Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

My Ignominious Trip to the General Assembly

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by

James A. Bacon
in

Through two years of blogging, I’ve been content to cover the action in the General Assembly from afar, supplementing the daily newspaper coverage with e-mail correspondence, Web research and occasional interviews. One topic that I did research in depth was the package of land-use reforms submitted by the House of Delegates leadership. Some readers were skeptical of the legislation’s merits. One anonymous blogger goaded me via his comments to attend the subcommittee meeting of Counties, Cities and Towns when the legislation would be introduced, to witness for myself what kind of greeting the bills would receive. “See you in House Room C,” he signed off.

OK, I said, I’ll go. And go I did. And when I got to the General Assembly Building just before 3 p.m., a sign on House Room C said that the hearing had been canceled. Grrr. Thanks a lot, Anonymous, that was a great tip! I’m so glad I reserved my one trek to the 2007 session for this awe-inspiring occasion!

Well, the schedule posted in the General Assembly building mentioned that the House Republican Caucus also would convene at 3 p.m. If the big dogs in the House weren’t presenting the landmark legislation to the sub-committee, I figured they might be talking about transportation, land use or something interesting in the caucus. The receptionist said the caucus should be open to the public unless it went into executive session. So, I zipped on over to the Patrick Henry Building, grabbed a seat and watched quietly as a large number of middle-aged men in dark suits and gray hair filed into the room. Eventually, I caught the eye of House Speaker William J. Howell, who, after a brief but friendly chat, informed me that the caucus was closed to the public. Double grrrr.

Bottom line for the afternoon: Your correspondent uncovered no earth-shaking revelations regarding the more momentous debates of this year’s session. But I did get button-holed by two officers with the Harrisonburg fire department eager to tell their story. An alarming increase in novelty cigarette lighters is putting innocent Virginia children at risk for setting themselves, their homes and their schools on fire. I will blog that story very shortly — and you’ll have read it here first, a world exclusive for Bacon’s Rebellion.

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7 responses to “My Ignominious Trip to the General Assembly”

  1. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Disturbing scuttlebutt from the Capitol:

    Word is that Kaine is prepared to cave on the Mattaponi/King William reservoir issue in return for multiple terms for governor.

    Kaine allows Republicans to pick some new state water and air board members, and they will allow a bill for two term governors to move forward.

    For those of us who have followed Kaine’s career as Mayor in Richmond, this comes as no surprise. After all, he helped make Calvin Jamison, Ethyl Corporation HR manager, Richmond’s City Manager, despite huge questions of process and experience.

    Kaine is going to try to stay on environmentalists’ good side by declaring a lot of land parkland, but in my opinion, this does not make up for this betrayal on the Mattaponi and state boards.

    This is two party politics at its worst.

  2. Ray Hyde Avatar
    Ray Hyde

    Well, Jim, at least you got to enjoy the great State of Virginia sunshine.

  3. Larry Gross Avatar
    Larry Gross

    Imagine living 50 miles away – and having someone who will CALL you WHEN the actual committee WILL meet – as opposed to believing their “calendar”.

    I highly recommend for ANYONE who has never been to a committee meeting to attend one.

    These things are … very interesting in terms of structure and dynamics.

    If you are a speaker – if your words are not something “new” AND complelling…say for instance, you’re going to recite a grocery list of points already made previously – you get the hook… out you go

    the committee members were, in my visit, RUTHLESS and not polite with regard to speakers they thought were wasting their time….

    And deliberation and voting… WHOA…
    it’s like it’s all worked out in advance… slam, bam, thank you Mame….

    If you came to see how some particular bill might fare… don’t blink your eyes .. because it can literally be flushed in a hearbeat…

    Reminds me of a slaughterhouse… strictly business… no regrets, no remorse… slice, dice dismember… bring in the next victim…

    🙂

  4. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Jim,
    Your shoe leather journalism is long overdue. One has to get out and see this for themselves, press the flesh and feel the frustration. Doing so distinguishes the reporter from the pundit and lets the purifying light of journalism shine through.

  5. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Mr. Bacon,

    I am sorry that you had to make the trip. I posted to one of the previous blogs an alert about the cancellation as soon as it was made public, but I think that my posts are being blocked for some reason. However, since so far over 20 impact fee, adequate public facility, and other associated land use bills have been introduced for the 2007 session, you may want to attend the two subcommittee meetings of House Counties, Cities and Towns that occur each Wednesday morning. It will be more than educational.

  6. Jim Bacon Avatar
    Jim Bacon

    Anonymous, No need to explain. These things happen.

  7. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    You blog VA politics but have not spent time at the General Assembly? Some years ago I spent a lot of time down there and it opened my eyes. Don’t blame anonymous for the cancelled meeting, happens often, especially if the topic is hot. With more than 2000 bills introduced every 45 day session it’s no surprise most are worked out in advance. Of course every year one guy introduces a bill to limit the number of bills each congress person can introduce and every year it fails.

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