THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, March 7, 1995 TAG: 9503070004
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: By MARK R. WARNER
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
On Dec. 19, when Gov. George Allen announced his 1995 budget plans, political oddsmakers said his scheme was a sure bet. No one expected Virginia Democrats to be standing at the end of the day.
Despite the hard-fought 1994 victory for a U.S. Senate seat and wins in six of eight congressional contests, the national momentum behind Washington's new Republican majority seemed certain to spill over into Virginia and our 1995 General Assembly races. Before the 1995 legislative session even started, political pundits were predicting a Republican surge in the fall elections.
The 1995 session opened amid the chaos of partisan tensions and gubernatorial one-upmanship, and Virginians were running for cover. But when the dust settled, it was a different story. The oddsmakers were wrong.
Virginia Republicans had hoped to capitalize on the national GOP's momentum and Washington agenda. It became obvious, however, that mimicking governors in other states or the new leaders in Washington would not succeed in Virginia. Virginia is not New Jersey or California. Virginia's prudent, balanced budgets are not comparable to the federal budget mess.
The GOP's political strategists had failed to acknowledge Virginia's low tax burden and nationally acclaimed financial stewardship. Following their lead, Governor Allen proposed a simplistic approach: Shift taxes to the localities and blindly cut state expenditures - no matter what the purpose.
In spite of threats that anyone who opposed the plan would be punished in the fall elections, Virginia Democrats in the House of Delegates and the state Senate stood up for the commonwealth's future. When they did, they discovered they were not standing alone.
First they were joined by thousands of Virginian's speaking out against the governor's plan. At public hearing after public hearing, people throughout the commonwealth stood up to object to tax shifts and the dismantling of much of Virginia's hard-won progress.
Next, a coalition of business and civic leaders from around the state, including many prominent Republicans, joined the fight to restore sanity to Virginia's budget. They found allies in three former governors, one Democrat and two Republicans, who, in a stunning move of solidarity, pleaded with the governor to come to his senses.
The final rejection of the effort to import Washington's political agenda into Virginia came when the members of the governor's own party rejected his budget proposals. When given the opportunity to vote on the budget, which Allen had demanded throughout the session, not a single House member, Republican or Democrat, voted for it. In the Senate, Republican member after Republican member introduced hundreds of millions of dollars in budget amendments to restore cuts the governor had proposed.
In the end, Virginia Democrats were not standing alone. Governor Allen was.
But this session's budget struggle was more than simply a fight against ill-conceived budget cuts. It was a rejection of Washington-style politics. Virginians had a choice: Adopt slash-and-burn tactics whatever the human cost, or continue our tradition of responsible government.
And when given that choice, they joined Virginia Democrats and said Yes to higher education, Yes to local law enforcement, Yes to Virginia's future and No to politically contrived agendas.
When Governor Allen chose to work cooperatively with Democrats in the General Assembly, Democrats responded in good faith. In the final days of the session, for example, Democrats and Republicans worked together to forge the compromise welfare-reform package which passed with overwhelming margins.
Virginians know that the ills of the federal government are not Virginia's ills. It took courage and intelligence for Virginia Democratic lawmakers to separate themselves from the cut-at-any-cost mentality proposed by the governor and to question the wisdom of his actions. When they did, they started a tidal wave of public opinion which eventually carried the day. Like other political mileposts, this legislative session will remain in our memories as a moment when Virginia Democrats rose up and did what had to be done. They continued the tradition of responsible government in Virginia.
Knowing full well that this battle will be refought in the fall campaigns, Virginia Democratic legislators stood firm against the challenge to take Virginia back and erase decades of progress. They took a political risk and confronted the national Republican tactics pouring into Virginia. In the end, Virginians from both political parties joined them. And as a result, they enter this fall's election season not only with momentum on their side, but with the odds in their favor. MEMO: Mr. Warner is chairman of the Democratic Party of Virginia. by CNB