The General Assembly is a place where the big questions of the day get asked.
For state Sen. Timmy French, R-Shenandoah County, they just weren’t the questions he was expecting.
On Monday, he appeared before the Senate Committee on Local Government to present a routine bill updating the town of New Market’s charter.
“Is this your first bill?” committee chair Jeremy McPike, D-Prince Wlliam County, asked the freshman legislator.
It was.
McPike smiled. Legislators were about to get a chance to indulge in one of their Richmond rituals: freshman hazing.
State Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County and the senior Republican on the committee, led the inquiry.
“New Market is a historic town,” Stanley said. “What’s the population?”
French did not know exactly. “It’s a moving target,” he said.
Stanley probed further, the way he might with a witness in a court case.
“In terms of geography, can you tell me what the total square mileage of New Market is?” Stanley said, smiling broadly.
French again was unable to give a number. “I don’t have the specific square mileage.”
Stanley pressed on. “I’d ask the gentleman who founded the town of New Market in the town of 1700s?”
“Once again, I’d have a hard time answering that question,” French said.
Stanley reveled in the moment and, in mock seriousness, suggested French’s bill might be in jeopardy. “I’d ask the gentleman since he’s learning about the place he’s representing and putting in a big bill, can you tell me how many governors from New Market were elected?”
French wasn’t sure. “I don’t believe any.”
Many members of the committee groaned, because they knew the answer. At that point, McPike stepped in to supply the answer: John Sevier, a New Market native who became a Revolutionary War commander and was governor of the proposed state of Franklin and later was the first governor of Tennessee. Never a governor of Virginia but a governor nonetheless.
“That brings up another question,” Stanley said. “Where is the great state of Franklin?”
“Once again I fall short,” French said. (It was in eastern Tennessee, but was never accepted for admission to the Union.)
“We’re not in a confession booth,” Stanley said, appearing to try to stifle his laughter, “but as they say in baseball, he’s 0-for-October.”
When the time came to vote on the bill, the scoreboard initially flashed red, with legislators voting against the measure, before they switched to a “yes” vote of green, having had their sport with the new legislator.
Later, another freshman senator appeared before the committee with a bill to expand Virginia Beach’s board of equalization from four members to five. Sen. Christie New Craig, R-Chesapeake, made a point of telling the committee this wasn’t her first bill — although McPike responded that it was her first bill before this committee.
Stanley quizzed Craig on the bill. He reminded her that she had run as a small-government conservative; didn’t this bill constitute an expansion of government? He wondered why, in that case, a Democrat wasn’t sponsoring the bill. He also asked if Craig thought it would be possible to find another member for the board. At that point, Craig showed she’d come prepared — she started citing Virginia Beach’s population, its square mileage and how many miles of waterfront it has, prompting laughter in the room.
That didn’t stop senators from initially voting against her bill, before switching their votes to approve it.
Before the committee meeting began, Stanley had told the panel’s new members: “If you want to have fun, this is the place to be.” He meant it.
