By Peter Galuszka
Against strong chances that their efforts will be killed in the self-serving General Assembly, a panel is pushing ahead with badly needed reforms in government ethics and redistricting.
The bipartisan Commission on Integrity and Public Confidence in State Government wants to change the state constitution to create and independent redistricting commission tasked with remaking voting districts without regard to an election’s outcome.
Headed by Republican former Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and Democrat former U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, the group proposes that the redistricting commission be made up of five members. One each would be chosen by the House of Delegates speaker and minority leader and the same in the Senate. The four people would choose a fifth one and if they can’t decide, the state’s chief justice of the state Supreme Court would make the decision.
The idea is coming forward after two big events. One is the first-time ever conviction of a former or sitting governor in the state on corruption charges. The other was a federal court decision in October that the lines of the 3rd Congressional District were drawn in an unconstitutional way by packing in African-Americans. Doing so ensured victories by black politicians while diluted the black vote in neighboring ones.
The state constitution requires state and federal districts to be redrawn every 10 years to changes in settlement patterns. It has also been complicated by the Voting Rights Act, a 1960s-era vehicle that tried to correct the wrongs of white-dominated Southern states erecting districts so black votes were kept away.
At the moment very few of the races of other General Assembly are competitive. They are designed to keep incumbents in power which, in most rural districts, are Republicans. Thus, the real clash of ideas comes from a very tiny margin of voters and activists at Republican primaries that are often not representative of mainstream thinking.
Likewise, Virginia badly needs to address its “anything goes” policies regarding campaign donations and accepting gifts. This is a big reason why Robert F. McDonnell got into such big trouble with his corruption conviction that could put him in jail for a decade or more. Gov. Terry McAuliffe created the Bolling-Boucher commission just after McDonnell and his wife Maureen were convicted in a federal court in Richmond.
These reforms are absolutely necessary. If the General Assembly stubbornly deep-sixes the redistricting plan, someone else will have to come in. A federal judge has given the state until April 15 to redraw the 3rd district or the feds will do it.
And, as the McDonnell case shows, if Virginia goes over the top with ethics violations, the feds will do it, too. Underlining that point, the U.S. Probation Office is recommending double the usual prison time for McDonnell. Analysts say it is to make the statement crystal clear.
But, this is Virginia, unfortunately. Instead of dealing head-on with serious ethics problems, the ruling elite is mounting a campaign to give McDonnell time in community service instead of behind bars. Its proponents include the usual players like House Speaker Bill Howell and Tom Farrell of the utility Dominion.
Their game is to keep the status quo for as long as they can. Too bad times are changing, but the longer they stall, the more they hurt the people of Virginia.
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