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Virginia’s Legislative Process:
Fair, Equitable
and Transparent?
By Ben Greenberg
There is an old saying around
Virginia’s Capitol in Richmond and
probably in capitols around the country:
“There are two things one should never see
made: sausage and laws.” I am in the rather
unique position of having seen both made
more times than I can count. In addition
to having spent 35 years trying to make
a difference in the legislative process as
a non-profit lobbyist and a former state
agency legislative liaison, like a former
governor of Virginia I am also the son of a butcher.
After so many years working at the General Assembly, I thought
I had seen everything, especially how committee and subcommittee
chairs decide how legislation is considered during their meetings.
Well, I was wrong.
I have watched committees and subcommittees and their leaders
operate in every imaginable way over the years. I have watched
leaders use their authority to help advance their cause or position.
I have watched fair and equitable procedures used in extremely
difficult circumstances. I have seen advocates for one position
or another line up to speak, lines so long that committee and
subcommittee schedules were beyond challenged. I have also seen
people in the audience wanting to speak on issues not be recognized.
In such circumstances the people almost become invisible.
Yet, one day this past session I heard a subcommittee chair
respond to a well-known lobbyist from a powerful organization
in a manner I had never seen before. When this lobbyist stood
up to speak in front of the table full of subcommittee members,
the subcommittee chair said, “If I let you speak, I will have to
let everyone speak”. He then went right back to business dealing
with the measure in question as the lobbyist and a packed room of
interested individuals and advocates realized that there would be no
opportunity for the public to speak and share their thoughts on the
issue in question.
My first reaction was that I wanted to share this story with
my fellow members of Transparency Virginia (TV). This is a new
coalition of groups and individuals concerned with the legislative
process and the manner in which the people’s business is carried
out by our elected public officials. Members of the coalition formed
shortly before the session began spent the 2015 General Assembly
session observing and recording legislative actions taken in
committees and subcommittees, actions that too often contradict the
fair and open process to which the coalition and many legislators
are committed.
I was excited when we formed Transparency Virginia. The
commitment and energy of the group gave me hope that we could
become catalysts for change, change in a legislative process that
may use procedures unfair to the very citizens who depend on
legislative action to help them cope with the difficult challenges
of life.
The members of the coalition identified many potential concerns
that could be monitored in the legislative process; however, the
group decided to focus its initial efforts on tracking three aspects
of legislative activity during the 2015 General Assembly session: 1)
Meeting notices:
Providing adequate notice of meetings and their
dockets; 2)
Consideration:
Giving every bill and resolution the
opportunity to be heard; and 3)
Votes:
Recording all committee and
subcommittee votes when bills are acted upon.
To the average citizen in Virginia, it may seem obvious that
these three areas of emphasis would be important components
of a fair and equitable legislative process. It may also seem
incomprehensible that the legislative process would not guarantee
that these three procedures would always be part of the process for
each bill and resolution introduced.
Members of Transparency Virginia actively monitored
committees and subcommittees in the House of Delegates and the
Senate throughout the 2015 session. While we knew that we didn’t
cover all 101 committees and subcommittees, we had confidence that
we would monitor the work of a significant number of them, enough
to provide the basis for assessing the legislature’s implementation
of the three important legislative procedures selected for the 2015
session.
Transparency Virginia issued its first report shortly after the
half-way point of the 2015 session. The initial findings provided
justification for the three activities chosen to be monitored and
tracked. More comprehensive and detailed findings have been
identified since the mid-session report.
The final results of TV’s first session were announced in a press
conference on Tuesday, April 14th, in the House Briefing Room
of the General Assembly Building. We hope that the announced
findings will provide a foundation for future changes in the
legislative process, changes that will make the Virginia General
Assembly more transparent than ever and fairer for the people of
the Commonwealth.
Ben Greenberg is the State Legislative Coordinator of Virginia
Organizing, a non-partisan statewide grassroots organization that
brings people together to create a more just Virginia. Readers
who would like to receive a copy of Transparency Virginia’s 2015
General Assembly session report should forward their request to
bengreenberg@earthlink.net.
Cost of Cleaner Power
Could Take Toll on
Low-Income Families
By Charles Steele, Jr.
There continues to be contentious debate in Washington on the
best approach to address the issue of climate change. Environmental
groups have lined up against business interests in what has become
a heated battle over potential legislation.
But one voice that may not be heard as clearly in this ongoing
debate is the significant cross-section of American families who are
living on very limited means. And as lawmakers grapple with this
weighty issue, I’d suggest a key point of advice: Don’t treat one
problem by creating another, potentially more serious challenge.
That caution comes to mind with regard to the new regulations
on power plants that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) will propose this summer. As a step toward addressing
climate change, the EPA wants to curb carbon emissions from coal-
burning power plants and wants governors across the country to
shut down coal-fired plants in their states.
The problem is that these are the same plants that provide the
largest portion of our electricity, and usually at the most affordable
rates. Climate change may well be a serious issue, and one that
deserves an informed response from our government. But the EPA’s
plan isn’t the right one. According to a growing number of experts
who are responsible for overseeing our nation’s electricity supply,
the EPA’s plan will do next to nothing for global warming but will
raise the cost of electricity for both homes and businesses. It could
even make the supply of electricity for all of us less reliable.
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