The halfway point of the General Assembly session came and went this week, as did the unveiling of competing spending plans from the Senate and House. It was an eventful week, as my Republicans colleagues and I attempted a parliamentary maneuver that had not been used in the Senate in more than 20 years and Lt. Governor Bolling cast two rare tie-breaking votes.

As I noted in an earlier column, there has been some tension between Republican and Democratic Senators over adherence to the Senate rules. Although the rules of the Senate are clear that bills are supposed to receive a hearing before a full committee, Senate Democrats have scuttled several major Republican initiatives without even hearing them in a full committee.

The problem first surfaced in the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee, where the Democratic Chairman refused to hear legislation on protecting Virginia’s status as a Right-to-Work state, preserving the right of workers to a secret ballot in union elections by prohibiting the implementation of Card Check, and strengthening private property rights by limiting the eminent domain powers of government.

While initially limited to the Privileges and Elections Committee, the rules violation spread to the Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee, the chairman of which refused to hear several proposals that would end or curtail Virginia’s state-run monopoly on liquor sales.

Frustrated by the unprecedented development, Republican senators exercised our rights by employing a parliamentary remedy known as a discharge. When a bill has been assigned to a committee and that committee refuses to act on it, members can ask for a vote to bring the bill directly before the Senate, effective discharging the committee of its responsibility. The Democratic majority held together, defeating our motion on a party-line vote of 22-to-18.

A few moments after the discharge vote, two Democrat senators broke with their caucus to support a Republican initiative. A bill that would change Virginia’s budget cycle, making it more consistent with the four-year terms of governors, received a 20-to-20 vote. In the Senate, the lieutenant governor has the ability to break ties. Lt. Governor Bolling did just that, voting to approve the measure, which is strongly supported by Gov. McDonnell.

2010-2012 biennial budget

The Senate and the House both approved their respective versions of amendments to the 2010-2012 Biennial Budget. As I noted this week, the proposals differ from the Governor’s and from one another. But since this is the second year of the budget and we are only amending an existing budget, the differences should not be so stark as to prevent reaching a compromise by the scheduled adjournment of Feb. 26.

Both the Senate and the House turned out similar proposals on higher education funding, which is not entirely surprising, since both approved the governor’s initiative to increase the number of Virginians who can attend our state-supported colleges and universities. There are similarities in other areas, as well.

There is one very big difference between the two proposals, on requiring Virginia’s state employees to contribute to their own retirement. The House included this proposal by Gov. McDonnell, while the Senate did not. Expect it to be one of the larger stumbling blocks in reaching a compromise by Feb. 26.

My legislation

Several of my bills were approved by the crossover deadline and are headed to the House of Delegates for consideration. SB 1156 would allow any general registrar, local electoral board member, or person appointed or employed by a general registrar or local electoral board to be exempt from jury service upon his request during election periods. SB 1153 states that a land preservation tax credit should not be reduced by the amount of unused credit that could have been claimed in a prior year by the taxpayer but was unclaimed. Both bills passed in the Senate by unanimous vote.

Sen. Fred Quayle represents part of Suffolk in the state senate. He can be reached by email district13@senate.virginia.gov.