Legislators Killed the Autism Insurance Bill Without Voting

We are naIve no longer. As advocates for autism insurance in Virginia, we brought companion bills to the House of Delegates and the State Senate this year -- and came away with nothing for our kids. We did, however, learn a great deal about power, politics, and a process that defied accountability.

We learned that veteran delegates will sign your bill and agree to co-sponsor the legislation, then pull that support, then candidly offer it back again, then actually walk away from the subcommittee meeting to avoid casting a vote on the record.

We learned that hundreds of citizens can call, write, and visit their delegates without ever actually knowing where their delegate stands. In the Richmond area, Republican Dels. Sam Nixon, Lee Ware, and Bill Janis were flooded with citizen input prior to the subcommittee meeting in the House, yet they never stated their position to constituents.

We think we know now.

They did express their struggle with the "tough decision" at hand. Janis called it a Hobson's Choice. Ware actually said he was agonizing over it. As advocates, we had made them uncomfortable, as if autism was Club Med.

We learned that adverse parliamentary procedure is like a sharp stick in the eye. When House patron Bob Marshall brought the autism bill to subcommittee, delegates heard charged arguments from both sides, and it seemed as if the first hurdle for the controversial bill had arrived. Instead, Ware called for a motion from the eight delegates, who sat in silence. Looking out at the packed room, the delegates opted for no vote at all.

Janis, Nixon, Ware, as well as Johnny Joannou, Kenneth Melvin, Harvey Morgan, Chris Saxman, and Mark Sickles just didn't see the need to take a vote. "Nothing to look at here folks, move along," the maneuver suggested.

We learned that you can also ask for one thing and get something very different.

In the Senate, the Commerce and Labor Committee heard our bill. Freshman Sen. Jill Vogel (R-Winchester) was our lead patron. She offered to reduce the age cap for benefits from 21 to 12, as a concession to pro-business opponents. Sen. Richard Saslaw (D-Fairfax) then motioned to cut the age again, to age 6 -- essentially excluding thousands of children with a single sentence. We had to take it or leave it. (Saslaw, to his credit, knew what lay ahead for us.)

We learned that shrub salesmen know more than medical doctors. From Chesterfield, Sen. John Watkins warned that autism treatment was an educational matter, not a medical matter, and we were setting a dangerous precedent. Putting more chains around the bill's neck, the panel required that state employees be covered, too.

Alas, the watered-down bill escaped the Finance Committee to the floor of the Senate.

On the last bill of the night, Vogel rose to offer her weary, diluted bill to the 39 other senators. Her own fellow Republicans were waiting for her. Sen. Frank Wagner of Virginia Beach challenged the Finance Committee's bill, saying that if state employees were not guaranteed coverage for autism, the bill should not pass. Vogel's bill had different language, saying state workers would be included if the money was available.

Saslaw looked at Wagner and pointed out the obvious -- his motion, if approved, would kill the bill. Sen. Ken Stolle (R-Virginia Beach) agreed with Wagner, and admitted that the bill's passage was "ugly," and the Senate moved to study the fiscal impact some more -- killing autism insurance for the session.

Autism families had been thwarted by powerful business interests, and by procedural moves to avoid votes in both chambers of the legislature on the issue of mandated insurance coverage for autism. No legislator could be accused of voting against the bills. No legislators could say they actually voted for the bills, either.

Next session, we will return, with eyes wide open. More children will need treatment. We won't let them down like the legislature did.

John W. Maloney is an autism parent and advocate. His e-mail is .