THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 23, 1995 TAG: 9511230603
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVID M. POOLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
Senior Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday asked Republican Gov. George F. Allen to lift a so-called gag order on state employees as a goodwill gesture signaling bipartisan cooperation.
Emerging from a 90-minute meeting with Allen, Democrats said they were encouraged that the Republican chief executive had taken the first step toward opening communications.
``If he stays the course and takes a sincere initiative to take a bipartisan approach, the legislature will work with him,'' said Sen. Stanley C. Walker of Norfolk.
Democrats told Allen that a concrete sign of his sincerity would be to revise or repeal an executive order requiring state agency workers to get clearance before speaking with lawmakers.
Allen approved the order shortly after he came into office in January 1994 in an effort to impose discipline on state agencies that had been under 12 unbroken years of Democratic control.
Democratic lawmakers said the policy amounted to a ``gag order'' that silenced dissent and made it difficult for the General Assembly to get timely information.
``At lot of times we were operating in the dark,'' said House Speaker Thomas W. Moss Jr. of Norfolk.
Allen spokesman Ken Stroupe said the administration would take another look at the policy.
``Insomuch as this needs further clarification, we would be willing to take a look at it,'' Stroupe said.
Allen convened the Thanksgiving eve meeting to provide senior Democrats with early revenue forecasts for the 1996-98 state budget. Both sides declined to provide details of the discussion. But the details appeared less important than the fact that the session took place.
Allen snubbed senior Democrats for the better part of the year, hoping that he could render them superfluous with a GOP sweep in General Assembly elections this month. Having fallen short of his goal, however, Allen may have no choice but to reach out to Democrats in the final two years of his term.
``It was a cordial meeting,'' Stroupe said. ``The governor would expect that this is the first of many meetings.''
Democrats said it was too early to predict whether the assembly session that begins in January will be more harmonious than last winter's partisan bloodletting.
``To be effective, he has to work with us better than he did in the past,'' Moss said. ``I think he's trying. I'll give him credit.''
Turning away, Moss added, ``But we'll see.'' by CNB