Sunday, January 31, 2010
GOP strategy raises eyebrows
As redistricting looms, two black delegates have been named to the Privileges and Elections Committee.
General Assembly 2011
Among the major issues: The state's continuing efforts to provide services with fewer dollars and Gov. McDonnell's plan to privatize liquor stores. Session ends Feb. 26.
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RICHMOND -- Del. Bob Brink, D-Arlington, said he was dismayed to learn recently of his removal from the House Privileges and Elections Committee, which he had served on since 2002.
Although the Republican majority made other roster changes to reflect its November gains, that shift raised eyebrows because Brink was among a couple of white Democrats replaced on the committee by black legislators.
To some, it was a sign that House GOP leaders are stacking the committee as redistricting approaches in 2011, a charge Republicans deny.
Legislative boundaries are redrawn every 10 years in Virginia after the latest population count. Those maps must gain approval from the General Assembly, the governor and federal authorities.
The addition of Democratic Dels. Lionell Spruill of Chesapeake and Algie Howell of Norfolk doubled the black representation on the panel, which plays a key role in redrawing the election maps. They join Legislative Black Caucus chairman Kenneth Alexander, a Democrat from Norfolk, and Del. Rosalyn Dance, D-Petersburg.
Brink said he believes the new committee alignment is about the "atmospherics" of having black legislators support the Republican redistricting plan, giving it validity when the U.S. Justice Department reviews it for Voting Rights Act compliance.
House Speaker Bill Howell, R-Stafford County, denied that the appointments come with any expectation of loyalty to Republican interests during the debate over redistricting.
"Oh, heavens no," said Howell, who noted that he has a record of placing minority lawmakers on key committees, including four black legislators to Appropriations.
Alexander is willing to offer Republicans the benefit of the doubt.
"I think you have to consider that they are sincere in putting the best qualified legislators on committees they appoint," he said.
Norfolk Democratic activist Vivian Paige isn't convinced.
She views the relationship between black Democrats and House Republicans on redistricting as an "unholy alliance" that may preserve majority-minority districts but cannibalize other Democrats.
"We all talk about good government and open government," said Del. Onzlee Ware, D-Roanoke. "But the truth is we know that the party in power uses that as a tool to either strengthen their political power ... or they use it to dilute districts so they can pick up other seats."
That's how it's been done for years. And that's how it's expected occur next year, with House Republicans protecting their own and Senate Democrats doing the same, said Joe Stanley of the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, which supports reform to make the redistricting process less political.
As of last week, the 18-member Black Caucus hadn't taken a position on redistricting, several members said. But despite support for the idea of reform from Gov. Bob McDonnell and numerous state senators, many House GOP officials remain opposed to it.
Del. Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, who carried the bill defining House boundaries in 2001, considers bipartisan redistricting a misnomer.
"There will always be politics involved in this process," he said. "And I don't think the commonwealth has suffered because of it."
