Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Office of the Attorney General legislative recommendations are protected by attorney-client privilege and are restricted from public access for 75 years per Code of Virginia 42.1-78, but have not been removed from the collection. These records are open for research but it will be necessary for an archivist to review certain files before they can be used by patrons for research purposes or before any copies of the records can be made. If you are planning to use these records, please contact Archives Reference Services for additional details before planning your research trip.

Preferred Citation

Governor Lawrence Douglas Wilder, Policy Office: General Assembly Legislation, 1990-1993. Accession 35539, State government records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Accession 35539 was transferred by the Office of Governor Lawrence Douglas Wilder, October 31, 1996.

Historical Information

Lawrence Douglas Wilder was born in Richmond, Va., on January 17, 1931. He graduated from Virginia Union University in 1951 and afterwards was drafted into the Army, where he served in the Korean War from 1952-1953 and received a bronze star. He then attended the Howard University School of Law and graduated in 1959. Douglas Wilder was elected to the Virginia Senate in 1969 as the first African American member since Reconstruction and served in the Senate for five terms. In 1985, he was elected to the office of Lieutenant Governor as the first African American to be elected to statewide office in Virginia. L. Douglas Wilder won the election for Governor of Virginia in 1989 and served from January 13, 1990 to January 14, 1994. He was the first African American to be elected as Governor in United States.

During the Wilder Administration, the Policy Office was headed by Walter McFarlane, Executive Assistant for Policy, and four Special Assistants: Richard Taylor (Health and Human Resources, and Education), Robert Blue (Finance and Natural Resources), Jeff Nuechterlein (Economic Development and Transportation), and Lynne Porfiri (Administration and Public Safety). The Policy Office was responsible for review and coordination of all policy matters, including: review of proposed legislation from agencies and Cabinet; formulation of the Governor's legislative initiatives; tracking legislation and serving as legislative liaison; review of General Assembly approved legislation submitted to the Governor for signature, amendment or veto; review of death penalty clemency requests, as well as other pardon and restoration of rights requests; review of legal settlements and other legal matters from the Office of the Attorney General's Office; review of proposed regulations; review of all matters pertaining to the judiciary and writs of habeas corpus; review of proposed executive orders; assistance with speech writing; serving as staff for Governor's special commissions; administrative support for Governor's Fellows program; serving as special interest liaison; acting as in-house counsel; and all correspondence with policy implications or pertaining to sensitive or controversial issues requiring legal overview.

Scope and Content

General Assembly Legislation, 1990-1993, is housed in 71 boxes and is arranged chronologically by year of legislative session, and by chamber and bill number thereunder. This series documents the Governor's Policy Office review of legislation approved by the General Assembly during the Wilder administration and provides policy positions and decisions of the administration. Legislative files usually contain the text of each bill; bill tracking information; Governor's Summaries (prepared by the Division of Legislative Services; Legislative Action Summaries (prepared by the Dept. of Planning and Budget); Bill Reviews/Recommendations to the Governor (prepared by Cabinet Secretary and agency); Policy Office Summary sheet; and Attorney General Recommendations to the Governor (restricted 75 years - attorney-client privilege). Files may also include correspondence, reports and other background documentation. Include House of Delegates Bills, Senate Bills, Amended/Reenrolled legislation, Legislation by date of approval, Vetoed legislation, and Special Session legislation.

Each Governor's Summary prepared by the Division of Legislative Services contains the bill number, patron, bill summary, conflicts, comments and name of the reviewer. Bill Reviews/Recommendations are prepared by the agency most affected by the legislation and include a summary of the bill, fiscal and policy impact, and agency and secretary recommendations and signatures. Legislative Impact Statements prepared by the Dept. of Planning and Budget include patron, bill number, title, summary/purpose of the bill, fiscal impact estimates, expenditure and paperwork impact, fiscal (operating and capital) implications, program and policy implications; description of specific agency/subdivision affected by the legislation and comments. Policy Office summary sheets include general information, constituent comments, policy office analysis and recommendations as to whether to sign, amend or veto. The Office of the Attorney General's Recommendations to the Governor contain check boxes noting if the legislation conflicts with existing laws or the Virginia and Federal constitutions, as well as any suggested amendments or comments. The Attorney General's Recommendations are restricted due to attorney-client privilege.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into the following series: