Robert Holsworth
Professor and Director of L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
2:00 PM
Robert Holsworth, professor and director of L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University, was online Wednesday, Jan. 11, at 2 p.m. ET to examine the 2006 Virginia General Assembly, which convenes Wednesday.
Post Coverage:
Va. Legislators Prepare to Convene With Expected Focus on Transportation (Post, Jan. 11)
Virginia Legislature Returns to Work (Jan. 11)
The transcript follows.
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Fairfax, Va.: Currently as it stands, the Virginia Constitution allows are governors to be elected to one 4 year term. Do you see the legislators possibly changing the one term limit in this year general assembly session? I think the one term limit on our governors is outdated and needs to be changed. I believe that it is important that we allow our governors more time to get their plans and an agenda through the state and a single four year term isn't enough time for that.
Robert Holsworth: Almost all former Governors, most of the business community and most citizens believe that the public should have the right to reelect the governor if they see fit. They believe that it would help in the formation and implementation of long-term agendas and in providing governmental accountability.
On the other hand, it would dilute the power of the legislature and will the legislators actually vote to do this- probably not unless some of the appointment powers of the governor were shared with the assembly. And there are many legislators who point to Virginia's rating as the best managed state in the nation and say that "if it is not broke, don't fix it."
Finally, while I personally think that it would be a good idea to allow the public the right to reelect their governor, having an open election every four years may well be the Political Pundits Full Employment Policy.
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Arlington, Va.: Mark Warner was credited with general success in dealing with the legislature. What special attributes did he bring in Executive - Legislative relations, and would such attributes work for the next Governor and legislative leaders, or is something different required?
Robert Holsworth: Your statement is true if we consider the last two years of the Warner governorship- he struggled in his first two years to exercise much influence with the legislature at all.
I believe that a couple of developments enabled Warner to become more successful as his governorship proceeded. First, he became himself better acquainted with the legislative process and what he would need to do to become more successful- he learned how to cultivate legislators and build coalitions- something that his previous background did not always require. Second, Warner was very successful in building coalitions outside the legislature that could influence assembly members and he was especially adept at building coalitions that were somewhat "counter type"- In particular, in 2004 he was able to construct a coalition for his tax package that included the business community as well as what some would label "usual suspects" in search of more government spending-local governments, social service groups, education advocates, etc..
This will be a major challenge for Tim Kaine- he may helped by the election results in the House- he'll need fewer Republican crossovers than Warner did- Kaine's experience in local government showed him to be a bridge builder, often building coalitions in Richmond across racial and ethnic lines- he's never been in a heavily partisan environment where he will need the support of another political party- we'll all be interested in seeing how he measures up to the challenge.
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McLean, Va.: How united will the Republicans be this time around and what effect will that have on Gov.-elect Kaine's ability to get through any sort or transportation plan or his plan to give localities more control over growth?
Robert Holsworth: I think that we can take it for granted that the GOP won't be very united- the House and the Senate will have different plans for dealing with transportation and they will have to be able to iron out the differences. In addition, we will have to see whether the House Republicans stay united or whether they split over major issues such as transportation.
While many of the slow growth, smart growth (pick your growth adjective) advocates are taking credit for Kaine's strong showing in the exurban counties, I'm not sure that they'll have that much influence in the transportation debate in the assembly -- the Governor may be able to extract some modest concessions in this regard, but at best, these will be modest.
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Virginia Beach, Va.: The GA has studied, at least twice, eliminating our ABC system. Each time the finding was that many millions of dollars would be saved/gained, yet no action so far. Do you think this will come up this year? The current system seems outdated and inefficient.
Robert Holsworth: Many people believe that your assessment of the current system has a lot of merit- that almost everyone could agree that buying, selling and distributing alcohol is not a core function BUT... this is a place where both liberals ,social conservatives and good government interest groups join together to support some version of the current system-
Many liberals find it troubling that opening up the ABC to private enterprise could put liquor stores and neighborhoods and communities- social conservatives belief that if liquor outlets become more visible, it will simply encourage more people to drink- and groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving would probably oppose loosening of regulations that make alcohol more easily available.
The bottom line- Virginia will be making money from alcohol sales for the foreseeable future.
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Richmond, Va.: Dr. Holsworth, as a VCU student and Richmond resident, I am curious as to whether or not the Virginia State Legislature will deal with the recent rash of violent crime in the Richmond area by enacting tougher criminal penalties. Also, are you aware of any focus at all by the Legislature on the increase of the state minimum wage over the next five years?
Robert Holsworth: Virginia has some pretty tough criminal penalties already-including the death penalty for cold blooded murderers. And if there are any loopholes that the Assembly is not aware of, they will probably be resolute in closing these.
