A Partisan Fever Grips Richmond
By Spencer S. Hsu and R.H. Melton
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, January 14, 1998; Page B01
RICHMOND – Virginia lawmakers, on edge because the question of who controls the legislature remains in doubt, begin up to two months of politicking today on incoming Gov. James S. Gilmore III's promise to virtually eliminate the state's car tax.
As they arrived in the capital for their 1998 session, Democrats and Republicans were spoiling for a fight even before they knew that the GOP would claim three more House of Delegates seats in special elections yesterday. But legislators from both parties agreed that there would be broad support for Republican Gilmore's repeal of the personal property tax on most cars and trucks. The only questions are how fast lawmakers will move and how quickly the tax will be phased out.
Members of the General Assembly also face issues involving health care, education, abortion and a $40 billion budget.
"It's a watershed session," said Del. Kenneth R. Plum (D-Fairfax). "We're talking not just about control of the General Assembly, but the future direction of Virginia."
For Gov.-elect Gilmore, a two-term state attorney general, the stakes are enormous. In recent weeks, he has sought to reach out to legislators, even persuading two Democrats to join his administration. But the session surely will test his ability to work with increasingly contentious Democratic leaders.
Yesterday, Gilmore and his advisers worked feverishly to entice even more Democratic lawmakers to agree to sharing power with Republicans in the House.
"It's safe to say we're working to bring more people aboard, and we're not pulling teeth, either," said a senior Gilmore aide.
When lawmakers convene at the stroke of noon today, the spotlight will be on the House, traditionally the assembly's more-rancorous chamber. Two years ago, an evenly divided Senate hammered out a power-sharing agreement, but so far most House Democrats are balking at major concessions in the chamber they have controlled since 1884.
The result, legislative veterans say, is the start of a session unlike any they can remember. "I have never seen in 30 years a beginning so cantankerous, with such hard feelings," said Del. Alan A. Diamonstein (D-Newport News), the leader of the Democratic caucus.
Heading into yesterday's special elections for three open seats, the House had 50 Democrats, 46 Republicans and one independent, who generally has sided with the GOP caucus. With Republicans picking up all three seats, they will be in a virtual deadlock with Democrats.
House Majority Leader C. Richard Cranwell (D-Roanoke) dismissed the Republicans' quest for shared power as little more than showboating.
"The Republicans have their grandiose scheme, and they're trying to spin their web. But they're like the inmates who are planning to break out of prison," he said. "They dig their tunnel, then they get to the end of their tunnel, and when they open it, they find they're in the sheriff's office."
Cranwell may have met his match in M. Boyd Marcus Jr., Gilmore's wily chief of staff and the architect of the GOP plan to systematically disassemble the Democratic House majority.
"There's going to be some partisanship, clearly some maneuvering between the parties," Marcus said.
Today will be bittersweet for outgoing Republican Gov. George Allen, who will deliver his final State of the Commonwealth address to a joint legislative session in the evening.
Four years ago, Allen was sworn in on the steps of the Capitol and delivered a stingingly partisan attack as he faced a House and Senate still solidly in Democratic hands and a Democratic lieutenant governor.
When Gilmore is inaugurated Saturday, after a week-long victory tour of Virginia, he will be flanked by statewide officials who are all Republicans. The Senate will be controlled by Republicans for the first time in a century, and Republicans may even share leadership in the House.
Among Republicans and Democrats alike, many believe things will settle down after an initial burst of partisan bickering, but some members and small army of lobbyists think the startlingly harsh rhetoric could gum up the works.
"Things are so much more partisan . . . which makes it harder to avoid confrontation and reach reasonable compromises," said Ralph L. Axselle Jr., of Richmond, a Democratic lawyer-lobbyist who retired from the House seven years ago.
Republicans played down the rancor. "We've had contentious times before," said House Minority Leader S. Vance Wilkins Jr. (Amherst). "On the major issues, we generally get around to working on them.
Legislative leaders said they expect a plan to extend health insurance to children in low-income Virginia families to pass with broad support.
There also will be some wrangling over the car tax, but most observers are confident about its ultimate passage this session.
"The car tax will pass with as close to 140 votes as anything we've seen for a long time. The question is: What are the guarantees?" said Suzette Denslow, lobbyist for the Virginia Municipal League, whose members oppose any change in the locally administered tax that does not replace their lost revenue.
Denslow and others voiced a widely held view that after Gilmore's tax cut is passed, Virginia lawmakers may take a breather from big-ticket initiatives, choosing instead to lower their profiles ahead of the 1999 elections.
Some traditional fights will flare. Religious conservatives will renew efforts to further restrict abortions among teenagers, such as by requiring parental consent. They also will propose a ban on the rare surgical procedure opponents call "partial-birth" abortion.
Gun-control groups will push for restrictions to keep weapons out of community recreation centers, and anti-tobacco interests will seek a ban on cigarette vending machines.
There will be fights over day care and education funding, part of a broader competition among assorted groups for a bigger share of the state's $40 billion two-year budget.
For Northern Virginia, the session promises little action on priorities. Area lawmakers are proposing a $100 million transportation bond program and want more state education dollars to offset the region's higher cost of living.
Those initiatives likely will be held hostage in state budget talks and partisan negotiations.
Staff writer Ellen Nakashima contributed to this report.
© Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company
