ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, March 12, 1996 TAG: 9603120087
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: WARREN FISKE STAFF WRITER
Maybe it was the worth the wait after all.
It took the General Assembly just 15 minutes Monday to approve a compromise on the state budget that took two weeks to reach and forced the legislature to extend its session by two days.
"I know you're anxious to go home, and I hope you'll agree that the budget was worth waiting for," Del. Earl Dickinson, D-Louisa County, told his colleagues in the House before the vote.
With little debate, the House approved the $35 billion spending package, 97-2. The Senate authorized it unanimously.
And at 5:40 p.m. the General Assembly finally adjourned what several senior members said is the longest winter session they can remember.
Internal disputes between House and Senate leaders forced an eight-day delay in appointing a negotiating panel to iron out spending differences between the two chambers.
Then it took an additional five days of hardball dickering before the two sides reached agreement Sunday evening.
The highlights of the plan - up 6 percent from the previous two-year budget - include:
$600 million in new spending for public schools and authorization of new standardized tests to gauge achievement.
$400 million in new spending for college operating costs and construction.
A two-year freeze on in-state college tuitions.
A 5 percent raise for most college faculty next school year and a 2 percent hike in 1997.
A 1.75 percent raise for public school teachers in November and 2 percent next year.
A 4.35 percent raise for most state employees in December and 2 percent next year.
A few legislators expressed concern that the budget was balanced on shaky one-time revenues, most notably $175 million the state expects to receive in a settlement with Trigon Blue Cross Blue Shield and $163 million in borrowing for college building construction.
But there's little doubt the spending plan will receive the signature of Gov. George Allen. "It looks pretty good to me," he said.
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1996by CNB