By R.H. Melton
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 20, 1998; Page C01

RICHMOND, Feb. 19—While Virginia Gov. James S. Gilmore III has been focused squarely on killing the car tax, Democratic and Republican lawmakers have joined to frustrate other parts of his agenda, advancing a range of social service and education initiatives that Gilmore opposes.

Gilmore says that his overall legislative package -- which also is highlighted by a plan to hire 2,000 more teachers -- is still in good shape.

"We all speculate about what he may veto," Virginia Sen. Joseph V. Gartlan Jr. (D-Fairfax) says of Gov. James Gilmore's legislative agenda. (File Photo)

But as the Republican governor has spent his first month in office primarily pushing his five-year, $2.8 billion plan to phase out the property tax on cars, lawmakers from both parties have endorsed several bills over his objections -- and in some cases rejected his proposals outright.

"He's been so focused on the success of the car tax, some other issues are moving differently" than the administration would like, said James D. Campbell, executive director of the Virginia Association of Counties.

Gilmore disagrees with the idea that he has been distracted, saying that he merely is confronting the "traditional problems" of all incoming governors, including a bare-bones senior staff and a legislature that already had begun its session when he was inaugurated.

"Certainly, we're getting the job done," Gilmore said in an interview. "Republicans are more cohesive than at any point in their history. . . . My package is in fine shape."

But on several fronts -- namely sex education, the environment, health care for low-income children, day-care regulations and counseling in elementary schools -- groups of Democrats and even Republicans have chipped away at the governor's conservative legislative platform. Gilmore may not even get all he wants on his car-tax cut; today Senate Republicans advanced a less costly version amid criticism that the governor's proposal was unaffordable.

Gilmore, of course, still has two potent weapons to deflect legislation he opposes: an outright veto, which his aides have raised as a strong possibility on some bills, and the power to send down from his third-floor Capitol suite a string of amendments to measures he dislikes.

"We all speculate about what he may veto," said state Sen. Joseph V. Gartlan Jr. (D-Fairfax), a leader on social service initiatives. "There is a concern he may land on these things we've passed, and he doesn't have to show his hand until they land on his desk."

Perhaps the most likely candidate for a Gilmore veto is a measure, endorsed by both the House and Senate, that would mandate the teaching of sex education, which the governor has said should be an option for localities.

During a House floor session on Sunday, several Republican women spoke passionately about the need for sex education and joined Democrats to pass the measure easily. The Senate followed suit on Tuesday.

"We cannot afford, with today's society, not to teach these children about their bodies," said Del. Jeannemarie Devolites (R-Fairfax), one of the House's newest members.

Many lobbyists and advocates at the Capitol say the power-sharing agreements that guide the two divided chambers have forced both sides of the aisle to forge pragmatic solutions to enduring policy questions. The Senate, where the GOP now holds 21 of 40 seats, hammered out its power-sharing arrangement in 1996; the House, which includes 50 Democrats, 49 Republicans and a GOP-leaning independent, settled on a similar pact last month.

The result, observers say, has been a give-and-take situation in which wary lawmakers, knowing that neither party is truly in charge of the legislature, have been more inclined to compromise than in past years.

"Power-sharing has changed the dynamic, forcing compromise and reconciliation," said Christopher J. Spanos, a longtime advocate here on social service issues.

"Once both sides have equal responsibility, they have to work together," Spanos said. "The governor's exceedingly powerful, but there is a legislature" that also has an agenda.

On no issue has Gilmore been more strongly rebuffed than on children's health care. Both houses have approved a $48 million Democratic plan to extend insurance benefits to 104,000 youngsters in low-income families.

The administration took a strong position against that plan, offering instead a more modest, $30 million plan to cover 57,000 children. Lawmakers axed it.

"The governor's no-compromise position backed them into a corner," Spanos said.

Already, lawmakers in both parties expect Gilmore to push hard to amend the measure. "My child health-care proposal is okay," Gilmore said. "I am talking to their people."

Against Gilmore's wishes, legislators also have advanced plans to require counselors in elementary schools and impose stricter regulations on day-care providers. And they have pushed forward anti-pollution bills that would impose new regulations on poultry farms and protect wetlands, plans Gilmore opposes.

Del. Alan A. Diamonstein (D-Newport News), one of the most senior House members, said there is nothing unusual about the governor pursuing his chief objective -- the car-tax rollback -- while the 100 delegates and 40 senators pursue theirs.

"Regardless of what the third floor needs," said Diamonstein, the chief sponsor of the sex education bill, "everybody down here has their own agenda."

Gilmore's car-tax agenda, though, has set the tone for the session and reflected his methodical, tightly focused nature. Hardly a day goes by without some photo opportunity or impromptu news conference that keeps Gilmore "on message," as political consultants are fond of saying.

The strategy has not yet borne fruit -- House Democrats bottled up the car-tax cut in committee this week, and a Democratic plan to cut the state sales tax on food has been competing with Gilmore's plan -- but nearly all observers here expect Gilmore to achieve some sort of victory.

Through polling, massive phone banks and electronic mail, Gilmore advisers say confidently that the rollback still resonates with voters like few issues they have ever seen. On Sunday, the volume of car tax e-mail to Ray Allen, a top Gilmore strategist, was so heavy it shut his service down for 90 minutes, Allen said.

"We really believe we're holding all the aces," Allen said.

Staff writers Spencer S. Hsu and Ellen Nakashima contributed to this report.