The assembly will not pass an increase in the state minimum wage. The issue comes up in the assembly typically in relation to local governments- namely, should the assembly permit locally passed "livable wage" law to stand?
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Brandermill, Va.: Another special election (the 23d in Lynchburg), another Democratic victory. Do you believe Speaker Howell and the Republicans are concerned? Do you think they will have any change in tactics?
Robert Holsworth: I think that the Republicans in the House do have to be concerned- they have now lost at least three elections where Republicans previously controlled the seat-
Both Mark Warner and Tim Kaine campaigned for Shannon Valentine in Lynchburg and she won the election in a relative landslide with 57% of the vote.
As our statewide elections have shown, Virginia is really not a state with a 60/40 Republican tilt (the margin in both houses of the legislature last year) and we're beginning to see some movement back toward a more realistic composition of the legislature- one that reflects the political realities on the ground in the state.
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VCU Country, Go Rams: Do you think Governor-elect Kaine's transportation town hall meetings have done anything to change the calculus on transportation issues for the General Assembly?
Robert Holsworth: I really do not believe that the town hall meetings did very much other than to highlight the extraordinary range of opinions that people hold about how to solve the transportation problem in Virginia.
This is a very significant challenge for Governor Kaine- primarily because he did not campaign on a transportation plan. Unlike Warner, Gilmore or Allen, he really does not have a issues mandate from the public on the issue that he has said will be front and center for his first session.
It will be fascinating to see if he can build a consensus in the session that he did not try to construct during the campaign.
It is great to have all these questions from Rams fans.
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Richmond, Va.: The Commonwealth recently awarded a multi-billion computer outsourcing contract. As a computer professional, I see things like this happen all the time. Political jurisdictions seem to alternate between centralization and decentralization, and outsourcing and doing work in-house. Each method has advantages and disadvantages. It seems that each time a switch is made, it is because government considered the advantages but not the disadvantages. Then when the disadvantages become apparent, they switch back, or at least consider switching back, every time there is new executive. Your thoughts?
Robert Holsworth: I don't see any switching back on this effort during the Kaine administration. Warner's efficiency and effectiveness initiatives were a key part of the administration (conflict of interest disclaimer coming- I served as the executive director of the Wilder Commission that put many of these items on the table) and I think that Kaine will try to build on these.
We'll have to see how the IT outsourcing goes and I think any reconsideration would have to be part of the administration that follows Kaine.
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Arlington, Va.: With the tax relief law having expired and the possibility that car tax bills could triple, how high of a priority is this for the legislature and is there a consensus remedy out there?
Robert Holsworth: Great question- because car tax bills are going up and, in some places, relatively dramatically.
I don't believe that it will be a priority of the Kaine administration or the senate, but I'm certain that the House will remind us of it.
And, of course, former Governor Gilmore is certainly considering a run for office again (perhaps Governor in 2009) and he may want to weigh in as well.
But the cap put on local reimbursements will ensure that in most localities, especially fast growing ones, the car tax is getting ready to increase.
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Skinquarter, Va.: Two quick "personnel questions." Daniel LeBlanc, the Secretary of the Commonwealth nominee--will run into any trouble in the House of Delegates?
And the big one: What's in store for Sen. Russ Potts?
Robert Holsworth: Danny LeBlanc will be the secretary of the Commonwealth. It is the most surprising of all the Kaine appointments to date-
I know danny quite well- he is bright, hard working and dedicated to Virginia. But certainly many Republicans and even many of Kaine's democratic supporters were more than a little surprised that the chief officer of organized labor in Virginia would be put in charge of the office that is responsible for the Governor's appointments to boards and commissions.
I'm not sure whether senator Potts will be relieved of his committee chairmanship- there are many Republicans who want to do so- though there are others in the Senate who probably privately wished his campaign well- in the sense that he would make it more difficult for Jerry Kilgore to win.
According to the paper this morning, the Senator would not be surprised if the effort to exact retribution succeeds.
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Manassas Park, Va.: Does the Cost Cutting Caucus led by Del. Chris Saxman have a realistic chance of being influential in this General Assembly?
Robert Holsworth: It is not so easy for cost-cutting to prevail when the Governor may be adding 15 billion dollars to the biennial budget.
But I hope that the cost-cutting caucus continues to be aggressive- it is critical for public trust in government that citizens believe their elected officials are spending taxpayer money wisely- and government, like any large organization, has to be carefully monitored, especially at a time when it is easy to spend and spend.
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Anonymous: Re: the special election for Mims's seat: While the Reps must have a primary first, care to handicap the race?
