GOP votes to maintain anonymity
Posted by Brent Finnegan on January 12th, 2008
When bills get introduced in General Assembly, they have to survive a subcommittee before being voted on by the Assembly. Currently, bills can be killed by two members of a subcommittee, without the public knowing which members of a subcommittee voted to kill it.
On Wednesday, the majority of Republican members of the house (including Harrisonburg’s Delegate Matt Lohr) voted against a bill that would require them to record subcommittee votes, effectively killing the measure.
From The Daily Press:
“The public needs to know how we conduct our business,” [bill sponsor Ken Plum] argued.
House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith countered that requiring recorded votes for subcommittees would make an already heavy work load of about 3,000 bills over just 60 days almost unbearable.
“If we go to this process, we might as well forget about subcommittees and go to hearing all bills in full committee,” said Griffith, R-Salem.
House Minority Leader Ward L. Armstrong, D-Henry County, argued that a transparent legislature is more important to voters and taxpayers than a streamlined one.
“If want to take (Griffith’s) argument that this saves time, gee, think how much time could be saved if we didn’t bother with recorded votes here on the floor,” Armstrong said.
Last year, 840 bills were killed with secret votes, never making it to the floor in Richmond.
For shits sake. No qualms about being evil!
This is at least one instance where the DNR editorial board agrees.
How hard can it be to just record the votes?
Way to go DNR; I love to agree with you, when possible.
Matt’s just a couple of pieces of legislation and just a couple of votes away from several opponents in this next election cycle.
From the preamble of the Declaration of Independence:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
I see nothing in the House Republican stance which would indicate any inclination to concern themselves with “deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…” by their continued party line support for a process which denies citizens our right to know what is taking place, and whether our “representatives” are voting in sub committee actions in ways which we find acceptable, and meeting of our approval.