The Rev. David H. Teschner should have come at 7 a.m. instead of 10 on Friday morning. The Privileges and Elections subcommittee could have used his prayer!
When he opened the House session, the rector of Petersburg’s Christ and Grace Episcopal Church, prayed, “Guide and bless our delegates. . . may they have friendships and partnerships that transcend party politics.”
Assembly Anonymous observes that three people were not “transcending party politics” at 7 a.m. Three Republican delegates, facing a roomful of citizens—some of whom got up in the middle of the night to get to a 7 a.m. subcommittee meeting on redistricting—brought a screeching halt to a movement that was clipping right along to “transcend party politics.”
But the block of three—Delegates Terrie Suit, Chris Jones and John O’Bannon—said “no.” They stopped a bill that would bring an end to political control of redistricting. The bill had sailed through the Senate with no opposition.
The threesome was able to stop DEMOCRACY dead in its tracks.
Democrats and Republicans have made some of the funniest looking districts you can imagine. Delegates have districts with six or seven localities in them—sometimes with no more than one precinct in a district. They’re drawn to protect the incumbents.
But some legislators, including a whole raft of R and D governors and elected leaders, think that just isn’t right. That’s why Republican and Democratic senators and delegates put bills in to support a Bipartisan Redistricting Commission.
P &E Committee Chairman Mark Cole accepted the recommendation of the subcommittee headed by Jones and adjourned the P & E meeting as Del. Jim Scott tried to get the bill before the full committee.
At least, because there was a crowd there, the subcommittee vote was not secret. With the new subcommittee rules that eliminated recorded votes, the identity of the block voters would have been a mystery.
Rev. Teschner… can you come back? Try that prayer again… please?
No Quizzes on What They Did Please
AA thinks it would NOT be a good idea to give House members a quiz on what they voted on the final day before crossover—when the bills have to get out of their house to go to the Senate.
Get this: the House voted on 104 pages of bills—319 in all—in one hour and 35 minutes. AA and plenty of others remember when the day before crossover meant marathon sessions into the night. Of course, delegates would have had trouble with quizzes on those passed at the end of the marathon as well. How do you pass about three bills a minute? You’re real agreeable and you lump blocks of bills together to move from one reading (there are three) on to the next. That’s routine for Senate bills arriving to be sent on to committee.
However, “agreeable” must not have lasted long, judging from early reaction to money committee budget proposals.
Too Old to Judge but NOT to Old to Legislate
Del. Terry Kilgore’s old people bill had no more luck than Del. Terrie Suit’s stupid people bill.
Kilgore tried to give judges more time on the bench. HB783 would have, at first, allowed judges to continue judging until they were 75. The subcommittee hedged and made it 73. Judges must retire at age 70.
But the House had big problems with old judges over 70. The bill failed on the floor. Delegates told stories of “burned out” judges who needed to be relieved. Del. Bob Marshall wanted to know how old Ronald Reagan was when he was elected president. “In his 70s,” replied Del. Clay Athey, “but he didn’t serve as president for 35 years.”
It was pointed out by a brave member that the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and longest serving delegate in the General Assembly, Del. Lacey Putney, will be 80 this year and ahead of him is Del Frank Hargrove who was 81 in January.
Don’t count on a bill limiting the age of legislators!
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO …?
The Dumb People Bill
Del. Terrie Suit’s attempt to help people learn about what they are doing when they get a loan to buy a house didn’t fly. A section of her bill had insisted borrowers be given instruction in the mysteries of finance, loans and home purchasing. But that section had vanished completely from HB1487 after being sent off for “work” before coming back to the Commerce and Labor Committee.
AA reminds that there was great discussion of just how stupid the public may be and whether home buying education is necessary. The final version of Del. Suit’s bill went with the “buyer beware’ school of thought.”
The Great Fuss Over A $60,000 Tax Loss Vs. $16.1 Million from VW
At least one Appropriations Committee member, Del. Johnny Joannou, wasn’t any happier with HB833 in the House than he was in Committee. This is the bill that allows VW employees to receive free leased cars when the company moves its headquarters to Northern Virginia. The bill adds auto manufacturers’ headquarters to sales tax exemptions. Del. Joannou, like Del. Phil Hamilton in Committee, worried that Norfolk’s departed Ford truck plant never was offered such a perk. That wasn’t a headquarters, Del. Rust reminded.
So, once again, as he did in Committee, Del. Joannou voted against what he called a “bad precedent.” Who NEVER voted against the bill but was wrongly listed in AA’s last VW report as a nay sayer is Del. Steve Landis. He and 85 other House members seemed to think the tax incentive in view of the VW plum is cricket.
The Dulcolax Lady
The severely constipated woman must have found relief. She was what you saw if you clicked on “General Assembly” at inrich.com, the Times-Dispatch website. After AA noted that an ad for Dulcolax, a laxative, must be watched before hearing Jeff Schapiro give his General Assembly report, the suffering woman disappeared into cyberspace.