Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 24, 1993 TAG: 9308240372
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From staff and wire reports
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Wilder told members of the legislature's money committees that he has directed his Cabinet secretaries to prepare a list of programs and services that could be eliminated or substantially curtailed to save money.
"Just about everything needs to be on the table," he said, singling out such usually sacred cows as public school subsidies, prisons and Medicaid.
The review is necessary, Wilder said, to close a projected $500 million gap between tax collections for 1994-96 and the money needed to maintain state services during that period. He said he expects the cuts "will be the most far-reaching, comprehensive - and yes, perhaps even controversial - proposals that have been considered during my term in office."
His budget proposal for 1994 will not include any tax increases, Wilder said. Both major candidates for governor, Democrat Mary Sue Terry and Republican George Allen, have said they will oppose any general tax increase.
Wilder reminded reporters that many agencies have absorbed budget reductions of as much as 25 percent during his term. That has been done without significant layoffs or cuts in services, he said.
But further cuts, the governor said, must involve the elimination of programs. "If there's some fat around, I'd like to see it. . . . Point me to it," he said.
The $500 million shortfall outlined by Wilder actually is smaller than the budget shortages expected by some legislators. Senate Majority Hunter Andrews, D-Hampton, earlier this year warned lawmakers that as much as $700 million in spending cuts or tax increases may be needed to keep the budget balanced.
And Wilder, speaking to reporters, conceded that the state's actual financial crunch may be more severe than he made it sound in his speech. His computations include no money for state employee raises and none of the $400 million or more the state could be forced to pay to federal retirees to settle a lawsuit over unconstitutional tax collections during the 1980s.
House Majority Leader Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton, countered that the shortfall projections can be manipulated easily. "You can turn that $500 million into three-quarters of a billion or a billion," he said. "Or you can turn it into $100 million, depending on how you look through the hourglass."
Cranwell, chairman of the House Finance Committee, also challenged Wilder's assertion that budget cutting may need to extend to public schools. "To suggest that public education is an entitlement that should be on the board for cuts is not the approach we should be taking," he said. "We need to look at what we can do to get more money for education."
Wilder said Medicaid, prisons and schools have accounted for 96 percent of the state's budget growth since 1990.
by CNB