Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 5, 1995 TAG: 9501070075
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY L. GARLAND
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
In his first year, Allen has launched six major policy initiatives and seen two of them put to bed. His proposal to settle the claims of federal pensioners was rejected by the legislature in favor of more generous compensation now justified by a recent decision of the U.S. Supreme Court. But this was accompanied by a fresh round of tax breaks for all taxpayers over 65 that Allen accepted without protest. With only minor tinkering, however, the far-reaching ideas of his Commission on Parole Abolition and Sentencing Reform were enacted and went into effect Jan 1.
The combination of payments to federal retirees, enlarged tax breaks for everybody over 65 and sweeter benefits for state retirees is the first of several vast sums to which the Allen years would bind the state, either in the form of spending commitments or tax cuts. But the governor says he will make up for all that by taking an ax to the 1994-96 budget already in progress and by dramatically slowing the rate at which spending grows in the next two budgets he will propose.
The four initiatives of Allen's first year yet to be played out are the ream of ideas emanating from his Blue Ribbon Strike Force on efficiency in government; the concept of "charter" schools as competitors to regular public schools; welfare reform; and the broad swath of future tax and spending cuts laid before the General Assembly just before Christmas, now being chewed upon in angry hearings around the state.
While there are numerous items here that can be implemented by executive order, and no doubt will be, the legislature must decide the more important aspects of policy. It's hard to see how lawmakers can get around to all of this before the 1995 elections for the House and Senate that will give Allen either a renewed mandate or a monkey wrench.
Leaving aside the multitudinous agenda of the efficiency strike force, dealt with in previous columns and far beyond the scope of this one, Allen will have a tough sell on charter schools and the budget cuts he proposed Dec. 19. But given the temper of the times, some form of tax relief and welfare reform seems likely to pass. If a governor is determined to have the largest say in shaping the budget, his firm control of the executive departments backed by his veto power give him a strong hand.
A charter school is a tuition-free public school funded by tax dollars under customary formulas, opened by any body of citizens who can win approval, or a charter, to operate. While subject to broad supervision by state and local authorities, the idea is to give maximum freedom to devise innovative programs of instruction. This is not to be confused with private corporations running schools under contract with public bodies or state tuition grants for students wishing to attend private schools.
The educational establishment, backed by the political muscle of public-school teachers, is unalterably opposed to any of these changes in the status quo. There being no public clamor for charter schools, legislators of both parties will see a no vote as a convenient device to score points with teachers. For his part, the governor can score a few points with conservatives for at least trying to increase competition in the educational marketplace without stirring up the hornets' nest he would have found by going whole hog with tuition grants or vouchers good for instruction at private schools.
Welfare has replaced crime and health reform as the issue of the moment. Allen's Commission on Citizen Empowerment says the state can save $80 million over five years by requiring able-bodied welfare recipients to work up to 32 hours a week, and by terminating benefits after two years. But we might measure this by noting the more than $4 billion (mainly federal money) the commission says is being spent on various welfare programs in one year. Exempt from any new requirements would be persons under 18, women pregnant more than three months, single parents with children under 18 months and those over 60 or suffering from long-term disability.
The fly in the ointment of every proposal to change welfare I've seen is an excess of complexity. A recent report of the federal General Accounting Office concluded there is little evidence that existing job-training programs succeed in moving many welfare recipients into self-supporting jobs.
The jobs seem to be out there and most employers recognize they must offer some training. But the jobs don't pay enough in most cases to justify a person giving up welfare checks, food stamps, public housing and Medicaid. It shouldn't be terribly difficult to devise a sliding-scale system in which a person retains enough benefits to see a worthwhile improvement in living standards by working. But Allen hasn't gone that route, and perhaps couldn't under existing federal restraints.
On the fiscal front, Allen has proposed a package of tax cuts, prison bonds and reductions in spending offering Democrats both danger and opportunity. If they choose to oppose the governor, they must speak with one voice, and boldly, citing chapter and verse as to why Allen has embarked on a path of fiscal irresponsibility. They may be surprised at how much support they get.
In his inaugural address, Allen said he assumed his duties in a "fighting spirit." He has lived up to that and carried a majority of the people with him, though we might expect enthusiasm to wane a bit now that he has stopped preaching and gone to meddling. But this governor seems to operate on the principle of the quarterback he once was: Many on the field are intent that he not advance the ball; he is equally intent that he will.
Ray L. Garland is a Roanoke Times & World-News columnist.
by CNB