Democrats, now in majority, promise Senate moderation

Richmond (Map, News) - Democrats will take a moderate tack as they lead the Virginia Senate for the first time in a decade, caucus chairwoman Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple pledged Thursday as debate over the new leadership’s agenda ramps up.

Her party took a 21-19 majority in the Senate in November, stripping control from the Republicans.

She and her colleagues rolled out a series of legislative priorities they said would engender support across the aisle, including reforms to mental health, energy policy and illegal immigration.

“The Senate has had a long tradition of working in a bipartisan fashion ... that is going to have to continue if we’re going to be successful, and that is how I’m going to steer our agenda,” Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw, D-Springfield, said at a press conference Thursday.

Senate Democrats also said they would prioritize property tax relief and transportation reform, which includes eliminating the controversial abusive-driver fees.

Whipple’s property-tax-relief bill would create a ballot question that would give localities the ability to slash property taxes by as much as 20 percent, which comes as local budgets already are suffering from a floundering housing market.

On illegal immigration, Democratic proposals include requiring employers to enter into an electronic employment-verification system and denying bail to any illegal alien arrested for a violent felony or drunken driving.

Sen. Ken Cuccinelli, R-Fairfax, rejected the notion that Senate Democrats were operating from the political middle.

“What they call the center — they are so far off to the left in that caucus, they are over the horizon from the center, they can’t even see it,” he said. “What they refer to as ‘leading from the center’ is probably just left-wing lite.”

Still, Cuccinelli, known as one of the Senate’s most conservative members, supports the property-tax-relief bill. He said action will speak louder than words as proof that the opposing party has grown more moderate.

“Saying it’s so don’t make it so,” he said.

wflook@dcexaminer.com

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