Political Notebook: Session has crisis in identity

RICHMOND

No one has coined a really good name for the recently concluded and not-yet-missed 2008 General Assembly session.

It could go down in history as the “oh, yes, mental health is a function of state government session.“

It might even be dubbed the “does the right-hand House know what the left-hand Senate is doing? session.“

It won’t be known as the bipartisan session. And the bipolar session sounds mildly depressing.

It could have been the “let’s talk about guns and do nothing session.“

Perhaps it was the “let’s talk about immigration and do nothing session.“

It will not be known as the “transportation session” - unless it’s as the “transportation funding falls apart session.“

It might have been the “recession session” or the “tight-budget session “ - but, then, Virginia has an unexpected special session to deal with deadlocks or recessions with the numbing regularity of five out of every seven or eight years.

This year, more than 3,000 pieces of legislation passed through the sausage grinder without making too many people sick.

This year’s session wasn’t too bad, or too good, to stand out as much more than a highly partisan session at times that didn’t really finish its work.

If the legislature considered itself a composer of music, this year’s effort might fall somewhere between an unfinished symphony and a frail fugue.

A lot of judges were not selected, not so much as a result of partisanship as of internal Senate maneuverings that left a bad judicial selection process showing a few strains.

The selection of 30 or more judges didn’t happen on time but may still happen by sometime in April.

Transportation funding gaps were left unfilled until perhaps sometime in April.

A huge set of college and university construction projects wrapped into a bond package was left unresolved and awaiting action perhaps sometime in April.

No historic moment

Last year, the legislature issued an historic apology for slavery in the form of a resolution expressing profound regret.

This year, no apology came from the capitol for anything. People merely left with their work partly done, perhaps thinking more of campaigns past and future than of good governance.

This was the session in which House Republicans learned that Senate Democrats have a veto they lacked the year before.

But it also was the session in which Senate Democrats suddenly learned that Senate Republicans who used to act like them also have a veto and the ability to pick up a phone to dial House Republicans.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine learned that everybody has a veto pen - even him.

In Washington, the president often hands out signing pens after bill-signing ceremonies. In Richmond, there is no such ceremony for the passing out of veto pens. Everyone already has one.

Judging from the immense pile of mostly small bills that were passed, the 2008 General Assembly could be the “Virginia bans cockfighting session,“ the “payday lenders get one-at-a-time loan limits session” or the “allow restaurants to serve sangria session.“

Budget woes limited everyone’s ability to beef up favorite areas of the $77 billion two-year state budget finally passed March 13, five days late.

“I guess this one would be the ‘show me the money session,’ “ said Del. David J. Toscano, D-Charlottesville.

Without opposition, mental health services were shown some more cash in the budget: More than $42 million was infused into the state’s system for people in mental-health crises.

One of the session’s most important outcomes was the bipartisan effort to update and improve mental-health services, which all sides hailed as a good start and a down payment toward building up a system largely left alone for 30 years.

One of the session’s main behavioral traits was lack of cooperation. The common assessment by legislators was that these 65 days of winter would be known for increased partisanship.

Del. Frank D. Hargrove, a Hanover County Republican who has served in the House since 1982, said, “I think it’s going to be known for the difficulty when you have two majorities learning to work together.

“You’ve got a House majority of Republicans. You’ve got a Senate majority of Democrats, and that is proving to be more difficult with the two to coordinate than anybody ever anticipated.“

Hargrove, a colorfully candid fellow well liked by colleagues, is right about an unanticipated lack of House-Senate ability to finish deals.

The 19 Senate Republicans became a feisty partisan force well aware of the fact that they are now just one vote shy of a majority on ’most any partisan issue. They acted more in accord with House Republicans than in recent years, making 2008 a pretty good year for Republicans if they can be content with modest accomplishments.

Hargrove had a few other salient observations about the 2008 session of unfinished business. He said the general public and political insiders - or, as he put it, “the people who are interested in the functioning of the legislature” - will see the session differently.

Partisan difficulties will be how insiders recall the session, he said, but “I think for the general public it will be known for ‘nothing changes - those people in Richmond don’t know what they are doing anyway.’

“From the general public’s point of view, they just see this as another 60 [or 65] days of confusion.“

Bob Gibson (434) 978-7243 |