Editorial

Editorial

A worthy idea

State Senator Kevin Miller, in an article on the facing page, suggests an idea which is worthy of consideration by his collegues in the Virginia General Assembly.

Never known as a senator who advocates change for its own sake, Mr. Miller nevertheless is backing a concept which would, radically change the way the state’s legislature does its business. He advocates a recess in the General Assembly’s session each year, scheduled after the governor makes his budget presentation.

Such a recess, first proposed by State Delegate Clinton Miller (no relation to Sen. Miller), would allow the legislators time to digest the governor’s proposals. The current system, where they are inundated with his budget, plus the more than 1,000 bills filed by both delegates and senators, leaves the representatives precious little time to consider any of the proposals in the depth most of them deserve.

Yes, the system would have some drawbacks, particularly for those legislators who have left jobs, or farms, or families to come to Richmond. It would mean a longer session, lengthened from the current 45 and 60-day sessions, which fall in alternate years.

For those who find the encroachment of government on its constituents distasteful, the idea might seem like an open door for more fiddling and meddling in the lives of the residents of the.Commonwealth. There is an old adage, appropriate to bureaucracies, both public and private, that “work expands to fill the time allotted to it.”

However, sometimes there really is a need for more time for consideration of important issues, and it seems that this idea is one worthy of further study.

Take this year’s General Assembly session, which ended less than two weeks ago after a marathon session during the final week. In 60 days, the legislators considered, amended and adopted a $22.6 billion state budget which covers two years, and acted on 1,560 bills and 350 resolutions. In 60 days. And that’s not counting — at least in some cases — Saturdays and Sundays.

And among those bills were some pretty important legislative initiatives, which will directly affect the lives of the residents of the Commonwealth, including the Family Life/Sex Education curriculum proposal, raising the speed limit on interstate highways, and increasing the funding for community mental health programs.

We’re not advocating that the state convert to a full-time legislature. That would truly be overkill, and would no doubt lead to the kind of legislative excess dreaded by the proponents of laissez faire democracy.

But the processes of government have become more complex in the past few years, and the mountains of legislation, proposals and amendments loom ever higher: volcanoes of paper, spewing forth reams full of ideas. They must be considered — the brilliant and the crackpot — not to mention the constituents from home who call, write or visit in person to urge a particular course of action on specific bills. All this requires time for thought, leading to a decision and vote, we hope, in the best interests of the people who elected them.

Giving our elected representatives a little more time to think about the important matters facing them just might lead to more enlightened decisions, with attendant benefits to all of us: their constituents.