Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 28, 1994 TAG: 9409280077
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURA LAFAY and LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
The results of a Mason-Dixon Virginia Poll showed that 31 percent of voters are opposed to Gov. George Allen's Proposal X, and 17 percent are undecided.
The poll, taken for the Roanoke Times & World-News and WDBJ (Channel 7), found that 58 percent of whites surveyed favored the plan, while 57 percent of blacks surveyed opposed it.
State Sen. Henry Marsh, D-Richmond, a member of the Black Legislative Caucus, said the racial split does not surprise him.
``The governor's propaganda has been aimed at this kind of division,'' Marsh said. ``He's been inciting the fear of white Virginians. This tells us it's working, to some extent.''
Blacks make up about two-thirds of the approximately 20,000 inmates in Virginia prisons, and groups such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People say Proposal X does nothing to address the social problems that put them there.
The poll results came after a series of public hearings around the state seemed to indicate eroding support for Allen's plan to end parole and to increase sentences for violent offenders.
But despite the opposition and growing concerns about how much it would cost, legislators are expected to approve some version of Proposal X before facing re-election next year. Thirty percent of the 827 voters surveyed said crime is their greatest concern.
At a public hearing before two Senate committees in Richmond on Tuesday, only nine of the first 50 people who spoke supported Proposal X. Opposition also has been strong at some of the other 11 public hearings legislators held across the state after a special session was recessed last week.
When the session resumed Tuesday, new questions surfaced about how much the plan would cost taxpayers. Allen's initial estimate was $1 billion. Last week, a House budget committee study predicted it could cost more than twice that much. Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee offered a study suggesting that both estimates are off base.
Under the plan, ``actual capital and operating costs are likely to be significantly higher than estimated by executive agencies,'' the committee said in a 71-page report.
The report stopped short of putting a price on Proposal X, warning that long-term costs are difficult to estimate and often unreliable. Among the complicating factors cited were the difficulty of finding appropriate prison sites, the uncertainty of future construction costs and the unknown price of double-bunking inmates.
Allen has asked the General Assembly to approve $367 million in Virginia Public Building Authority bonds to pay for immediate prison construction. Most of the remaining money can come from voter-approved bonds, he has said.
But future borrowing estimates do not include any provisions for highway projects, higher education or jail reimbursements, the Senate Finance Committee report noted.
``The purpose of this [report] was to demonstrate the fiscal impact of this thing so the public will understand what we're dealing with here,'' said Sen. Hunter Andrews, D-Hampton, the committee's chairman.
According to the poll, Virginians are divided over the best way to pay for the 27 new prisons required by the Allen plan in the next decade.
Twenty-eight percent favored issuing bonds, 17 percent preferred cuts in other government programs, and 8 percent said they would be willing to pay more taxes.
Some legislators are predicting that Proposal X will pass, no matter what it costs.
``None of the concerns they [the Senate Finance Committee] have raised, in my opinion, are enough to derail the program,'' said Sen. Kenneth Stolle, R-Virginia Beach.
On Tuesday, Allen appeared confident his plan would survive the General Assembly.
``The point is to keep them focused and to get them to act by the end of the week,'' he said.
by CNB