
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 10, 1995                   TAG: 9505100062
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-11   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Short

BLACKSBURG CHAMBER HEARS REVIEW OF ASSEMBLY SESSION|

With the men who want to replace two of them looking on, three New River Valley legislators rehashed a selection of this year's General Assembly issues Tuesday before the Blacksburg Chamber of Commerce.

Del. Jim Shuler, D-Blacksburg, Del. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, and state Sen. Madison Marye, D-Shawsville, touched on the efforts to repeal the gross-receipts tax on businesses, on economic development and on the politics of the past session.

Montgomery County Board of Supervisors Chairman Larry Linkous and Blacksburg businessman Pat Cupp watched from the audience. Linkous is seeking the GOP nomination to challenge Shuler; Cupp wants to take on Marye this fall.

All three legislators agreed the gross-receipts tax, which Gov. George Allen sought to repeal, got mired down in the assembly because of the lack of an alternative revenue source for local governments. All suggested it will be back next year. Marye said the merchants' capital tax, an inventory-based levy that Montgomery County imposes, also should be targeted for reform.

One questioner asked about the political maneuvering at the opening of the session in January, when Allen ended up delivering his State of the Commonwealth address to television instead of the assembly. Griffith said it was a symptom of the underlying struggle for dominance between the two political parties. With Republicans nearly equal in numbers to Democrats for the first time in state history, many bills were charged with extra political energy. Griffith, who so far is unopposed, predicted Republicans will take control of the assembly either this year or in 1997.

by CNB