ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 28, 1997 TAG: 9701280075
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: GENERAL ASSEMBLY NOTEBOOK
Two years ago, managers predicted that insolvency loomed on the horizon for the health insurance program that serves more than 100,000 state workers and their families.
The administration of Gov. George Allen ignored their warning and used $40million of the surplus - giving part to the employees as a "premium holiday" one month, and using the remainder in the budget's general fund.
Democratic lawmakers say the decision increased the likelihood that state employees could pay 20 percent to 25 percent more for premiums beginning in January 1998.
"That doesn't sound like stable management," said Del. Glenn Croshaw, a Virginia Beach Democrat.
In a meeting before two General Assembly money subcommittees, Allen administration officials backed away from their sweeping dismissal of an independent study released last week that showed the Key Advantage health program would need a serious infusion of cash next year.
But Allen officials continue to take issue with Democrats' contentions that the fund is teetering on the precipice of ruin.
The insurance issue is fraught with election-year politics, with both Republicans and Democrats wanting to curry favor with the state workers - 170,000 people altogether.
Democrats have worked to position themselves as saviors of Key Advantage.
Allen administration officials have waged a counter-offensive, noting that even Key Advantage managers who warned of dwindling reserves two years ago did not recommend corrective action until January 1998.
All sides agreed that Key Advantage - which is losing $3million a month from its surplus - has enough reserves to carry it through the end of 1997.
The question then becomes whether the Democrat-dominated General Assembly will intervene this winter with a taxpayer-financed bailout, or whether the Allen administration will be left to adjust premiums next fall.
Without reducing benefits or beefing up taxpayer support, employees with no dependents could see their monthly premiums rise from $172 to $213.
State song on its last verse?
"Carry Me Back to Old Virginia" is rotten through-and-through, state senators decided Monday, and can't be salvaged with a few cheery changes.
Senators rejected a friendlier incarnation of the state song by a voice vote, instead moving forward with a plan to "retire" the song and have a special committee propose a replacement.
Supporters of the state song, led by Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Augusta County, had proposed replacing references to "old darkey's" with "dreamer's," and other changes designed to make the song less offensive. "We have a very beautiful song ... and with the exception of a few words, it's a song we can all take pride in," Hanger said.
"You cannot fix this song," responded Sen. Benjamin Lambert, D-Richmond.
"I find the whole song objectionable," said Sen. Henry Marsh, D-Richmond. "When you hear the tune, you think about the song as it was."
Despite concerns that "everybody in Virginia with a banjo" will come to the capitol hawking new songs, the Senate advanced the plan to find a replacement.
A final vote on the plan to "retire" the current song and make it the "state song emeritus" - sponsored by Sen. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg - should come today. If it passes, the measure will move to the House of Delegates.
A separate bill to declare a new song penned by country music stars Jimmy and Donna Dean as the official state song is pending in a House committee. (For details, see story in the Monday Extra section).
Coal dust surrender
Del. George Heilig, D-Norfolk, withdrew his coal-dust study bill, saying there was no easy way to gain relief for residents down-wind from the Norfolk Southern Corp. shiploading terminal in Norfolk.
"I don't really think a study is necessary. The only way to stop [coal dust] is to shut down Norfolk Southern," said Heilig, drawing gasps of mock horror in the House Rules Committee.
"The only other way is for Norfolk Southern to build a cover over their facility that would cost $25million.
Heilig's action will mean that the General Assembly likely will end a six-year study of coal dust along Norfolk Southern rail lines.
Norfolk Southern officials say steps such as adding a crusting agent to the loads in open coal cars have gone a long way toward reducing complaints from residents who live between the coalfields and the ports.
Sen. Madison Marye, D-Shawsville, is sponsoring a Senate resolution requiring Norfolk Southern to give the General Assembly annual reports on complaints.
Summer school weighed
Students who fail the Literacy Passport Test would have to take extra classes or summer school to pass the exam if a bill endorsed Monday by the House Education Committee becomes law.
The passport test assesses reading, writing and math skills. Last year about one-third of Virginia's sixth-graders failed the test, which is required for high school graduation.
Council revamping progresses
A proposal to dilute the governor's power to fill seats on the State Council of Higher Education moved forward over the objections of the Allen administration.
The House Education Committee voted 13-8, mostly along party lines, to send the measure to the House of Delegates floor. (Of the three Western Virginia legislators on the panel, Tom Jackson, D-Hillsville, voted yes; Tommy Baker, R-Pulaski County and Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, voted no.)
The bill would oust the council and replace it with six members appointed by the governor and five appointed by the General Assembly. The governor currently fills all 11 seats.
Secretary of Education Beverly Sgro urged defeat of the bill, which she described as "very, very elitist'' because the bill suggests that, in making appointments, preference be given to corporate executives. Allen spokesman Ken Stroupe said the governor probably will veto the bill if it passes.
In other action
* A Senate committee endorsed a bill intended to reduce the unemployment tax paid by businesses by changing the formula for calculating the unemployment compensation trust fund.
* A Senate committee approved a bill that would let fire officials require that smoke detectors be installed in buildings if the owners have been unwilling to maintain the devices.
* The Senate passed a bill Monday requiring state agency heads to get their senior employees approved by the General Assembly. ``These people should be subject to sunshine, to a little light of day,'' said patron Sen. Emily Couric, D-Charlottesville.
Quote of the day
"Some of them sounded like rejects from `The Gong Show.'"
- Sen. Richard Saslaw, D-Fairfax County, in describing the torrent of Virginians who've come to Richmond offering replacements for the state song.
What's next?
On Wednesday two measures that have strong points-of-view attached to them - one on same-sex marriages and the other requiring minors tell parents before getting abortions - come up in a public hearing at 2 p.m. in a Senate committee.
Want to be heard?
To leave a message for state legislators, call (800)889-0229 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. weekdays or write c/o General Assembly Building, Richmond, Va. 23219. To track the status of bills, go on-line at www.roanoke.com and click on "The Richmond Archive."
Staff writers David M. Poole, Robert Little and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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