N.Va. Fares Well on House Panels
By Ellen Nakashima
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 20, 1998; Page B01
Moss's appointments today were viewed by many lawmakers as the first test of the power-sharing pact worked out during the session's raucous first week, after Republicans nearly toppled Moss as they pressed for more say in legislation.
Northern Virginia lawmakers were appointed to 12 of the 39 committee chairmanships in the House, more than any other region. The newly created Science and Technology Committee will be led by Dels. Joe T. May (R-Loudoun) and Kenneth R. Plum (D-Fairfax).
The science panel has five Northern Virginians -- Plum, May, James M. Scott (D-Fairfax), Vivian E. Watts (D-Fairfax) and Robert G. Marshall (R-Prince William). The region fared well because chairmanships are assigned by seniority, and many of the House's most senior Republicans are from Northern Virginia.
Other new Republican chairmen are John A. "Jack" Rollison III of Prince William on Transportation, James H. Dillard II of Fairfax on Education, Harry J. Parrish of Prince William on Finance and James K. "Jay" O'Brien Jr. of Fairfax on Mining and Mineral Resources.
"Northern Virginia is probably better represented in leadership than at any other point in the history of the commonwealth," said Del. Vincent F. Callahan Jr. (R-Fairfax), co-chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee, which helps write the state budget.
Republicans, who now share half the committee assignments and all but one chairmanship in the chamber long dominated by their rivals, had been wary that Moss (Norfolk) might use the appointments to retaliate against some GOP lawmakers for their roles in last week's insurrection against Democrats. Republicans hold 49 seats in the 100-member House and gained the support of the chamber's independent, so they were able to create a legislative deadlock that forced Democrats into the power-sharing accord.
But today, Moss was conciliatory in his appointments. He returned S. Vance Wilkins Jr. (Amherst), the GOP floor leader and Moss's frequent nemesis, to the influential Rules Committee -- a panel led by Moss, and from which Wilkins was bumped in 1996 after angering the speaker.
And Lacey E. Putney of Bedford, the independent who had feared Moss would toss him from Appropriations for siding with the GOP during its push for power, not only kept the coveted seat but also was named to the Rules Committee.
"A lot of Republicans have to be pleased. They have so many more good assignments," said GOP caucus spokesman J. Scott Leake. "It's clear that there was a little tweaking here and there to let us know who's got the final word. But there is nothing that would lead us up the ramparts."
Moss, who said just last month that he doubted the likelihood of sharing power with House Republicans, said today that he hoped the new pact would lead to harmony between the two parties in the two-month session that opened last Wednesday.
Republicans once had only four seats on the powerful 22-member Appropriations Committee; they now occupy half of the expanded 30-seat panel and share the chairmanship. Moss won praise from some Republicans by appointing the GOP's John H. "Jack" Rust Jr. of Fairfax to the Courts of Justice Committee and Robert F. McDonnell of Virginia Beach to the Education Committee.
Because Moss added as many as 10 Republicans to some committees, some relatively inexperienced members were bound to get sweet deals. For instance, a second-term Republican was put on Appropriations and the corporations committee. And a new delegate, Michele B. McQuigg of Prince William County, was appointed to the courts committee -- the first non-lawyer Republican to join the panel.
Social conservative groups, who see new opportunities for their agenda with Republicans' increased influence, gave cautious approval to the appointments.
The Family Foundation's Robin DeJarnette said she liked the new makeup of the courts committee, which she hopes will endorse bills to further restrict abortion. The education panel has two new social conservatives, which bodes well, she said.
"It makes for a better road for our legislation," she said, "but not an easy one."
© Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company
