Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 31, 1994 TAG: 9402010256
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: C. RICHARD CRANWELL
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Those of us in the political arena understand the need of some folks to occasionally overstate a fact to get the attention of an audience. We can be tolerant when our young governor says Virginians are suffering under ``the grimy boot of excessive taxation, spending and regulation.'' We can admire the way he got folks to take notice when he said we are enduring ``an epidemic of violent crime.''
But Inauguration Day is over. The winds of rhetoric have subsided. It's time to point out that the state of the commonwealth is pretty solid.
Virginia consistently ranks No. 1 in the United States in financial management and stability; yet, we are among the most lightly taxed states. Likewise, our rate of violent crime is below the national average and below that of most neighboring states.
An article by Donald P. Baker and John F. Harris in the Jan. 23 issue of The Washington Post developed some interesting data that help clear the air on the magnitude of Virginia's problems. Here are a few items from their report, plus some that I have found from other sources:
Virginia ranks 43rd in the amount of taxes that government takes as a percentage of income. This means that only seven states have a lighter tax burden. Among the 45 states with a general state sales tax, only two have a lower rate than Virginia. There has been only one increase in the income tax in the past 42 years and in the sales tax in the past 30 years.
This means that economic growth, and not rising taxes, has financed our budget growth. By focusing on building a strong economy, we can continue to fund the largest share of the state's needs through this natural growth in revenues.
Virginia's rate of violent crime has risen only moderately, compared with other states'. The rate is lower than all but 15 states, nearly all of them sparsely populated.
``There are few states in the nation where [Gov. George Allen's rhetoric] would have been more inappropriate than in Virginia,'' the Post was told by Stephen D. Gold, who studies state governments at the State University of New York at Albany.
This is not to say that Virginia does not have serious needs, nor even that the governor is totally off target in his abhorrence of violent crime. Any violent crime is too much.
But I believe Virginia is overlooking its most crucial area of need - public education. With 28 members of the House as co-patrons, I am proposing legislation this year to begin the process of shaping our educational system to the needs of all students and all areas of the state. It is an effort to make our schools more relevant to the approaching demands of the 21st century.
Major steps to improve the quality of education were recommended by the General Assembly three years ago. But those recommendations have been basically ignored by the executive branch. The economic recession was cited as a reason for not funding the needs of our schools. But the economy has now improved. The proposed budget of outgoing Gov. Douglas Wilder for the 1994-96 biennium once again contains no funds to improve the quality of education, and Gov. Allen's $89 million package of amendments to that budget offers no substantial funding for schools.
Our plan, which is proposed in House Bill 947 introduced last week, will require something in excess of $50 million a year, which we believe can be obtained primarily through revenue growth as the economy improves. I have a commitment from both Del. Robert Ball, House Appropriations chairman, and Sen. Hunter Andrews, Senate Finance chairman, to give the measure top priority and join me in seeking to fund the program now.
The legislation calls for a reduction in the teacher-pupil ratio in grades K through 3 to 18-1 for schools with high concentrations of ``at-risk'' students and 22-1 in all other schools. A long-term goal, by the year 2000, calls for a 16-1 ratio for at-risk students and 20-1 for all others. ``At-risk'' students are those who for economic and other reasons have a high likelihood of becoming a drain on society.
The measure also provides for all at-risk 4-year-olds in the commonwealth to begin receiving the skills to cope within the educational system. We feel this provision will reap benefits to society in 10 to 15 years because many of the people who end up in our criminal justice system were in that at-risk category as preschoolers.
The bill also provides for a sharing of the very best educational tools and technology among all school districts in the state through classroom television, multimedia libraries and other means.
Finally, the measure seeks to curb a growing disciplinary problem that is thwarting the educational process in many schools. It will return a large portion of responsibility for children's behavior to parents. Each parent must help develop a behavioral plan for the child and sign a statement agreeing to it. When behavioral breaches occur, the parents must join in rectifying the problem. Failure to do so can result in court action.
There is no question that violent crime weighs heavily on the minds of most people in Virginia, and we are proposing a package of legislation to toughen the laws on violent offenders.
Violent crime is largely a problem of repeat offenders who need to be removed from society as soon as their propensity toward violence becomes apparent. Shortly after the 1994 session opened in early January, I introduced, with 85 co-patrons from both parties, a ``three-strikes-and-you're- out'' bill that mandates life without parole for anyone convicted of a third violent crime. The fiscal impact of this bill will not take full effect for nearly 10 years. By the year 2004 it is estimated it will cost the state approximately $28 million annually (in 1994 dollars).
The cost of this and other crime bills introduced increased incarceration time under the ``three-strikes'' and the Almand bills will not be nearly as burdensome as the $600 million to $1 billion cost of complete elimination of parole. These bills will deal only with that relatively small part of the population that is committing the vast majority of violent crimes.
We can make a strong impact on violent crime in Virginia without crippling the state's general fund at the expense of many of our much-needed programs such as education. I repeat that for the most part Virginia is facing no major crises. But it is essential now to focus on education, an area that has been neglected in recent years.
\ C. Richard Cranwell, a Vinton Democrat, is majority leader of the Virginia House of Delegates.
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GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1994
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