ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 13, 1995 TAG: 9512130005
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-12 EDITION: METRO
STATE SEN. Richard Saslaw of Fairfax, the Democrats' new floor leader, describes himself as "Dickie Cranwell lite." The reference, presumably, is to Cranwell's reputation for combativeness and deal-making skills.
But the comparison is apt in another way as well. Cranwell does not have, and Saslaw will not have, the institutional power - too much power for one man - that had accrued to Saslaw's predecessor, former Senate Majority Leader Hunter Andrews.
Andrews, involuntarily retired by his Hampton constituents in the Nov. 7 election, was not just the majority Democrats' leader. He also chaired the Senate Finance Committee, which handles all taxation and spending bills. During the '80s, moreover, Andrews had been instrumental in revamping the budget-consideration process so that the House of Delegates no longer held the upper hand.
In the larger House, by contrast, party leadership tends to be more a team effort. Indeed, Cranwell as majority leader isn't even the highest-ranking Democrat; Speaker Tom Moss of Norfolk is. Cranwell does chair the House Finance Committee, but it handles only tax bills.
The Senate isn't about to cede back to the House the latter's erstwhile budgeting dominance. But Saslaw won't be running the Senate-side budget show as Andrews did. Assuming the 21-20 Democratic majority - that is, 20 senators plus Lt. Gov. Donald Beyer and his tie-breaking authority - continues to hold, Stanley Walker of Norfolk will chair Senate Finance.
Then, of course, there's the small matter of Saslaw's lack of a floor majority. The fact that Democrat Beyer is the Senate tie-breaker is a function not of parliamentary trickery but of the state Constitution; absent a defection from their ranks, Democrats have the right to organize the body as if they were the majority.
You can have power-sharing, though, without majority-sharing. And a count of 20 Democrats plus Beyer vs. 20 Republicans calls for a substantial degree of power-sharing.
Under one rumored plan, all committees would be 8-7 Democratic except Finance, which would be 9-6. That's a better breakdown than before, but not good enough. Finance, too, should be 8-7 Democratic.
For that matter, it wouldn't hurt the interests of either the commonwealth or Democrats themselves to agree to GOP majorities on a couple of committees. These weren't the last state Senate elections Virginia will ever see; they come along every four years. To most voters, a record of fairness in distributing power would be an asset, not a liability.
LENGTH: Medium: 51 linesby CNB