Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 24, 1995 TAG: 9501240095
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Del. Vic Thomas, a Democrat, submitted the amendment to restore the $2.15 million, coupled with one that would add $1 million. The agencies use the state funding - referred to as Community Service Block Grant money - to bring in funding from other sources.
The agencies ``do a lot of good,'' Thomas said Monday. ``They give help to people who need it most.''
``If anybody thinks we're going to build our way out of this crime thing,'' he said, referring to Allen's prison-building plan, ``then I've got a bridge I want to sell them.''
More than 20 delegates - Democrat, Republican and independent - have signed on to Thomas' amendment.
``It says to me that there's a lot of support for community action in the commonwealth and the delegates don't want to see it dismantled, particularly when there are going to be changes in the welfare system,'' said Ted Edlich, TAP's executive director.
``We're very grateful that Vic Thomas would be supportive,'' Edlich said. ``He's been a big champion of not only TAP, but other human service projects.''
Judy Mason, executive director of the Virginia Council on Poverty, estimated that community action agencies used the $2.15 million to leverage more than $21 million in additional money this year. Without that core money, ``you wipe out about 30 percent of the effectiveness statewide of the agencies,'' she said.
TAP used its nearly $140,000 share of the block grant money to bring in $340,000 from other sources this year. That, combined with $650,000 in federal money, provides the base for TAP's $9 million budget.
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1995
by CNB