ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 5, 1997 TAG: 9702050100
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: BOB LITTLE STAFF WRITER
VIRGINIA LAWMAKERS get 45 days in a ``short session'' to do the work other legislatures do in three to six months. The pounding shows.
The Senate was barely halfway through its agenda, and the sky was darkening as fast as the bags under everyone's eyes.
Sen. Steve Newman grabbed his microphone and stood up so laboriously you'd have thought his pockets were full of cannonballs.
"It's late in the day," said the first-term Republican senator from Lynchburg, beginning debate on a controversial little number about teachers' rights.
"And sometimes," he continued, "bills are more trouble than they're worth."
Then Newman withdrew his bill to the muted cheers of his Senate colleagues. Several slapped him on the back for tossing another time-consuming bill onto that figurative scrap heap where hundreds of good intentions were laid to rest Tuesday by Virginia's lawmakers.
The Senate and House of Delegates waded through hundreds of bills and resolutions en route to their mid-point deadline for passing legislation Tuesday.
Throughout Virginia's capital, lawmakers grumbled this week about long weekend sessions and 2 a.m. subcommittees. The committees dealing with criminal laws voted on 50 or more bills a day.
One Courts of Justice subcommittee in the House met until 3:45 a.m. Sunday. Members had to be back a few hours later for a full meeting that lasted on and off until after midnight. By the end, members were killing bills so fast they could barely find them in their binders. Sometimes the strain showed, as when slow-talking Del. Joseph Johnson, D-Abingdon, suggested putting a death-row inmate on the Virginia Parole Board. "But," replied Del. William Mims, R-Loudoun County, "you'd have to keep on replacing him."
Anything that wasn't acted on by Tuesday night can't be offered again until 1998. The General Assembly considered 2,500 bills this year and had less than a month to sift out the bad ones.
"I'm only 34 years old, and I'm exhausted," said Del. David Albo, R-Fairfax County. "The last few days, I've been getting about four hours of sleep."
"They say no man's property is safe while we're in session?" asked Sen. Edward Schrock, R-Virginia Beach. "Well, right now I wish they'd trust us just a few days longer."
The General Assembly meets for 60 days in even-numbered years, when members consider the state's two-year budget. The subsequent short session was called originally to clean up work from the year before.
But even at 60 days, Virginia's lawmaking sessions are among the shortest in the country. Most state legislatures meet for three to six months, debating half as many bills for far fewer residents.
"The only way you can do this and do a good job is to give yourself 60 days. And even then, it's tough enough," said House Speaker Thomas Moss, D-Norfolk, minutes after the House gave him a standing ovation for completing a 10-hour session Monday night. "If I'm still here, I'm going to try to get that done."
Even people who support Virginia's 45-day session acknowledge the pounding it can inflict on lawmakers, their staff and the quality of legislation they pass.
"I wouldn't mind a few more days," said Vance Wilkins, R-Amherst County and minority leader of the House of Delegates. "But I would resist any movement away from the system of being a part-time, citizen legislature."
Said Del. Frank Wagner in concurrence, "I can barely take off 45 days and still make a living."
Wagner, R-Virginia Beach, is a good example of the way a man's modest lawmaking intentions can go helplessly awry.
He came to Richmond this year planning to offer only five bills - and to complain about his colleagues who carry individual logjams of legislation. But then the governor gave him some bills, and the Virginia Beach City Council gave him a few more. Now he has 12. And he's complaining about himself.
People have tried over the years to limit the number of bills lawmakers can offer, always to no avail. "I think some are based on what people see on `Hard Copy,'" said Del. Clifton "Chip" Woodrum, D-Roanoke. "That's ridiculous."
Other time-saving proposals are in the works: requiring that all bills be submitted before the lawmakers go to Richmond; holding longer, more substantive committee meetings during the summer and fall.
But there is one lawmaking reality that everyone agrees will ensnarl them forever: They do the controversial stuff last.
The Senate on Tuesday debated bills about casino gambling, welfare changes and the power of lawyers. The House considered abortion and the rights of prisoners.
As the day dragged on, senators killed a bill on the administration of workers' compensation at shipyards. Minutes later, the floor clattering in a dozen private debates, supporters quickly called the vote again and it passed.
But Sen. Joseph Gartlan, one of the measure's primary opponents, inadvertently voted yes in the confusion. Supporters laughed so hard they nearly choked.
"It's an embarrassment to me, and I'm sorry it happened," the Fairfax County Democrat said, pleading for members to suspend the rules and allow another vote. They refused. Only half were in their seats anyway.
Staff writer David M. Poole contributed information to this story.
LENGTH: Long : 101 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Sen. Benjamin Lambert, D-Richmond, was not the onlyby CNBlawmaker yawning Tuesday during a floor debate. color. KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1997