THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 14, 1996 TAG: 9601140132
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
As the storm clouds rolled away from Richmond last week, so too did those that once lingered over the General Assembly. Unlike last year's opening, when Democrats snubbed the governor to launch a session of clashing partisan agendas, this year's seemed the model of civility and conciliation. Gov. George F. Allen addressed the assembly inside the capital, not from his office, as he did last year. And Senators, split 20-20, agreed to share power, a compromise unheard of during decades of Democratic dominance. Some old faces, like the once-powerful Hunter Andrews, were gone. In his place, lawmakers like Sen. Virgil H. Goode Jr., who will exert his influence in a decidedly different way. < ILLUSTRATION: Virginian-Pilot photos by Bill Tiernan
Sen. Richard J. Holland of Windsor, left, and Sen. Virgil H. Goode
Jr., right, listen during the opening session of the Virginia Senate
on Wednesday in Richmond. Goode became the center of attention on
the opening day after he called for Democrats, who hold 20 seats, to
share power with Republicans, who also hold 20 seats.
Gov. George G. Allen, in his State of the Commonwealth address,
offered an olive branch to Democrats - and it was accepted in the
Senate.
Natalee Grigg of Richmond, a lobbyist for the Home Builders
Association of Virginia, makes her way across the snowy Capitol
grounds Tuesday. While the 1966 General Assembly followed a
tumultuous election - it opened, literally, on the heels of a
blizzard.
KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY by CNB