Thursday, March 11, 2010
Del. Bill Cleaveland, R-Botetourt Co., 'doing the heavy lifting'
In his first General Assembly session, Del. Bill Cleaveland is tasked with carrying a bill for Gov. Bob McDonnell.
ERIC BRADY The Roanoke Times
Del. Bill Cleaveland looks over paperwork in the office of B.J. Robertson, his legislative assistant.
ERIC BRADY The Roanoke Times
Del. Bill Cleaveland, R-Botetourt County, speaks on the House of Delegates floor Wednesday during a reading of House Bill 1394.
RICHMOND -- It's not every day that the governor sends a bill directly to the floor of the House of Delegates. And it's not every day that a freshman legislator gets to carry it for the chief executive.
But in the waning days of his first General Assembly session, Del. Bill Cleaveland, R-Botetourt County, is doing the heavy lifting on a piece of legislation sent down by Gov. Bob McDonnell. House Bill 1394 would require prosecutors to notify judges if they don't intend to seek jail time on certain misdemeanor charges. In those cases, judges would not appoint attorneys for indigent defendants.
Supporters of the legislation say it could save several million dollars a year in unnecessary legal expenses at a time when public officials are squeezing the pennies out of every spare nickel.
But when the bill came up on the House floor Wednesday, Cleaveland was taking fire from legislators on both sides of the issue. Del. Joe Morrisey, D-Henrico County, questioned whether indigent clients should not have representation in cases where they don't face jail time. Del. Rob Bell, R-Charlottesville, voiced concern that prosecutors would routinely waive jail time on charges such as flashing, sexual battery, assault and battery and driving under the influence of alcohol.
Cleaveland calmly fielded the questions and rebutted Bell's argument by insisting that "competent, reliable dependable" prosecutors would not waive jail time recklessly. But Bell's concerns were enough for the House to postpone a scheduled vote on the bill until today, perhaps allowing amendments that would spell out specific offenses where jail time could be waived.
Cleaveland wasn't pleased by the delay.
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"Any amendment is a statement that we don't trust our commonwealth's attorneys right now," Cleaveland said after the House session and his first extensive floor debate as a delegate.
"This is just one more page in the learning experience," he said.
Cleaveland has 30 years of experience in the judicial system as an attorney. The fact that he is carrying the legislation reflects the regard that colleagues have for his background, said House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith.
"You wouldn't expect a freshman or every lawyer to have that level of expertise," said Griffith, who withdrew a similar bill of his own last month because of a possible conflict of interest -- his wife is a prosecutor. Because legislative filing deadlines had expired by that point, McDonnell sent down the bill that Cleaveland is carrying.
But for all of his legal savvy, the low-key lawyer learned early on that getting legislation through the General Assembly is different from arguing a case in the courtroom.
For example, Cleaveland thought he had a powerful argument for a bill that would let Roanoke start its school year before Labor Day. More than 70 school districts, including Roanoke County, already have obtained waivers allowing for an early school opening, largely due to their histories of weather-related school closings. Cleaveland argued that Roanoke's school system should not have to go through the cumbersome waiver process and should be given the discretion to decide what works for its students.
"There may be some place like Roanoke city that's got a legitimate interest in simply having more time to educate our children instead of trying to figure out whether we've had enough snow days," he said.
But, in Richmond, proposals to let local school boards bypass the state's waiver process routinely hit a wall of opposition from the tourism and hospitality industries, which fear that earlier school openings will hurt their bottom lines. That opposition sank Cleaveland's bill, which died on a voice vote in a House Education subcommittee in January.
The defeat baffled Cleaveland. Citing the high percentage of Roanoke students who qualify for free and reduced-price lunches, he said, "I guarantee that they won't lose a nickel of tourist money by letting Roanoke city make its independent decision without jumping through what has been a relatively onerous process of trying to claim a waiver.
"That is an issue that really touched a nerve for me," Cleaveland said.
Cleaveland, 59, was elected to succeed Roanoke Republican William Fralin, who stepped down after six years in the House. Cleaveland has managed the demands of his first legislative session while also dealing with the stress of "significant health issues" that his wife Deborah has been battling.
"Even under the best of circumstances, a commitment to the General Assembly is a sacrifice," Cleaveland said. "It has been very difficult, but I have been very appreciative that both my son [Wil] and my wife ... have allowed me to participate."
Colleagues say he has fit in well with a bipartisan Roanoke Valley delegation.
"He's done a great job considering the pressure he's been under," said Del. Onzlee Ware, D-Roanoke. "Bill understands that most politics down here are regional, not partisan."
Cleaveland is one of 21 first-year delegates in the 100-member House, and he came to the Capitol at the height of a historic state budget crisis that has dominated this session. Cleaveland campaigned as a fiscal conservative who favored spending reductions over tax increases. He defends a House budget plan that called for deep cuts to public schools and other essential state services to help balance a $4.2 billion shortfall.
"But at the same time, I want people to understand I can appreciate it from a number of different ways, both personal and professional, that this really hurts," he said.
Cleaveland recalled a phone conversation last month with a retired teacher who voiced angst about cuts to public schools.
"And she's also concerned that the overall impression we have given them back home is that we're focused on things other than the real important things such as education," he said.
Cleaveland said he was disappointed when members of the Roanoke City Council publicly criticized McDonnell and state legislators over school funding cuts last month, calling the broadsides premature.
"My point is, if they're that frustrated, let's talk about it," Cleaveland said.
"The money issue is a real issue and we are going to hurt, but I just want to emphasize that these are decisions that are not being made lightly," he said. "My expectation is that if we can just rally through this hard time, and just understand that we're going to try to work together and to the extent possible depoliticize the process, I think we're going to be better off and we're going to get through this."