Robert Holsworth: A Republican leaning district- but the Democrats are on a relative roll right now- they will fund a candidate significantly in the race-
Also, Mims' district may be more impacted by growth issues than your average senatorial district and partisan allegiance may be less important than the stand and reputation that the candidate has on issues-
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Vienna, Va.: In addition to the expected smackdown over transportation, I understand that Warner's proposal to rebuild Mental Care facilities is gathering steam. Apparently, families are bugged that the new training facilities offer no extra beds for expansion (is any reason to think demand would expand?). More significantly,I hear rumors that some conservative lawmakers may be aiming at getting rid of the training centers entirely, placing the residents in community care facilities like nursing homes. So, what do you know of the politics behind this battle? Who is involved?
Robert Holsworth: The politics of mental health is very heated inside the assembly- though not an issue that occupies the general public very much.
I doubt that all the facilities can be easily closed- there are some folks who simply need to be institutionalized and the communities in which the facilities are located find these to be an important source of employment.
Warner is trying to use the relative largesse of the Virginia economy to put forward a compromise solution for mental health- he puts more money into community metal health, thus enabling the institutions to feel comfortable releasing some people who need services- and, at the same, he downsizes older, expensive to maintain facilities and replaces these with, smaller, more up-to-date, less expensive to maintain facilities. Many people described this as a Once in a lifetime" solution. They may be right- without the incredible economic boom we have had in Virginia lately, this solution would be unthinkable.
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Richmond, Va.: In the Massachusetts gay marriage ruling, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court noted that while a state can give its citizens more rights than are in the Federal constitution, a state cannot give its citizens. I am not a big fan of either the Virginia legal system or the Generous Assembly (I call them that because it seems they're generous to everyone but me). The General Assembly seems to have the unfortunate habit of regulating more and more aspects of its citizens' private behavior. The state courts seem to work very hard to ensure that Virginia citizens have as few rights as possible. The Virginia Supreme Court, whose members are appointed by the General Assembly, seems to always be happy to tell the Federal courts exactly what the Federal courts "really" meant in their rulings. In spite of this, Virginia has elected two Democratic governors in succession. Do you think this fact will have any impact on the General Assembly's judicial appointments or on the proposed new laws which they bring to the floor for a vote?
BTW, I had the honor of hearing you speak briefly two years ago when my son was inducted into Phi Eta Sigma. You made some very good points, which I discussed with my son to our mutual benefit. Keep up the great work.
Robert Holsworth: Judicial appointments, especially at the local district level, are primarily controlled by the local delegation- so the short answer is that the appointment process will not change very much unless the nature of the local delegation has changed in a region. I should also note that there is considerable regional variation in the process that the local delegations employ. perhaps the biggest change occurring is in the process by which judges are evaluated prior to coming up for reappointment.
Thanks for the nice comment about the talk.
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Frankfort, Ky.: What is the ethical climate in the Va. General Assembly? Do they have meaningful ethics laws in place? Any recent ethical issues raised regarding Va. legislators? Thanks.
Robert Holsworth: I think that the Virginia general Assembly is generally perceived to be a legislative body which has, at most, minimal corruption.
Some of its critics say this is so because there are such few laws regulating legislative behavior- such as practicing law before state agencies- and because there are no laws limiting the size of campaign contributions.
I tend to believe that, overall, the ethical standards of Virginia political figures is relatively high and do not see much of an impetus from the public to impose new regulations.
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Virginia: If he gets appropriate funding, how good a chance do you think Miller has against Allen later this year?
Any more news on Webb?
Robert Holsworth: Running against George Allen is an uphill fight in Virginia- for anyone.
Webb might be a very interesting candidate because he would be such a different kind of opponent- but I am uncertain how much he would be interested in first having to win a Democratic primary - I think that Miller's early announcement was a smart move.
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Annandale, Va.: What do you foresee for the session? Another boring reprise of last year, or some surprises?
Robert Holsworth: Last year's session was unusual- because there are almost always surprises-
I think that there will be a lot of probing and testing of the new Governor- he ran as Mark Warner's younger brother, but will want to establish HIS identity and HIS priorities relatively quickly-
I wish I could tell you where the surprises will be- but my crystal ball is still not very clear here.
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Clifton, Va.: There has been much discussion on whether or not Hybrid vehicles will be allowed to remain in the HOV lanes. My question is: After a bill -HB 309] is introduced, how long and when will it be passed?
Robert Holsworth: hybrids, cell phones, tolls, automotive related taxes and related questions-
in a session dominated by transportation, I think that the transportation related issues that impact our everyday lives will be receiving a lot of attention and will obtain much of the coverage, especially in Northern Virginia.
One prediction- many people will remember more about what the Assembly does with respect to hybrids in HOV lanes and cell phone rules than some of the other "weightier" matters that it will discuss.
Again, thanks for the great questions -- I hope that we can back together as the session proceeds.
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washingtonpost.com: Thank you all for your participation in today's discussion with Robert Holsworth.
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