Giesen Perspective

The Countdown to Adjournment OR The Flameout and An Extension?

DATE: Monday, March 06, 2006

A DELAY IN COMPOSITION of This Giesen Perspective

On Friday at about 12:30pm the thought occurred to me to delay writing this edition of the Giesen Perspective with the excuse that certain information from the House Appropriations Committee was not available. In a conversation with the Appropriations Committee Chairman, Vince Callahan, I learned he had cancelled the committee meeting because some of the Senators were trying to by-pass the House’s subcommittee system. He had also instructed the staff not to distribute any of the “side-by-side” packets until the committee members received them. This distribution will now occur this afternoon.

Please excuse the use of our “capital slang.” The side-by-side packets are a comparison of the House and Senate budgets. The staffs of both budget committees prepare their own versions of the item by item comparisons. Many of us have done this comparison for particular sections of the budget, but these documents give you the whole kit-an-caboodle. As you can suspect, this information is very good to have when you are trying to analyze what’s going to happen in the next few days. You know, how far apart are the two sides? Can there be comfortable compromises in only a week’s time? Which parts might be easy to reconcile?

OK, so you really want the truth? I happen to be a basketball fan and have a son-in-law who is even more of a fan than I. The Colonial Athletic Association Tournament falls on the first weekend in March and covers Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. You can watch 11 different games in that period here at the Richmond Coliseum. It really is a basketball fan’s “hog heaven!” So guess where yours truly was all weekend. After all, I didn’t have all of the information I needed to do an adequate job for YOU. (Oh yes, I’ll be at the championship game tonight even though all of the Virginia teams have, unfortunately, been eliminated.)

THE BUDGET WRITERS

In case you have been off on a vacation or at a family reunion and haven’t had an opportunity to read the papers or listen to the electronic media about what’s happening in your state capital, the negotiators on the state budget have been appointed and are: Senators-- John Chichester, R-Fredericksburg; Chuck Colgan, D-Manassas; Edd Houck, D-Spotsylvania; Walter Stosch, R-Henrico; and William Wampler, R-Bristol; and Delegates—Vince Callahan, R-Fairfax; Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights; Phil Hamilton, R-Newport News; Johnny Joannou, D-Portsmouth; Lacey Putney, I-Bedford; and Leo Wardrup, R-Virginia Beach. No surprises in any of these appointments. They are the same “conferees” as last year.

Again, geographically, only William Wampler comes to the table from a district west of the Blue Ridge and only William and Lacey are west of I-95. There is a little more diversity in occupations. Three are educators (Kirk, Phil, and Edd), two lawyers (Lacey and Johnny), three retired—one from the Navy (Leo), one from the insurance business (John), and one from his own newsletter publishing business (Vince)--, and three are still in the business world---one in the insurance business (William), one in aviation (President of Colgan Air Inc., Chuck), and one in accounting (Walter).

All are veteran legislators. Lacey has served in the House for 44 years (one of the longest serving state legislators in the country) and has the longest service of the conferees. Leo has the least service, but he has still been in the House for 14 years. Among the Senate negotiators, William has 18 years experience in the Senate, while Chuck has been in the Senate for 30 years. (Walter has only served 14 years in the Senate but had a 9 year stint in the House prior to the Democrat 1992 redistricting plan which put him in a house district with another Republican Delegate, so he just ran for and was elected to the Senate along with three other “paired” Republican Delegates. That’s where gerrymandering can get you!)

This explanation is probably more than you may want to know about the budget negotiators. However, you should remember, they now have almost full control over the biennial budget of your state. They will decide (subject, of course to the Governor’s acceptance pen) how your tax dollars will be spent (or not spent) over the next two years. You should know something about their backgrounds.

THE BUDGET AND TRANSPORTATION

As indicated in earlier GPs, both the Senate and the House have imbedded in their budgets their respective transportation plans. These plans are so different and impact the rest of the budget items to such a degree that I don’t see how decisions can be reached on many other items in the budget before the transportation issues are solved. This is going to take time. The House has said emphatically, “…we will not increase taxes!” On the other side, the Senate has said in equally stern tones, “…we will not fund transportation except for one time projects from the General Fund. We must have dedicated sustainable sources of new revenue to solve our transportation problems.”

