THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, June 28, 1995 TAG: 9506280504
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE AND DAVID M. POOLE, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long : 113 lines
A procedural spat between Republican Gov. George F. Allen and Democratic leaders of the General Assembly increased the chances Tuesday that a proposed Lake Gaston pipeline deal could expire Friday without the legislature ever meeting to consider it.
Allen said he was ready to call the legislature into session later this week, but only if Democrats agree to his terms for limiting a special session to three days and the pipeline issue.
Democratic lawmakers refused, saying that the Republican governor was trying to usurp the legislature's prerogative to establish the guidelines under which it will meet.
The partisan tiff - similar to a two-day standoff that marred the opening of the regular Assembly session in January - underscored the political complexities of passing the pipeline accord in a year when all 140 Assembly seats will be on the ballot.
A final agreement was reached Monday between North Carolina, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, representatives of the governor's office and big Southside business.
The deal would allow Virginia Beach to draw drinking water from the Roanoke River basin, 125 miles away in central Virginia. But it has drawn fire from legislators in the basin who resent what they consider a raid on their resources.
Allen and the Democratic leaders accused each other of seizing upon the procedural conflict as a chance to kill the pipeline - and blame the other side.
``I think the governor is trying to run from the pipeline,'' said House Speaker Thomas W. Moss Jr., a Norfolk Democrat.
Allen said, ``It makes you wonder whether or not there's a commitment to really doing it.''
It was unclear Tuesday evening when - or if - the standoff would end.
Virginia Beach council members ended an executive session a few minutes early to watch the governor's comments on a live newscast from Richmond. They said they were frustrated and disappointed by the impasse.
``It doesn't appear as though we are getting any leadership in Virginia,'' said Councilman Louis R. Jones, who has led the city's Gaston negotiating team.
City Manager James K. Spore said: ``They have lost sight of why they are up there. They're up there to get things done for the people.''
At the end of its regular meeting Tuesday night, the council went back into an executive session to get a briefing from Sen. Ken Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, who had spent most of the day at Allen's side.
Technically, Allen could call a special session any time before the proposed agreement expires on Friday. The North Carolina legislature, which also must approve the deal, is scheduled to adjourn that day.
But Allen said that today may be the last opportunity to announce a special session and give lawmakers time to gather in Richmond.
``Obviously, I could call a session with no notice at all,'' Allen said. ``But if an agreement is not reached by (Wednesday), I think the hill would get a lot, lot steeper.''
Norfolk Mayor Paul D. Fraim refused to take sides on the specifics of the dispute between Allen and the Democratic legislature. But Fraim, who has worked closely with the Democratic leadership during the Lake Gaston negotiations, said, ``I believe Gov. Allen ought to call the session.''
Fraim said Norfolk was happy with the proposed agreement. But many legislators still oppose the agreement, he said, and Allen could not be assured of any consensus before the special session was called.
The political tussle came amid growing doubt that Virginia Beach has the political muscle to get the pipeline through the General Assembly. In addition to bipartisan opposition from the Southside delegation, some lawmakers from Northern Virginia - where highway gridlock is legendary - are concerned about terms of the agreement that would channel state transportation funds into roads leading to North Carolina tourist beaches.
House Speaker Moss offered the plan a tepid endorsement Monday, and other House leaders have predicted the pipeline deal would die if it came to a vote.
The procedural dispute centers on the contents - and authorship - of a resolution necessary to outline how a special session would proceed. Until this year, the resolution was considered a formality.
As early as April 27, Allen said he wanted the legislature to agree to a brief, one-issue session. He said that legislative sessions cost taxpayers $20,000 a day and that there's no reason for this one to go past June 30, when the Lake Gaston agreement expires.
Tuesday, Democrats called Allen's proposed restrictions an unprecedented attempt to tinker with the Constitution - particularly the parts about separation of powers.
Democrats asserted that Allen really wants the deal to die so he won't have to alienate the Roanoke River basin, which delivered huge margins for him in his 1993 election.
Said Del. Franklin P. Hall, a Richmond Democrat who headed the House committee that helped broker the deal: ``He's running for political cover, because he doesn't want to face the people who are against this and tell them he's for it.''
Allen and Democrats acknowledged that the procedural quarrel could tarnish all sides, leaving the public with the impression that they would let something so trivial as a resolution scuttle the pipeline agreement.
Still, neither Allen nor the Democrats would budge.
Allen declined to say whether he would let the pipeline deal die over the procedural resolution.
But at least one Virginia Beach lawmaker - Stolle - said he would rather give up the agreement than allow opponents to toss other issues into the special session.
Virginia Beach had asked that the session be limited in time and scope, Stolle said. He said that expanding the time frame would allow lawmakers from other regions to extract compensation from Virginia Beach in exchange for the water from Lake Gaston. For instance, rural lawmakers might demand money to bring their schools up to par with affluent, suburban areas. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Gov. Allen OKs a special session - on terms that Democrats refuse.
KEYWORDS: WATER SUPPLY PLAN LAKE GASTON by CNB