Editorial
The Rockbridge area was well represented at the recently adjourned session of the General Assembly. We not only have three members who represent at least portions of our area – Del. Ellen McLaughlin, Del. Terry Austin and Sen. Chris Head – but we had a head page in the House of Delegates, Carson Slaydon, a sophomore at Rockbridge County High School.
This was Carson’s second year serving as a page in the General Assembly. Last year, she was one of 32 pages in the House. This year, the Speaker of the House selected Carson, 16, to be a head page. She said she considers it quite an honor, a “once in a lifetime opportunity.”
One of her distinctive duties this year was to present the ceremonial mace at the opening of each day’s session. The golden mace, an iconic symbol of honor and power of what is the oldest legislative body in the western hemisphere, was traditionally presented by the sergeant-at-arms but that role has now been bequeathed to the student pages.
Carson, daughter of Chris and Alex Slaydon, spent nine weeks in Richmond this year, after having been at the state capitol for seven weeks last year in what was the biennial “short” session. Pages run errands for the legislators, answer phones and open doors, and generally get to witness up close the business of our state lawmakers. She was able to keep up with her school work, having a mandatory 7 to 9 study hall each evening.
She said she very much enjoyed being able to observe the “day-to-day of government and politics on a state level.” She’s unsure of her career aspirations, but said she hopes to “work with people and possibly work in government.”
One of our adult representatives in Richmond, McLaughlin, formerly Campbell, was at the Virginia Horse Center yesterday, Tuesday, as part of the chamber of commerce’s annual “state of the community” breakfast. Noting that she’s now part of the “super minority” party, a reference to the diminished ranks of the Republicans following last year’s election, McLaughlin reported that she was nevertheless able to work in a bipartisan manner with her majority party colleagues.
In particular, she was able to be a co-sponsor of affordable prescription medication legislation that was introduced by Democrats. She said four of the eight bills she introduced passed both legislative chambers and are awaiting the governor’s signature. McLaughlin did express disappointment in the redistricting bill that is leading to a referendum that could diminish Republican representation in Congress.
McLaughlin joined our local government leaders in giving reports on what has been accomplished in the past year and what to expect moving forward. We’ll have a full account of the state of our community, as communicated by our government leaders at the breakfast, in next week’s paper.
We commend Carson for her work during this year’s General Assembly session and look forward to the day when she might be one of our local governmental leaders.
