The Case of the Vanishing Bill

In fact, Subcommittee No. 2, chaired by Del. Robert Hurt (R-Pittsylvania), met at 8 a.m. Feb. 2., in Room 8-West. The five members quickly and efficiently dispatched the Purkey bill.

Howell and his Republican leadership insist that they rewrote the rules to encourage more decisive subcommittee action in an effort to move more quickly through the thousands of bills that are introduced each year. This year, House delegates asked legislative lawyers to draft more than 4,000 bills, all of which must be dealt with in the first half of the General Assembly's 60-day session.

But the result -- some say the intended result -- is a return to the murky days when proposed laws disappeared into the ether without any clear public record or accountability.

In those days, many agree, Democrats ruled the legislature like lords ruling a manor house. Committees would often schedule meetings without advance notice. Sometimes, the handful of Republicans on committees would not be informed that a committee was meeting until after the meeting was over.

In the past decade, Virginia's legislature has moved, in fits and starts, toward far greater openness and accountability. The legislative Web site has given the average citizen dramatic new ability to track bills. And committees are assigned in rough proportion to the percentage of seats held by the major political parties.

Now, some say, that progress is being threatened. Democrats are grumbling that their bills are easier to dispose of without notice. Lobbyists say it's harder to track legislation on behalf of their clients. And activists say it's virtually impossible to turn out the troops for the early-morning subcommittees.

But the most serious griping may come in the next few weeks, as legislation passed in the Senate makes its way to the House, only to be swiftly defeated in the wee hours, with no public record.

Just a guess, but that's not likely to sit well with the senators.