Virginia House Democrats participated in an act of civil disobedience today by refusing to vote on a bill that House Republicans brought to the floor even though its sponsor, Del. Adam Ebbin, had requested it be withdrawn. This behavior on the part of the majority resulted in a refusal by the minority to vote. Assembly Access, as always, was there, and provides this video of Majority Leader Morgan Griffith reading the name of each Democratic member and requesting that their non-vote be recorded as a “no” vote:
I had the chance to talk to freshman Del. Joe Bouchard this evening about this. He said this was his first act of civil disobedience and that he was “proud to be a Democrat today.” Bouchard said this was a manipulation of the voters by the Republicans, who engaged in “suppression of democracy to make a political point.”
As The Shad Plank said, today was a “banner day” for partisanship. The AP report on today’s events leaves no doubt as to what the goal of Republicans was:
Griffith acknowledged a measure of payback in making an issue of Democrats’ ties to labor. Unions have helped Democrats gain House seats in every legislative election since 2003.
And this maneuver helps Republicans exactly how? Are the unions now going to support Republicans?
Let me remind you of what Speaker Howell said in his acceptance speech:
On a Tuesday in November every two years, the people of Virginia go to their local polling places to express their views, their concerns, and their aspirations for the future of our Commonwealth.
We are here today as a result of those Virginians, and that, above all else, should be our main focus as we convene this 2008 Session of the General Assembly and this House.
The citizens we are elected to serve have given each of us a great honor, and they have every right to expect us to act in a manner recognizing that honor as we fulfill our responsibilities.
This year, Virginia faces many great challenges. But these challenges will not overwhelm — and must not overcome — our shared ability to work constructively on the legislation that we will consider.
What was honorable about today?
UPDATE: The Pilot’s Warren Fiske reports on this.
UPDATE2: Waldo provides us with a list of Republicans who have pulled their bills this session. “Every request was, of course, granted without fuss.”
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
What was HB 852, and why did the Democrats not wish to vote on it?
“Bouchard said this was a manipulation of the voters by the Republicans, who engaged in ‘suppression of democracy to make a political point.'”
Uh, how is making the Democrats vote on a bill they don’t like a SUPPRESSION of democracy?
And what is supposed to be the political point — that Democrats won’t stand behind the bills they propose?
It was a hard and painful lesson, but now at least Democrats in the House know exactly what kind of weasels they’re dealing with. Oh, how hard the high and mighty will fall in 2009!!!
The bill would have allowed state employees to bargain collectively – a very bad idea. Del. Ebbin and the rest of the Dems know the rules of the HoD. If try to pull your bill, you can be forced to submit it by the Speaker. I don’t think that the Speaker should be able to essentially to vote for those who refuse to do so on their own, but that’s how it is. These guys should quit whining.
I can’t believe you guys are defending this behavior. The Republicans, because they are in charge, changed the rules only to make political points, not to get anything done. The tradition of allowing a member to strike his or her bill was ignored. Bills are stricken for a number of reasons. In this case, the sponsor said the bill as drawn did not reflect his intentions. Take a look at the link I provided in the update.
As for manipulation of the voters – Mouse, you have previously failed to “get it” when it comes to politics. The Republicans, using a political maneuver, recorded votes that did not occur and you can expect in 2009 that they will attempt to point to this “vote” in telling voters that Democrats don’t support unions. It’s all there in the writings that I linked to.
I get back to my question: where is the honor in what the Republicans did on Thursday?
For a year, Democrats have been whining about procedures on bills where they were killed without recorded votes. Now they whine about having recorded votes? When the left decides which way they want it, let me know.
Remember this when they say they don’t have the time to get certain bills or issues. They apparently have time to waste doing an one-by-one vote on this bill!
And then there’s this gem:
“‘They put a bill in, then they’re too cowardly to take a vote on it,’ House GOP Leader H. Morgan Griffith said after the clash.”
And you’re too cowardly to record subcommittee votes…
Kirwin – reconcile for me the claim of the Republicans to respect tradition and their behavior yesterday. Hell, they didn’t even know the proper procedure for doing their little dance since no one had done it before!
“[The] sponsor said the bill as drawn did not reflect his intentions….”
If the bill did not reflect his intentions, why did he submit it in the first place? I understand that many politicians do not read the bills they vote on, but I would expect them to at least read the ones they submit.
“The Republicans, using a political maneuver, recorded votes that did not occur and you can expect in 2009 that they will attempt to point to this “vote” in telling voters that Democrats don’t support unions.”
Then why did they not vote YES?
Vivian, changing the subject doesn’t win you the argument. Why should delegates be afraid to have a vote recorded? I think I heard a few Democrats make that argument recently.
As usual, you’re missing the point, Mouse. In case you were unaware, the legislators do not draw their own bills. (There was an article about this in this morning’s paper.) Whether or not the Delegate read the bill before it is submitted is always a question, especially in the hustle and bustle of getting the bills filed. I have no doubt that bills get submitted that do not reflect the sponsor’s intentions and then they get amended in committee or on the floor.
Whether or not the bill was incorrectly drawn isn’t really relevant. The normal process of allowing a sponsor to withdraw a bill, while in committee, was overruled, as was the process of allowing the sponsor to strike the bill on the floor. If you follow the GA closely, you will see that this strickening of bills happens often enough.
As for why not voting yes, Del. Jeion Ward laid out her reasons in the another clip that you can view on Assembly Access. The others were expressing their displeasure that the rules had been changed to make a political point.
Kirwin – not changing the subject, especially since that was my original question. If the situation were reversed, you’d be hollering about “tradition.”
Thank you. I expected that legislators would not draw their own bills — that is what staff are for. However, I do expect them to READ AND APPROVE those bills before they are submitted. Del. Ebbin obviously neglected that duty. He got called on it.
Vivian, I wouldn’t holler about tradition. Wrong again.
Actually, I think Republicans should’ve gone farther. Griffith should’ve asked that Democrats be recorded as “yea”