ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, March 13, 1996 TAG: 9603130059
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE HUDSON STAFF WRITER
The Virginia General Assembly has reversed the Allen administration's cuts to the state's consumer-protection office and restored its toll-free complaint hot line.
The legislature opposed the administration's plan to cut the office's staff by 40 percent or more over three years. However, Gov. George Allen could use his line-item veto to try to kill the Democrat-sponsored initiatives.
Legislators came up with more than $700,000 for the next two years to restart the hot line and add 11 positions to the state Office of Consumer Affairs.
If the hot line measure survives, the ``800'' number would be turned back on by July 1. The Allen administration pulled the plug on the hot line last summer, saying it was "not a priority."
The consumer office had 27 staffers before Allen took office two years ago. It now has 16 full-time and five part-time staffers. Last fall, the office's parent agency, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs, had said it planned to reduce the total to about 15 positions this summer.
The General Assembly's action would restore the staff to about 27 employees.
The new positions would include a full-time staffer to answer the hot line, a consumer-education specialist, and nine investigators to look into complaints about business fraud.
The Office of Consumer Affairs enforces most state consumer laws, including those policing health spas, rent-to-own stores, car-repair businesses and membership campgrounds. Many of the consumer cases handled by the attorney general's office grow out of investigations by the consumer office.
"There's no point in having laws if you don't uphold them - if you don't have the staff to do the investigations," said Del. Marian Van Landingham, D-Alexandria, one of the sponsors of the budget provisions for increased staffing.
Agriculture Commissioner Carlton Courter said the new positions "would give us more latitude to beef up our operations."
The earlier cuts were part of Allen's ongoing efforts to revamp government and foster a "pro-business atmosphere." Allen contends that government regulation hurts business and destroys jobs. He says business people should be trusted to police themselves.
Van Landingham argues that good consumer protection helps business. "Those who can cut corners and destroy customer confidence end up hurting all business," she said. "Even if 95 of your businesses do well, 5 percent can give business a bad name."
LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1996by CNB