Freshman delegates get a crash course in lawmaking

RICHMOND

Chris Stolle's head was swimming at the end of an intense training session in the state Capitol this week. A Virginia Beach Republican, Stolle is one of 20 freshman legislators, including three others from Hampton Roads, who received a two-day crash course in the complexities of lawmaking.

"It's like drinking from a fire hydrant," Stolle, who will join the House of Delegates, said of the flood of information.

A physician by trade, Stolle is excited about the task ahead. He admitted that the General Assembly learning curve is steeper than what he recalls of medical school. And he isn't the only newcomer whose mind is awash with new concepts and whose arms are loaded with paperwork.

"It can be a bit overwhelming," said Matthew James, a new Democratic delegate from Portsmouth. He likened the primer on parliamentary verbiage to "learning a new language."

Knowing the difference between a pending question and the previous question is important in a place where words such as "germane," "report" and "rerefer " are everyday terms.

But it's not just vocabulary to memorize. The legislators were schooled on the ins and outs of lawmaking: sponsoring legislation, how subcommittees and committees operate, decorum and voting procedures on the House floor, the dynamics between the majority and minority part ies.

And those are just a few of the procedures and protocols to be mastered.

Throw in the hundreds of new faces and names to remember and getting acclimated to the General Assembly can be a challenge.

"It's new. It's like my first day in court," Democratic Del.-elect Robin Abbott, an attorney from Newport News, said Friday before entering a mock floor session.

Asked how that day in court went, she replied, "I think I won my first case."

For lawyers such as Abbott, or those with policy-making backgrounds such as veteran Virginia Beach City Councilman Ron Villanueva, getting comfortable at the legislature can be a little easier.

Still, there are other hardships to contend with.

For Villanueva, a married father of four young children, spending much of the next two months in Richmond away from his family presents another kind of challenge.

Although back-bench freshmen face hurdles, each of the newbies from Hampton Roads is hopeful of making a mark during their first session. Villanueva has filed a bill to clear the path for offshore oil and gas drilling, Abbott wants stricter ethics rules for elected officials, Stolle has some ideas to aid public safety agencies, and James is focused on work force development.

Early success can be critical for legislators who want to stay around, especially when the next election is only two years away. Soon, the newcomers will be wading through halls of government packed with advocates, constituents and colleagues who want to lobby them on an issue. Navigating that human stampede is chore enough without having to learn on the fly.

"It's a lot to swallow," House of Delegates Clerk Bruce Jamerson conceded.

Then again, he said, things could be worse.

First-term legislators receive more of an education now than "their predecessors from 40 years ago, who, when they showed up were told where to sit and had to learn by watching," Jamerson added.

Julian Walker, (804) 697-1564, julian.walker@pilotonline.com