 | The Cavalier daily Tuesday, October 10, 1972 |  |
General Assembly Displays
Political Compatibility
By CINDI STUART
The 1972 Virginia General
Assembly session displayed an
attitude of unique political
compatibility, according to the
State House of Delegates
Speaker John Warren Cooke.
Although potential conflict
stemmed from having a
Republican Governor, an
Independent Lieutenant
Governor and a Democratic
legislature, "with isolated
exceptions, party differences
played a constructive rather
than a destructive role" in the
Assembly's accomplishments,
Mr. Cooke said.
In the present issue of the
University News Letter,
published by the University's
Institute of Government, Mr.
Cooke discusses progress made
at the legislative session. He
said that throughout the
previous century the
Assembly's programs directly
reflected those of the
Governor.
However, this session
showed that "the fact of a
Republican Governor and a
Democratic Assembly was in
itself an eloquent argument for
legislative independence."
In this year's Assembly, Mr.
Cooke said, "the Democrats,
and therefore the majority of
the Assembly, did not in fact
have a comprehensive
legislative program of their
own, nor did they have the
staff and facilities to produce
one."
In an effort to remedy this
situation, the Assembly passed
a bill providing each member
of the Assembly with a
secretary or administrative
assistant during the session.
The bill provides for a
full-time secretary and
administrative assistant for the
House Speaker and for the
Lieutenant Governor.
The legislature also created
financial aid programs for
students attending private
Virginia colleges. Further
legislation includes
environmental protection laws
and the first anti-discriminatory
fair housing law enacted in the
south.
The 1972 legislative session
commenced a new era for the
General Assembly, according
to Mr. Cooke, as it was the first
annual session held under the
new Virginia constitution.
This, however, does not
indicate great variation from
previous Assembly actions.
"This session was not a radical
break from past performances.
The Virginia General Assembly
has always worked
productively for the people of
Virginia. This Assembly was no
exception."
Mr. Cooke concluded, "In
setting out in new directions it
enriches, not diminishes the
inheritance of the past."
| The Cavalier daily Tuesday, October 10, 1972 | |