Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 14, 1995 TAG: 9509140062
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY AND DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Bell, meanwhile, fired back, calling Edwards' statement "outlandish" and "absolutely false."
"My opponent has broken promises he made when he was first elected four years ago to support increased funding for education," Edwards said on the campus of Virginia Western Community College, the only state-supported higher education institution in Roanoke.
"He has supported the [Allen] administration's efforts to slash some $52 million from public education and $40 million from higher education in Virginia. This is the wrong way to go."
The Democrat's comments came as he championed his own support for higher education, pointing to a pledge he has signed endorsing increased funding for state colleges and universities.
The pledge was solicited by the Virginia Business Higher Education Council, a group of business leaders who often take the GOP side in election battles but who are alarmed at major higher education cuts in recent years.
After years of budget cuts that began under former Gov. Douglas Wilder, Virginia now ranks 42nd in the nation in higher education funding per student - down from 28th in the nation in 1989. North Carolina, which is seeing an explosion of growth in high-technology industry, is ranked seventh in the nation in per-student spending.
Candidates who sign the pledge promise to sponsor or co-sponsor "significant" funding increases for state colleges and universities. The council estimates that may cost $200 million in 1996 alone.
"The decline in state support for higher education which has occurred over the last several years must be stopped," Edwards said. "If we do not reverse this trend now, we will suffer a low-growth economy and a reduced quality of life for all Virginians."
Edwards said Bell's general advocacy of Allen policies demonstrates support for the governor's education funding cuts. Bell recently got a 100 percent rating on the Allen Index, a GOP rating of how often he supports the governor, based on select votes in the General Assembly.
But when pressed, Edwards couldn't name an anti-education funding vote Bell has cast.
Bell said that's because there aren't any. He said he's opposed Allen's attempts to cut education funding. But he acknowledged he didn't offer budget amendments to restore the proposed cuts, either.
"[Edward's] charge is totally and outrageously and absolutely false," Bell said. "Repeatedly, in budget year after budget year, I voted for budgets that increased funding for both public and higher education. For my opponent to say such a thing brings into question his own credibility."
As for the Virginia Business Higher Education Council pledge, Bell said he also has signed it. But campaign manager James Faulkner said there's no record of whether Bell returned the signed pledged to the council. The council could not be reached for comment.
Green groups warn voters
RICHMOND - A trio of conservation groups on Wednesday warned voters to be wary of General Assembly incumbents who claim to be environmentally friendly.
The groups released an "Environmental Scorecard" to back their contention that most lawmakers - particularly those from Southwest Virginia - have helped Gov. George Allen relax state environmental safeguards.
"Too many times the same legislators who vote in Richmond to weaken environmental protections turn around and campaign back home as environmentalists," said Marie Kulick, Virginia program director for Clean Water Action. "This scorecard will help voters see past the political smoke and mirrors and see who the friends of the environment really are."
Compiled by Clean Water Action, the Sierra Club and Virginia Citizen Action, the scorecard ranks lawmakers on six recorded votes in the Senate and eight votes in the House of Delegates over the past two years.
The issues include widening Interstate 66 for the once-proposed Disney's America, funding state parks with proceeds from the sale of surplus state property and providing immunity for polluting companies that voluntarily disclose their sins.
Lawmakers from Northern Virginia, on average, scored the highest, voting pro-environment more than half of the time in both chambers.
Southwest lawmakers scored the lowest, averaging 46 percent in the House and only 1 percent in the Senate. In fact, every senator from Southwest Virginia scored a zero except Madison Marye, D-Shawsville, and Elliot Schewel, D-Lynchburg.
Natural Resources Secretary Becky Norton Dunlop said the scorecard was meaningless because the issues were so narrow.
"This document is flawed in a very fundamental way by excluding votes which the Allen administration supported," she said.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB