Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 8, 1995 TAG: 9501070082
SECTION: EDITORIALS PAGE: G-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
What's more, the assembly members will grapple with these issues in the middle of a budget cycle, at least formally amending an already completed two-year budget, and on a field riven in all likelihood by fierce political warfare, as Republicans try to position for, and Democrats try to prevent, a GOP takeover of the assembly.
The danger in such a context is that lawmakers will focus too much on the politics of legislative losses and victories, and not enough on the substance of the legislation. It is reassuring, therefore, to hear that at least a few Republicans are quietly cautious about, and in some cases skeptical of, some of Gov. Allen's more problematic budget proposals. These Republicans take their partisanship seriously, and support their governor. But they're also said to be worried for the sake of their constituents and Virginia's future.
One example - if a conversation last week with this newspaper's editorial board is a fair indicator - is state Sen. Brandon Bell, R-Roanoke County. He says he wants Allen to succeed, and backs the budget amendments in broad outline - but questions some of the specifics. And rightly so.
Bell says he agrees with Allen, for instance, that the business-license tax is unfair because it taxes gross receipts even if companies are losing money. But Bell says he worries that localities eventually will be forced to compensate for its elimination, as proposed by Allen, by jacking up property taxes. (Bell may have been impressed by the estimate, offered last week by Roanoke County Commissioner of Revenue Wayne Compton, that 75 percent of the business taxes in the county are paid by out-of-state entities, such as Sears, Kroger and Marathon Gas. Cutting that tax and raising the property tax would put on county residents' shoulders an additional $3 million burden.)
Perhaps, says Bell, the legislature could grant localities flexibility to adjust for the loss of the business-license tax with another kind of levy.
Bell also questions the wisdom of Allen's proposals to eliminate seed money for a Tech-sponsored continuing education facility at the Hotel Roanoke, and to cut in half funding for non-state-owned cultural institutions, such as Roanoke museums and Explore Park. Bell observes, rightly, that these items serve the governor's priority of economic development, and answer the call for public-private partnerships as an alternative to purely governmental enterprises.
Bell says state Community Service Block Grants - such as provide seed money for community-based anti-poverty efforts - are valuable as well, and deserve reconsideration by the Allen administration. The governor has proposed to eliminate them entirely.
Finally, Bell apparently joins a number of Republicans in worrying about the longer-term fiscal consequences of decisions made now - expensive new initiatives, debt financing, tax cuts - in a state with a tradition of fiscal conservatism. Bell says he hopes to be serving in the legislature eight years from now, and would hope to avoid having to raise taxes to cover growing, structural shortfalls.
Whether such sentiments reflect abiding objections to Allen's budget amendments, or political cover to present to the home folks alarmed about cuts, ought to become more evident as the session proceeds. Whether scoring partisan points in anticipation of the next election takes precedence over lawmakers' serious consideration of policy implications also should be evident soon enough. Given the stakes involved, Virginians should hope that Bell's stated concerns are shared by others and reflected in the assembly's deliberations.
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1995
by CNB