Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 31, 1995 TAG: 9503310068
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Democrats in the General Assembly will have a chance to put up or shut up when they vote next week on Gov. George Allen's proposal to return lottery profits to localities, two Republican legislative leaders said Thursday.
``We are giving them a chance to put their money where their mouth is,'' said Del. Vance Wilkins of Amherst, the House minority leader.
Wilkins said Allen's proposal to return $15 million in lottery profits to localities would mean ``more real money'' for education, law enforcement or local tax cuts.
At a news conference in Roanoke County, Wilkins charged that a Democrat-sponsored education bill that passed during the recent session is a ``fraud.'' He said the bill provides no additional money for schools, despite the Democrats' claim that it will earmark lottery money for education.
Wilkins said the Democrats ``pretended'' that part of the $2 billion appropriation for education is lottery money.
But he said there is no new money for education, because general-fund dollars already going to education merely were called lottery proceeds.
Wilkins and other GOP leaders traveled across the state Thursday, trying to build support for Allen's proposal, which will be considered by the General Assembly during its veto session Wednesday.
Del. Randy Forbes, R-Chesapeake, said Democrats have long given lip service to returning lottery profits to localities but haven't pushed the issue.
Since 1988, Democrats have introduced 27 bills to return lottery profits to cities and counties, he said, but the bills have been killed quietly in committees.
Forbes, who joined Wilkins for the news conference at Mountain View Elementary School, said the Democrats knew the bills would be rejected and introduced them just to make voters believe they favored sending the lottery proceeds to localities.
With Allen's proposal, Forbes said, the Democrats have a chance to show how they really stand on the lottery issue.
In the past seven years, Republicans have introduced 18 bills to return lottery profits to localities, he said, but all have been killed. Forbes himself introduced a similar bill during the recent session, but the House declined to consider it.
Forbes said Allen is the first governor who ``has stood up and says he wants to return the lottery proceeds to localities.'' If the Democrats are sincere in what they say, Forbes said, they will support Allen's proposal.
``Certainly, I would expect the Democrats who have sponsored the lottery bills to support him,'' Forbes said. He predicted that the Republican caucus will show overwhelming support for the proposal.
Sen. Brandon Bell, R-Roanoke County, said Allen's proposal should not be a partisan issue.
``With both Democrats and Republicans having sponsored bills on the issue, we should be able to address this in a bipartisan manner,'' Bell said.
Allen's proposal would be part of a five-year, phased-in plan to give 100 percent of lottery profits - $300 million a year - to localities by 2001. He would finance the first installment with $15 million in budget cuts, including selling the state yacht and eliminating the redecoration of legislative committee rooms.
by CNB