John Chichester, in a Richmond Times Dispatch article Sunday noted, “In addition to one-time funds, the Senate plan provides about $1 billion in on going, annual revenues from transportation user fees imposed on gasoline consumption, vehicle purchase and registration, and abusive driving.”

On the same page of the T-D, Vince Callahan wrote, “Prior to coming to Richmond on January 11, I often heard that this was to be the “Transportation Session.” Quite frankly, those who coined this phrase must have forgotten the $850 million in new transportation funding we made during the 2005 session…” He then continued further down the article, “Building on last year’s actions, the House budget again would make a record investment in transportation.” He stressed in the article that the House plan would address the “choke points,” as the House sees them, in the highway system, i.e. I-81, I-66, and I-64. The funding mechanism is $600 in General Funds in the first year of the biennium. In the out years some $73 million in dedicated recordation and auto insurance premium taxes (which now go to the General Funds) will match additional money through bonds and local funds. The House estimates these funds would then amount to over $700 million in Northern Virginia and $500 million in Tidewater over a ten year period. That’s about $120 million a year!

The two sides are far apart. Both will be under tremendous pressure from advocates who think like they do to “HOLD YOUR POSITION!” Editors are writing long editorials saying not to come home without a fix to the Transportation Crisis. A number of them are adding, “…and don’t fix it by using General Funds.” Chambers of Commerce are getting into the act (one might surmise, just maybe they are being pushed a little bit by the Governor) and sending e-mails and faxes to the legislators. The No-Tax-Increase advocates are also pounding the law-makers with e-mails and faxes. Several “demonstrations” planned by these latter groups have been poorly attended and as one media writer expounded, “…less than effective…”

The conferees do not have an easy task. Now before those of us who want a “quick” solution to this negotiation and can’t understand why these “reasonable gentlemen” can’t come to an acceptable compromise start spouting off, we should remember our history. The Constitutional Convention of 1787, which many historians picture as the epitome of compromise, lasted four months with all sessions held in private, and ended with only 39 of the 55 delegates signing the final document. So maybe, just maybe, disagreements and hard negotiations are a part of our heritage.

The big question--will the Assembly finish on time? The scheduled adjournment date is this Saturday, March 11. There are almost as many opinions on when the conferees may come to an agreement as there are people following the actions of the legislators. Most are now becoming more and more convinced the session will have to be extended (or a special session convened). However, as one long time staffer pointed out, “At least they are still talking, and when they are talking, there is still hope.”

The idea of a special session has been discussed in the media. There are problems with this approach because of the way the transportation plans and the other parts of the budget are intertwined. As noted, the conferees are almost committed to working out a solution to this very sticky transportation problem before they can tackle the other parts of the budget. The revenue streams for the budgets are just so tied up in the two transportation plans it would be very difficult to pull everything else together and then have a special session to deal with transportation. The more logical scenario (and who ever said the legislature was logical?) would be, if a compromise is not reached by this Saturday, for the legislative leadership to call for a recess and/or an extension of the session for a defined time. This would let most of the legislators go home, while the conferees do their negotiating

Personally, I think there have been too many solid statements made, putting each side in a position from which it is difficult to “back-off from” (or “back-down from” as politicians might see it.) So compromise is not in the air in the General Assembly Building. As one of my colleagues said upon returning late Thursday evening from the GAB, “Boy, is it good to get away from the poison atmosphere of that building!” It’s going to be a tough week for those negotiating and for those of us trying to find out what’s going on!

Links to Previous Giesen Perspectives:

Arthur R. Giesen, Jr., fondly known as Pete, served in the Virginia House of Delegates for over 30 years. He represented the citizens of the Central Shenandoah Valley surviving four different district realignments. During his career he represented Augusta, Bath, Highland and part of Rockingham County and the Cities of Staunton and Waynesboro.

Following his career as an elected official, Pete assisted Lt. Governor John H. Hager as his Chief of Staff.

Pete now keeps an eye on Virginia government and assists many clients with his unique perspective on the workings of the Virginia General Assembly and its relationship with the other branches of state government.