Today was a day of history at the General Assembly. Those of you who have been carefully
following the session know that after the House passed HB 259, which made
technical adjustments to House district boundaries, the Senate amended the bill
by adding a full-blown Senate redistricting.
Senator John Watkins offered the Senate amendments on the day of the
Presidential Inauguration, when civil rights hero Senator Henry Marsh was
attending the inauguration. Marsh’s
absence reduced the number of Democratic Senator by 1, and the Republican plan
passed on a 20-19 vote.
The move on Watkin’s part was viewed as a “nuclear option,” and it raised partisan tensions from red to white hot. The Senate substitute for HB 259 was placed on the House Calendar on January 22, and until today, House Consideration was repeatedly delayed.
The bill was widely viewed as unconstitutional. The Constitution of Virginia says, “The General Assembly shall reapportion the Commonwealth into electoral districts in accordance with this section in the year 2011 and every ten years thereafter.” Had the bill passed, precious state resources would have been wasted defending the state in court.
The bill was viewed
as the dawn of a wickedly political era in Virginia politics, when
redistricting would become routine and would follow every change in power in
the General Assembly.
Some speculated
that the Speaker of the House, Delegate William J. Howell of Stafford and
Fredericksburg, may rule the measure out of order based on the single purpose
rule, our Constitution says, “No law shall embrace more than one object, which
shall be expressed in its title.” Others
speculated that he would rule on the germaneness of the amendment. The latter proved true.
Speaker Howell
ruled that the Senate amendment to HB 259 was not germane. A narrow bill was amended to make it much
broader. The House bill made relatively
minor technical amendments, but the Senate amendments were much broader.
Speaker Howell
said, “for eleven years I have ruled how germaneness should be
interpreted. In keeping with the
integrity of the House and the institution of the office of the Speaker, I rule
the Senate amendments not germane.”
With his ruling,
Speaker Howell put the integrity of the General Assembly before political gain,
and in doing so proved himself a statesman.
