Ha, Ha Ha, this is really going to put a big dent in Moran's plans to run for governor in 09. This is the best thing Bill Howell has done since becoming Speaking. Moran claims to be moderate but he is really going to piss off one of two groups. He is either going to get way left on guns and tick of the 2nd amendment people or tick off his liberal friends.

This is going to be fun to watch!

No one should spend a dozen years on the same committee. That is the kind of shameful smoke filled room behavior that leads to calls for term limits.

Apparently, avoter thinks that spite equals good governance.

Congratulations on showing your true colors, once again, Virginia GOP!

To the winner, goes the spoils. I am certainly glad the Republicans did not pass up the chance to mess with Morans chances for governor in 09.

he doesn't have to take the committee assignment if he doesn't want it

the real problem here is that without changing assignments a static minority gets to dictate policy in each area

The votes Moran will have to make on his new committees will show that he is a solid member of the liberal left. It will be difficult for him to campaign as the "moderate" he wants Virginia voters to believe he is. Ferguson's Titanic comments create the perception that Moran will continue to a partisan in-fighter rather than a bi-partisan consensus builder.

committees should be abolished, make them all do their jobs and vote on everyhing, don't hand it over to the select few

From the Richmond YR blog:

Keep in mind, that Delegate Moran is running for Governor. Democrats of late have managed to get elected in part, by saying they would not support tax increases. Well, Delegate Moran sure does have a record of doing so, and now being on Finance, he will have to take a lot more recorded votes regarding tax increases.

Delegate Moran has also been placed on Militia, Police & Public Safety. This committee typically deals with a good deal of 2nd Amendment legislation. So his votes against our 2nd Amendment rights will mostly be recorded and available to the public.

These committees, and the votes Delegate Moran will have to take, will give Virginians a good idea of how liberal he really is. If he continues to vote the way he has in past years, there will be no way he can paint himself as a moderate the way Governor Warner and Governor Kaine did.

This should definitely be an interesting session.

Having had experience with the Virginia General Assembly for more than thirty years, I can say with confidence that this is the pettiest and most foolish action taken by a Speaker of the House in at least three decades.

The Speakers I've known -- John Warren Cooke, A.L. Philpott, Tom Moss and Vance Wilkins (3 D's and an R) -- each had an admirable degree of respect for the governing process and the House as an institution.

Speaker Howell obviously lacks any such respect and must be completely lacking in good sense as well. It is apparent from these actions that Howell believes only in the primacy of the most partisan and destructive kind of politics. He obviously is without any sense of civic responsibility and must completely lack any desire to promulgate sound public policy for the benefit of all of the citizens of the Commonwealth.

It is no wonder that the Republican Party of Virginia has fallen to such a pitiful nadir of support and success. Howell's actions, in the purest traditions of the governing styles of Jim Gilmore and Tom DeLay will help dig what's left of the Virginia GOP into an even deeper hole.

Of course, Gilmore and DeLay found that there was a reckoning for their irresponsible and radical methods. If I were Mr. Howell, I wouldn't move any heavy furniture into the Speaker's office.

In the words of an old newspaper reporter, Howell isn't doing things in "the Virginia way." Virginians won't be shy about letting him know it.

we need term limits on committee membership, why shouldn't everone have a chance to have an impact on taxes?

We need a term limit on people who push term limits.

maybe when they redraw the district lines they can just gerrymander out the speaker!!!!

We don't need term limits on legislators themselves, but there is no good reason for them to be able to set up camp in a small committee and have outsized influence on their pet issues.

Make them all vote on taxes, make them all vote on roads, make them all vote on keeping us disarmed.