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Session a loser
The General Assembly session just ended in Richmond may go down as one of the most contentious of modern times.
Marred by partisan fighting between the Democratic > majority and the opposition Republicans, as well as intraparty feuding between the Wilder administration and its Democratic colleagues in the Assembly — particularly the formerly powerful chairmen of the House and Senate money committees — the session left few lawmakers or their * constituents happy.
It appears that the state’s localities will be left on their own to make up the shortfall after Gov. Wilder slashes the budgets for education and social services, as well as most other state agencies. Already the fiscal deficit is estimated at $2.2 billion, and the uncertain economy and the effect of the Persian Gulf war mean that there is at least a chance that the estimate will be revised upward yet again.
In some ways, the session was a success. It appears that the absence of money has forced the legislature to cease its attempts to force mandates onto the localities, a practice abhored by local officials — especially when (as has been the case in recent years) the mandate is not accompanied by an appropriation to pay its cost.
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