Locals win key committee posts

Ray Reed / Lynchburg News & Advance
Published: January 11, 2008

RICHMOND - Central Virginia members of the General Assembly gained some noteworthy committee assignments for the 2008 session, including a prestigious appointment to the House Commerce Committee for Del. Ben Cline, R-Rockbridge.

Dels. Lacey Putney, I-Bedford, and Watkins Abbitt, I-Appomattox, continued on the House Rules Committee, whose already-influential role gained strength under new measures adopted by the House this week.

The Rules Committee was empowered, if nine of its 15 members agree, to snatch a bill that may have been locked up in another committee and bring it to the House floor.

On the surface, the rule appeared to be a minor change. House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, said during a floor debate over the rule Wednesday that it would be needed only once or twice a year. Griffith avoided citing any legislation that might be affected by the change.

One instance where the rule potentially could have been used last year would have involved a bill to ban smoking in restaurants. The smoking bill passed the Senate and was assigned to a House committee that refused to act on it, so the bill never passed.

The Rules Committee membership has seven Republicans and six Democrats. Putney, who caucuses with House Republicans, and Abbitt, who votes with Republicans on many issues, could possibly join GOP members in bringing a bill out of another committee where it was being held up.

Other Central Virginia legislators also gained key posts.

Del. Shannon Valentine, D-Lynchburg, was named to the House Courts of Justice Committee while retaining a seat on the House Transportation Committee.

Those two committees are certain to handle almost all of the proposed legislation to repeal or amend controversial abusive-driver fees, giving Valentine a voice in fixing the law that sparked a public outcry last summer.

Freshman Sen. Robert Hurt, R-Chatham, was named to the Senate Transportation Committee. Sen. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg and a senior member of the committee, said that having rural voices like theirs on the panel would defend the formulas for distributing state funds for schools and roads.

Those formulas favor rural areas that are less able to generate their own school and road funds, Newman said, and he expects legislators from Northern Virginia and the Tidewater area to file bills to change the formulas.

Hurt also was named to the Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee.

Central Virginia legislators hold two committee chairmanships: Putney as chairman of Appropriations, a key budget-making body; and Del. Kathy Byron, R-Campbell County, chairwoman of the House Science and Technology Committee.

Putney also is a senior member of the House Privileges and Elections Committee, of which he was chairman last year. The three committee assignments make Putney, the House's senior member, one of its most influential delegates as well.

Byron also is a member of the House Finance Committee, and Abbitt retained membership on the House General Laws and Appropriations committees.