Senator Whipple's Richmond Report

You may think that all we write about is the budget. I can tell you that all we THINK about is the budget. And it is definitely on the minds of my constituents. The emails are arriving at a furious clip - here's a sampling.

"I do encourage you to stand firm with the Senate in sticking to a fiscally responsible tax code that will likely mean having to increase taxes for the wealthy (I'm included in that group, by the way) in order to make it possible for those with low incomes to survive on what they make."

"Dear Senator. Stand fast; don't compromise any more than you have already, you're RIGHT; the House of Delegates is WRONG!!"

"The Senate has crafted an excellent compromise, in my opinion, and I cannot see why the House will not go with [that] version."

"The notion that members of the House of Delegates want the people to decide directly on sorely needed tax increases is appalling and cowardly."

"Aside from the jeopardy of losing our AAA bond rating, we are looking to you especially the delegates, to find a compromise which is fair, reasonable, and adequate to provide the core programs that are the responsibility of the Commonwealth to provide its citizens."

From a copy of an email to the Governor: "Please show your leadership by speaking out strongly in favor of the Senate budget for education."

Governor Warner's proposed tax increase should be called the 'Baby Boomer Tax'."

The budget is not the only matter in dispute. The Senate believes that the Virginia Constitution precludes recessing for more than three days at a time without the concurrence of the other house. Article IV, Section 6, in providing for legislative sessions, states: "Neither house shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn to another place, nor for more than three days." The Speaker of the House, however, said the Constitutional provision does not apply to special sessions and adjourned for a week.

The Senate requested and obtained an opinion on the question from Professor A.E. Dick Howard, the preeminent authority in Virginia, who responded: "I understand this limitation to apply to both regular and special sessions, Bicameralism is, of course, the norm in American constitutional practice. (Only one state, Nebraska, has a unicameral legislature.) From the earliest days of the Republic, it has been the accepted practice that, to ensure the proper functioning of bicameralism, there must be strict limits on the ability of one house to halt the legislative process by adjourning without the consent of the other house."

He adds that the limitation is modeled on the U.S Constitution, has been in the Virginia Constitution since 1830, and that it is also the overwhelming practice in other states.

When the Senate and the House of Delegates can't even agree on a meeting schedule, it doesn't bode well for a quick budget agreement.