ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 23, 1996 TAG: 9602230074
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: MARGARET EDDS AND WARREN FISKE STAFF WRITERS
Debate was long and loud in the House of Delegates, but few changes emerged Thursday as the House and Senate approved competing versions of the state's $34.6 billion two-year budget.
The House plan was approved on a 79-20 count with some Republicans arguing that the proposal is unfair to public schoolteachers, relies too much on one-time windfall money, and increases state debt too rapidly. Del. Allen Dudley, R-Rocky Mount, was the only Western Virginia delegate to vote against the budget.
The Senate, with little debate, approved its spending package by a 38-2 vote. The two dissenters were Democrats - one of them Sen. Virgil Goode of Rocky Mount - who are vying for positions on an eight-person conference committee that will iron out House and Senate differences in the next few weeks.
"Much of what we've done on this budget is based on one-time revenues ... or on fiscal projections that are counter-intuitive," acknowledged Sen. John Chichester, R-Fredericksburg, co-chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. "Having said that, let me add that we've done the best job we can."
Among the points of contention in floor debate:
* House GOP budget critics complained that the bills call for too much borrowing. Both House and Senate plans would increase the state's bonded indebtedness by $136 million to pay for college construction projects, for instance.
* Other Republicans complained that the House plan shortsightedly cuts economic development money sought by Gov. George Allen.
* A House floor amendment requiring the State Corporation Commission to entertain consumer comment before deciding on Trigon Blue Cross Blue Shield's application to become a for-profit company failed on a voice vote.
LENGTH: Short : 42 lines KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1996by CNB