Senator Jeff McWaters Weekly Session Update: January 31, 2014. Dear Friend, In Richmond this week, we enjoyed another light snow, but one that paled in comparison to the ten plus inches that fell at the beach. Yesterday, I checked in with the Hampton Roads District Administrator for VDOT to get a report on snow removal. Typically, the City handles snow removal after a winter storm event, but with the volume received this week, VDOT partnered with the City to restore bare pavement on the interstate and main thoroughfares. Over thirty extra trucks were brought in to handle the effort. Im told that the snow on the HOV lanes had to be hauled away because when pushed aside, the mounds were taller than the jersey barriers. Thats not a sight we see very often. Just like the weather, the atmosphere in the General Assembly Building chilled this week. Republicans lost both special elections recently to fill vacancies in the Virginia Senate, losing one by 11 votes. The Democrats have the working majority and Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam, a democrat, has the power to cast tie-breaking votes on legislation. Now that the make up of the Senate is effectively 21 Democrats to 20 Republicans, the Democrats acted this week to change chairmanships and membership of the committees, as well as the rules of the Senate. One highly consequential change to Senate rules that Democrats muscled through gives the chairman of the Rules Committee, now Senator John Edwards, the power to prevent a Senate Bill from being approved by the Senate if it has been substantially amended by the House. In effect, the new rule gives one legislator the ability to single-handedly kill legislation with no accountability or recourse. The Senate of Virginia has 40 representatives and delegating the power to derail legislation without a vote to just one of the 40 senators violates the foundations of representative government. Even in Washington, where partisan bickering and gridlock have become commonplace, granting effective veto authority to a single legislator would be unthinkable. But under Democratic leadership in the Senate of Virginia, it has become a rule. Just last week, I asked for your comments on a Richmond Times Dispatch editorial regarding Attorney General Mark Herrings refusal to uphold and defend a particular part of the Virginia constitution. For those of you that shared your comments, thank you. Nearly every one of you agreed that it was unacceptable, regardless of your stance on traditional marriage. I sincerely hope that this disregard for the law and traditions of procedure in the Senate will not be hallmarks of Democrats leadership style going forward. Virginians deserve better. I felt it was necessary to share some of the inside baseball of the Senate with you because these changes will affect many legislative issues in the weeks to come, including Medicaid. Thats where Ill pick up next week. Until then, watch and share my video address from the Capitol today.
Posted on: Sat, 01 Feb 2014 16:31:16 +0000
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