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By JOHN GOOLRICK
Rappahannock News Special Writer
The Virginia General Assembly ~ is ready to depart Richmond temporarily after a malaise-ridden session that was in sharp contrast to the heady days of the 1980s.
Coming at a time of war and recession, the meeting accomplished little that will be long remembered except to ratify most of Gov. L. Douglas Wilder’s deep spending cuts to meet the state’s worst fiscal crisis of the century.
Veterans of past sessions were almost unanimous in declaring this one a bummer that lacked pep or spirit.
Even the social scene was different. The nightly parties tossed by special interest groups weren’t as lavish or well-attended as in the past. A state savings and loan association, which once put on a party each year that outdid the rest, canceled its event altogether, judging it a bit too ostentatious given the tarnished national image of that group.
Times will get better, as they always do, and some of the sparkle will undoubteldy return to the legislative session, particularly after the dust of redistricting and this fall’s election settles.
That now takes top priority - among lawmakers who will return to * Richmond in April to reapportion House of Delegates and State Sen; ate seats in line with population figures from the 1990 census. It will wait until November to hold another special session to draw new lines for congressional districts.
Just a cursory look at population estimates of House and Senate districts provided by the Division of Legislative Services tells a graphic story.
The big redistricting losers will be Southwest and Southside Virginia, the areas that are still largely , rural. Indeed, a few presently existing House districts in those regions may disappear altogether, particularly some that may now be repi resented by Republicans.
The ideal size of a House district, for example, will be around 61,000. All of the districts in the Southwest,
87.9%