Where's
the GOP Agenda?
Republicans
are likely to get inundated with legislative trivia
if they don't define their priorities. Then Gov.
Warner and the Democrats will set the tone for the
General Assembly.
Don't
let your inbox be your job description, a sage
management expert once counseled. Members of the
Virginia General Assembly should apply that advice
to their own business when they return to Richmond
next week for the 2003 session.
Thousands of items
will land in each legislators inbox, all to be dealt
with in a matter of a few weeks. Virginians
like the fact that the Assembly's work is completed
in such a compressed time period because it
preserves the tradition -- or at least the illusion
-- of the citizen-legislator. We need look no
further than North Carolina to see what unfortunate
things can happen when the tight time limit on
legislative sessions is lifted.
The problem with
Virginia's short sessions is that the sheer number
of bills and resolutions almost overwhelms
legislators. It needn't be that way.
To manage the mass
of legislation, members should acknowledge openly
what they all realize privately but seem unwilling
to concede to their constituents: Every bill
or resolution is not equal to all others. Some
should not occupy the attention of the Assembly at
all. Some may have merit, but not very much in
relation to the other business before the Assembly.
The committees of
each house are instruments intended to make sense of
this mass and to separate the important from the
trivial, while refining those bills that deserve
consideration by the full house. The
work of committees would be far more effective if
the leaders in each house proposed an agenda for the
session at its inception. This is particularly
important when both houses of the legislature are
controlled by Republicans and the governor is a
Democrat.
We know that the
governor will have his own legislative agenda. The
Virginia Constitution and a long tradition compel
every governor to report to the Assembly as each
session begins on the condition of the Commonwealth
and to recommend legislation that he considers
appropriate.
Far from being a
burden, this gives a governor a powerful political
advantage. He is in a better position than
legislators to initiate a legislative agenda.
Because he communicates directly to the public at
the same time he addresses the Assembly, he can
create a climate favorable to his agenda simply by
presenting a coherent message. The impact of that
message derives as much from what a governor
excludes as from what he includes.
If the Republican
leadership can't settle on its own message, the
Assembly will quite likely devolve into petty
squabbling or bend to the governor's agenda. A
legislative agenda doesn't magically appear after a
session is well along.
The lesson of the
2001 session should prompt Republican legislators to
accept greater discipline. During Gov. Mark
Warner's 2001 gubernatorial campaign, he used to
great advantage the bickering between the two houses
of the Assembly, both of which were controlled by
the GOP. Every legislative seat is on the ballot
next November. Republicans can ill-afford another
internal legislative fight or the perception that
they have no agenda of their own.
For the dual
purpose of effectively managing the business of the
Assembly and of advancing a coherent Republican
agenda, the leaders in both houses should be
prepared to announce and pursue a single GOP agenda.
It can't be a watered-down,
lowest-common-denominator agenda.
If Republicans in
the Assembly can't develop and implement a bold
legislative agenda, the voters are sure to ask: What
is the point of electing a Republican majority?
--
January 6, 2003
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