THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Monday, January 13, 1997              TAG: 9701110031
SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A8   EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Editorial 
                                            LENGTH:   41 lines

A WOMAN JOINS THE SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE A FIRST FOR SENATOR HOWELL

The voices of women in the Virginia General Assembly are more muted than they should be. Perhaps because there are few of them to hear.

Fourteen percent of the members of the House of Delegates are women, as are 17 percent of senators. Thirty-five state legislatures have female representation that is more nearly in line with the population.

On some powerful committees, the gender gap is even wider. Only last year did the 40-member Senate get its first female committee chair. Sen. Yvonne Miller, a professor at Norfolk State University, took over the helm of the Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services.

Now, another memorable, though belated, step has been taken. Sen. Janet Howell, a civic activist and former eighth-grade schoolteacher from Reston, has become the first female member of the Senate's powerful Finance Committee.

This is the group that considers taxes and crafts the state's $35 billion biennial budget. To say that its members are more equal than other senators is to state the obvious.

Two South Hampton Roads legislators were also considered to become the first female members of the panel. Miller, the most senior female senator, was in the running. So was Sen. Louise Lucas of Portsmouth.

Howell carried the day, perhaps partially because Southeastern Virginia votes on the 17-member steering committee were split, partially because her congressional district (the 11th) was the only one unrepresented on the panel.

Howell's addition gives Northern Virginia a decided advantage on the committee. Five of its 17 members are from the region.

But rather than lament that fact, Hampton Roads residents should rejoice. There is a community of interests between Northern Virginia and the cities of southeastern Virginia that, on many issues, allows legislators in one area to speak for the other.

Transportation, education, and issues involving urban-suburban sprawl are as pressing in one region as the other.

Meanwhile, women throughout the commonwealth can celebrate the taking of another small step for womankind.