purkey of Virginia Beach.
Abstaining: Republicans J. Randy Forbes of Chesapeake; McDonnell; Robert E. Nelms of Suffolk; Tata; Frank W. Wagner of Virginia Beach.
In a display of bipartisanship one day after the budget mauling, Dels. Lionell Spruill of Chesapeake and Harvey B. Morgan of Gloucester swapped seats on the floor of the House of Delegates.
The switch went unnoticed until Spruill, an African-American Democrat, stood up in the all-white Republican section of the House and declared, ``I have a dream.''
Spruill went on to say that while he liked sitting among his Republican colleagues, he missed his place in the so-called ``Coffin Corner'' on the Democratic side.
``It's right for me to wake up and get back to my Coffin Corner,'' he said.
Morgan then explained that he offered to switch seats because Spruill had forgotten to wear his yellow tie - considered de rigueur in the Coffin Corner for a Friday.
``I thought it would be an accommodation to the gentleman,'' Morgan said. MEMO: Staff writer Greg Schneider contributed to this report.
ILLUSTRATION: Photos
Robert Tata
Robert F. McDonnell
Thomas W. Moss
Lionell Spruill
KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY by CNB