Howell Recaps 'Rancorous' Session

Virginia State Sen. Janet Howell, D-Reston, spoke to members of the Greater McLean Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, recapping this year's tumultuous Virginia legislative session in which she "went viral."

“It was a very unfortunate session in so many ways — divisive and rancorous. But I think things are getting better,” she told a breakfast gathering of about 25 business people at in downtown McLean.

"It was so disappointing for so many reasons. I can imagine the public watching in horror and saying, 'They are turning into Congress,' " she said. The Virginia State Senate had prided itself for not being like gridlocked Congress, she said.

Marcus Simon of , said, "It's great that she took time to tell us what happened behind the scenes in Richmond this session. Her insights as a member of the Finance Committee where exciting for local business people to hear about."

The November elections resulted in the 40-member Senate evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. Twenty years ago when this happened and the Democrats were in charge, the two parties worked out a power-sharing agreement.

Howell said the Democrats thought the same thing would happen in 2012. Wrong.

“What happened the first day was absolutely stunning... there was a total power grab where the Republicans took a majority on every committee except one. And they took all the committee chairmanships," she said.

The Republicans removed senior Democrats from committees, something Democrats never did when they were in charge, she said. “As a caucus, we were hurt and we were angry.”

As the session proceeded the "more moderate Republicans started wishing they had not done this," she said. Bills started passing that moderate Republicans "were not comfortable with" and that Democrats would formerly have stopped in committee so they would have never come for a vote, she said.

She gave three examples:

1. Unlimited handgun purchases. In the first week, the Republicans — who controlled both houses of the state Legislature and the Governor's Office — voted to overturn a 20-year-old law prohibiting more than one handgun purchase a month in Virginia.

“We are very concerned that we could again become a gun-running state,” Howell said.

2. Voter Suppression. The Republicans did in Virginia what they are doing over much of the United States, enacting legislation that increases the identification requirements for voters. Such laws disproportionately affect senior citizens and minorities, Howell said, so the AARP was very concerned.

3. Requiring women to have an ultrasound that involved placing a probe into a woman's vagina before she could obtain an abortion.

Howell said she was so concerned about this "ultrasound" legislation that she introduced a bill that would have required men to have a rectal exam before obtaining a prescription for erectile dysfunction medication.

"‘I’m 68 years old and I went viral," she said, laughing. She received thousands of emails. "That got me on Rachel Maddow,”  she said. Virginia got national attention — and ridicule — and moderate Republicans were “squirming.”

The law that was eventually signed by the governor requires ultrasounds before abortions but they can be external.

Then came the eruption over the budget — largely over whether the state would pay its share of the money needed to build Phase 2 of the Dulles Metrorail project. That project would take the Metro from Reston to Dulles Airport and into Loudoun County.

"I found my hero," she said and named state Sen. Walter A. Stosch, R-Glen Allen. Stosch, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, kept Democrats on the budget conference committee that negotiates the state budget. Howell is a conferee.

The Senate first agreed to a budget that included $300 million for Dulles Metrorail. In the final battle in the Senate, Prince William Democratic Sen. Charles J. Colgan voted with Republicans to strip out the rail money, she said.

Howell said she is proud that the final state budget contains millions more for public schools, hospitals and nursing homes than originally proposed.

Merritt Green, chairman of the McLean Chamber said, "It's wonderful to hear her insights on how the legislative session impacts Northern Virginia... the legislative impact on transportation, which is invaluable to the growth of Northern Virginia."

Elizabeth Page, executive director of the , said, "I was glad that she is hopeful that the next session will go better and that Republicans and Democrats can work together."