Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 28, 1995 TAG: 9503280076
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ROBERT LITTLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Still more proposed cuts could be unveiled today.
Allen wants the cuts to finance the first installment of a five-year plan to give all lottery profits to city and county governments eventually. Localities would be required to use the money for education, law enforcement or cuts in local taxes.
The proposed cuts included selling the state yacht, trimming the budget for the House of Delegates, reducing the scope of planned renovations to legislative committee rooms and other expenses Allen characterized as ``less than necessary.''
Also on the block were specific programs for housing, welfare, local community-service boards and public broadcasting - smaller versions of cuts he tried to make during the contentious General Assembly session.
``This is real money,'' Allen said at an afternoon news conference, using the playground of a western Richmond elementary school as a backdrop. ``This is true, actual, additional dollars going to localities.''
The proposal got a cool reception from Democrats and even from those who stand to benefit from the plan. James D. Campbell, executive director of the Virginia Association of Counties, circulated a statement Monday afternoon saying he was ``cautiously optimistic.''
``This is just half the picture,'' Campbell said. ``The governor may have a pocketful of amendments that could be detrimental to local government programs. We just don't know.''
Indeed, the governor and his staff shrugged off queries about Allen's further plans Monday - the last day for him to sign, veto or propose amendments to legislation passed during this year's session. Allen said he planned to work late into the night to meet the midnight deadline and would disclose his proposals today.
But Sen. Hunter Andrews, D-Hampton, Senate majority leader and a key budget writer, said he has been told to expect 59 proposed amendments to the budget alone.
Other Democrats, who hold a slim majority in both chambers of the legislature, predicted a short session April 5, when lawmakers reconvene to consider vetoes or amendments. The General Assembly already has rejected many of Allen's proposed cuts. Most called Allen's plan an attempt to force recorded, sound-bite votes on hot topics, to arm Republicans during the fall elections.
``It's dim, it's dull-witted. He's engaging in the exact same behavior pattern that got him zilch in the General Assembly session,'' said Del. Jay DeBoer, D-Petersburg, a member of the House Finance Committee. ``The legislature will not do something just because you call the members names.''
The General Assembly passed a measure this year requiring that the state's $300 million in annual lottery money be spent on education. But because the lottery profits simply go into the state's general fund without increasing the $2 billion already spent on education, Allen called the requirement ``a cynical, deceptive shell game.''
Still, Democrats say Allen could be playing a shell game of his own. By giving lottery money to localities, Allen would create a $300 million hole in the state's education budget, Andrews said.
``Where will that money come from?'' Andrews asked. ``I hope that's a fair question.''
Of the first $15 million, localities would get just over $25 per student. That translates to about $191,000 for Roanoke, $54,000 for Salem, $208,000 for Roanoke County, $143,000 for Montgomery County, $70,000 for Botetourt, $14,000 for Bedford, $134,000 for Bedford County and $105,000 for Franklin County.
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1995
by CNB