Our Man in Arlington

The Virginia General Assembly adjourned for the year, leaving us relatively safe for ten months, when it comes back into session after the November elections.

It could have been worse. There was enough regressive, mean spirited, and downright cruel legislative proposals floating around to make even the most dedicated misanthrope happy and to keep constitutional lawyers well employed for the next millennium. Many of the worst bills passed by the House of Delegates, whose majority gives conservatism a very bad name, were finally allowed to die in the Senate.

Arlington delegate Bob Brink tells the famous story of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, who were enjoying a quiet cup of coffee together during a break in the Philadelphia constitutional convention. They were discussing whether there should be one chamber or two in Congress. Jefferson was opposed to a two chamber Congress; Washington was in favor. Washington asked Jefferson, “why did you pour that coffee into your saucer?” “To cool it,” replied Jefferson. “Even so,” said Washington, “we pour legislation into the senatorial saucer to cool it.”

The Virginia Senate last week reflected Washington’s words. The legislation killed in various Senate committees, after being passed by the House of Delegates, would have prohibited adoption by homosexuals, banned Gay-Straight Alliances in schools, created a “Traditional Marriage” license plate, required physicians performing abortions to be licensed as ambulatory surgery centers, required anesthetization of a fetus for abortions performed 20 weeks or more after impregnation, established a criminal penalty for the sale of fetal tissue derived from an abortion, proposed a constitutional amendment on public prayers in schools, prohibited admission of illegal aliens to any public institution in the state, permitted local school boards to enter into agreements with private schools to provide pupil transportation, established penalties for teenagers found guilty of wearing “droopy drawers,” and reinstituted the complete car tax rebate, plunging Virginia once again into fiscal jeopardy.

Brink proposed a new bumper sticker; “If You Love Virginia, Hug a Senator.”

The adjournment of the General Assembly unofficially ushers in the election season, which promises to be bitterly contested. Not only will we have Democratic Lt. Governor Tim Kaine squaring off against Republican former Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, but the House of Delegates will also be up for grabs.

The crucial contests will be between the “no tax, no way” fiscal troglodytes who led the battle against Mark Warner’s budget last year against conservative, fiscally responsible Republicans.

The opening salvo came in December with a statewide WANTED ad sponsored by Grover Norquist’s anti-tax national organization. The ad was seeking opponents to the Republicans in the General Assembly who simply acted like the fiscal conservatives they were by supporting the Warner budget, which prudently (conservatively?) matched income with expenditures.

Presumably, this also means looking for socially reactionary, and grossly inconsistent, conservatives who tout the principle that government should keep its nose out of private behavior by eliminating traffic cameras while supporting governmental intrusion into private life by preventing gays from entering into contractual relations with one another.

It is anybody’s guess what the ultimate outcome will be, but it promises to be one of the most interesting and important state elections in a generation.

Richard Barton may be emailed at rbarton@towervillas.com