Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 22, 1995 TAG: 9502220090
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ROBERT LITTLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
The Senate voted 21-19, split mostly on party lines, to approve the package of $8.6 million in cash and $97.5 million in debt to make room for 10,340 additional prisoners.
Democratic Sen. Virgil Goode of Rocky Mount joined all 18 Republicans in opposing the plan.
The Democratic package represents less than a quarter of the money Republican Gov. George Allen proposed borrowing to handle his new no-parole policy.
Public Safety Secretary Jerry Kilgore, an Allen appointee, said the Democratic plan would put "the safety of Virginians in peril."
"Their actions today have seriously shortchanged Virginia's ability to house violent criminals," Kilgore said in a written statement.
But Democrats called the plan a healthy compromise that cuts the amount of debt the state would incur from building prisons while adequately planning for future capacity to house criminals.
About $6 million would be used to send 500 inmates to out-of-state prisons, likely in Texas.
``It's a modest amount of debt, it keeps us on track to keep up with increased population, and it frees up beds right now to relieve the local jails,'' said Sen. Richard Holland, D-Windsor, who helped piece the plan together.
The Senate originally had approved $192 million for prison construction, but the House of Delegates approved only $59.7 million. The plan approved Tuesday was crafted by three members from each chamber.
The compromise is pending before the House of Delegates.
Sen. Charles Hawkins, R-Chatham, called the plan a ``Scarlett O'Hara approach to prison construction - we'll worry about that tomorrow.''
The deal removed a proposal from the House that required some of the borrowed money to be approved by voters in a referendum. It also delayed construction for the so-called "Red Onion" maximum-security prison slated to be built on a reclaimed strip coal mine near the Wise and Dickenson County line.
Allen sought to score political points on Red Onion by inviting reporters to a meeting he held with a delegation from Wise and Dickenson.
Allen said he was committed to Red Onion, but he acknowledged that his administration could not say for sure whether the site would be suitable. Engineers have expressed concerns that the soil at the reclaimed mine cannot be compacted enough to support the weight of a maximum security prison.
"We certainly have to get an engineering report," Allen said, "but I'm confident that we can find on those 300 acres a spot suitable for a prison."
The Democratic plan would provide $12 million for site preparation at Red Onion, provided Allen certifies by September that soil problems can be corrected.
But Allen noted the money would be contingent on a surplus from the budget year that ends June 30.
Del. Clarence Phillips, D-St. Paul, said it was Allen who has dragged his feet on Red Onion by not recording a deed to the property at the local courthouse.
"He's had more than a year," Phillips said.
Allen promised to look into the delay. "We'll get right on it," he said.
Staff writer David M. Poole contributed to this report.
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1995
by CNB