Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 25, 1993 TAG: 9302250264
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG SCHNEIDER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
STATE BUDGET PLAN DRAWN
It was a day late, but a state budget compromise reached on Wednesday has no shortage of dollars for public schoolteachers, who will get 3 percent pay raises.State employees will fare even better, winning base raises of 2 percent plus merit increases that should kick the average raise up to 6.8 percent.
The figures were released about 7:30 p.m., almost 20 hours past the official budget deadline of midnight Tuesday. Hung up primarily on a disagreement over funding for the widening of U.S. 58, the budget also missed an extended deadline of 6 p.m. Wednesday.
"We finished about 6. Literally, there were just minor wrap-ups," insisted Sen. Hunter Andrews, D-Hampton.
Andrews led a squad of three senators who worked with three delegates to iron out differences in the budgets recommended by each chamber of the General Assembly. The document they produced will have to be approved by the full assembly by Saturday, and then will go on to Gov. Douglas Wilder.
Wilder's original budget plan, proposed in December, included 2 percent pay raises for state employees and nothing for schoolteachers. Last month, the state revamped its revenue estimates to provide enough money for the pay raises and several other programs that were threatened with cuts.
One of the largest unresolved spending items was the improvement of U.S. 58, the eastern part of which was known as "Suicide Strip" before being widened to four lanes over the past several years. Work continues on the road west of Emporia.
The Senate wanted to spend $5 million to cover the interest on $55 million in bonds for part of the project; the House favored spending $8.5 million to borrow $100 million.
In the compromise reached Wednesday, U.S. 58 will get $7 million, which will let the state finance about $77 million in improvements.
That was one of just a few budget highlights released by the negotiators. Others included:
The Virginia Cooperative Extension Service, which would have been left without funds by Wilder's budget plan, gets $3.4 million.
Funding of $450,000 for a program that helps indigent women get the Norplant birth control device, which prevents pregnancy for up to five years. The Senate wanted to spend $300,000 on the controversial program, while the House wanted to cover its entire $600,000 price tag.
Public libraries are slated for $4.9 million to help restore cuts made over the past few years.
More than $3 million is set aside to beef up agencies that serve the elderly and the mentally disabled.
Most of the pay raises, the major component of the compromise budget, will go into effect Dec. 1. College faculty members are promised raises averaging 3.55 percent; local employees are slated for 3 percent; and state-employed nurses, psychiatric aides, social workers and public defenders will have their salaries restructured to make them more competitive with similar positions in the private sector.
The nurses' pay will go into effect July 1, while the psychiatric aides, social workers and public defenders will have to wait until Jan. 1.
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1993