The General Assembly convenes on Wednesday and I feel confident making one prediction: You’ll read a lot about how legislators disagree.
That’s the nature of politics. Democrats and Republicans believe very different things on some issues. That’s what elections are about.
However, in my four-plus decades of covering Virginia politics, I’ve long been struck by how often legislators actually agree. That’s not what will get attention over the next few weeks, though. We’ll hear partisan fights over taxes and spending (and lots of other things). However, that’s really just a small part of what will happen in Richmond.
Last week, Cardinal News — in cooperation with the Roanoke Collaboration Project —brought three senior legislators to Roanoke as part of our Cardinal Way project to promote civility. The goal was to have four senior leaders, from each party in each chamber, but senior House Democrats had a meeting in Richmond that day so we wound up with three: Senate Democratic Caucus Leader Mamie Locke of Hampton, Senate Republican Caucus Leader Mark Obenshain of Rockingham County, and soon-to-be House Minority Leader Israel O’Quinn of Washington County.
One of the things they stressed was that the public gets an incomplete picture of what goes on in Richmond because most of it isn’t controversial. Obenshain estimated that maybe 85% of the bills the legislature deals with are routine, practical measures aimed at fixing something; it’s the other 15% that he calls “cats and dogs” issues — because those are the ones that define the differences between the two parties: Abortion. Guns. Taxes. All those so-called “hot button” issues.
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We saw a glimpse of that when Locke said she wanted to reassure the business community that “the sky didn’t fall” when voters elected Democratic majorities to both chambers. Obenshain responded “the sky did fall on November 8th.” He laughed. Many in the room laughed. But there are obviously differences between how Democrats and Republicans see many business-related issues.
However, O’Quinn pointed out that there’s a lot of overlap between both parties even on some contentious issues. He’s a conservative Republican from rural Virginia; Jennifer McClellan, now in Congress but previously in the state Senate, is a liberal Democrat from urban Virginia. Over the past few years they worked together to forge a compromise on how the state can help fund local school construction. “If we make 75 percent of the progress that we hoped to make on a big issue, that’s a good day at the office,” he said.
Those agreements often don’t get much attention, unless it’s a really big issue such as school construction. That’s only natural. Think of how many of us watched in both horror and amazement at the plane crash in Japan last week — horror that it happened, amazement at how everyone on board the passenger jet was able to escape. Not many of us marvel each day at how many planes take off and land safely around the world. It’s the rare exception that we take notice of. When it comes to politics, perhaps we ought to take more notice of those routine agreements in Richmond.
Obenshain invited those in the audience to come to Richmond, or watch any of the livestreamed sessions. “You will see us every single day of the week working together in a civil fashion to try and address issues that are important,” he said.
I think he’s right on that. Unlike certain members of Congress, most members of the General Assembly are pretty civil to one another — even if they plan to cancel out the other person’s vote. I’ve seen members of opposite parties fraternize with one another. A few years ago, I saw state Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County, and state Sen. David Marsden, D-Fairfax County, ride in together to a legislative hearing in Blacksburg. I’ve seen state Sen. David Suetterlein, R-Roanoke County, and state Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax County, take a walk together during a break in a legislative meeting at the Booker T. Washington National Monument in Franklin County. I’ve seen Del. Joe McNamara, R-Roanoke County, save a seat for Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, at a crowded meeting in Roanoke — and I’ve seen Rasoul recommend McNamara’s ice cream shop. These small acts of kindness go a long way toward promoting civility among legislators who don’t plan to agree on those high-profile “cats and dogs” issues, but are looking for those places where they can agree on other things.
Long before the birth of our republic, it was considered a great sport to make fun of politicians, and say they ought to be more like “the people.” I don’t think that’s so. After all my years of watching Virginia state government in action, I’m more inclined to think that people ought to be more like some of our politicians.
