BY WESLEY P. HESTER

Whistling, a (somewhat) long-standing tradition in the Virginia House of Delegates, has died. Its age is unknown. 

Speaker of the House William J. Howell, R-Stafford, has asked members to cease and desist from the habit used by lawmakers to anonymously call attention to a matter before the chamber or comments from an individual.

Whistling carried a variety of meanings, but was most often employed when a bill was deemed less than consequential or to denote a sharp remark from a legislator.

“It was just getting out of hand,” Howell said. “They were whistling six, seven times every day. You’ve got to have some decorum in the body.”

No one knows exactly how long whistling has been a habit of the House, but Howell said it was not customary when he took office in 1988.  

On the other side of the state Capitol, newly anointed Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment Jr., R-James City, has outlawed the use of props during floor speeches.