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

DATE: TUESDAY, October 17, 1995                   TAG: 9510170067
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: KIMBERLY N. MARTIN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Long

WHAT ARE THE `FACTS' IN RACE?

Republican House of Delegates candidate Jeff Artis of Roanoke has called the leaflet he's been hawking around town his version of a TV ad.

It's called ``The Facts About the Thomas Record,'' and he takes it with him everywhere - debates and door-to-door. According to the ``fact sheet,'' his opponent, Del. Vic Thomas, D-Roanoke, supports racial quotas and free public services for illegal aliens and opposes welfare reform and tax cuts for working families.

Those are claims that many on the campaign trail have found hard to swallow, including Thomas, who says only part of the story is being told.

But Artis, who said he would have been on the flip side of all of those issues, isn't backing down from his assertions. Instead, he has developed a credo for nonbelievers: ``If you don't believe it, verify it.''

He's directing his critics to check Thomas' voting record by calling legislative services in Richmond - the phone number to the service is on his home answering machine. And in a candidates' debate on public television station WBRA last week, he held up a sign with the number printed on it.

Here's a look at some of Artis' allegations:

Artis says ``Vic Thomas supports racial quotas.'' His evidence: Senate Bill 554 and House Bill 2178.

The 1994 Senate bill established the Advancement Via Individual Determination program. The program is designed to prepare high school students for college through student mentorships and tutorials offered by local colleges.

The bill's original language identified ``at-risk students, such as minority and low-income students,'' as those eligible for the AVID program. That version passed the House unanimously and the Senate. However, Gov. George Allen said that ``the bill uses language that could be construed as encouraging preferential treatment based on race.''

Thomas says he supports ``getting a little help'' for black and for white students and doesn't believe the language of the bill was exclusive. He was on the losing side of a battle to leave the clause in.

The 1995 House bill in question sought to establish a Higher Education Commission to monitor and evaluate further desegregation efforts in higher education that are designed to guarantee equal opportunities in education. The House and Senate passed the plan unanimously.

But the governor wanted to add a disclaimer saying that the state would use affirmative action to diversify the pool of applicants, but not in admission and hiring decisions by state colleges and universities, which is already the state's policy.

Opponents of the recommendations said that by restating existing policy it would appear that the state was somehow changing that policy.

Thomas voted against considering the governor's recommendations separately, and instead voted to kill the whole proposal by sending it to the rules committee, where no action was taken.

Artis says ``Thomas ... voted against real welfare reform.'' His evidence: House Bill 2001.

Thomas and other Democrats twice rejected earlier versions of the governor's proposal - once when it was offered by Del. Robert McDonnell, R-Virginia Beach, on the House floor and again in the form of the governor's recommendations. Democrats have said the major stumbling blocks to those earlier drafts were the client-to-caseworker ratios and the scope of the program.

Both of those issues were hammered out in a compromise, bipartisan welfare plan, which Allen applauded and Thomas voted for.

Artis says ``Vic Thomas supports free public services for illegal aliens paid for by taxpayer dollars.'' His evidence: House Bill 348.

The intent of the 1994 amendment was to allow schools to accept and provide programs for students ages 12 to 22 for whom English is a second language. The bill allows schools to provide the programs free to those students, if state funding is available. Thomas and 93 other delegates voted for the plan. The Senate passed a similar version of the plan that the House agreed to. But Allen amended the legislation by saying no state funds would be available to students older than 18 who don't ``provide documentation of U.S. citizenship or legal presence in the U.S.''

Thomas, who says that schools ``shouldn't be in the immigration business,'' voted against the governor's amended plan. The revised legislation passed both chambers.

Artis says ``Thomas voted against tax cuts for working families.'' His evidence: HB 2613

This bill was an early casualty of the 1995 legislative session. The bill, which was introduced at the governor's request, would have tripled the personal exemption for state income taxes over the next four years. Supporters said it was a way to keep more money in taxpayers' pockets, but opponents said such a cut would take a bite out of state revenues and ultimately mean slicing funds for programs.

Some Republicans lobbied to bypass sending the bill to committee in an attempt to keep it alive. But their efforts were unsuccessful - Thomas, other Democrats and a handful of Republicans, including Del. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, voted to send the bill to committee, where it died.

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