ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, February 3, 1997 TAG: 9702030084
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
General Assembly money committees on Sunday boosted spending for higher education, put the state's environmental watchdog on a short leash and expanded child care for the working poor.
In separate budget plans, House of Delegates and Senate committees each proposed about $60 million in new initiatives on top of the $235 million mid-biennium budget changes recommended by Gov. George Allen.
"I think we fine-tuned his budget pretty well. And I think it will be in for some more fine tuning in the coming weeks," said Sen. John Chichester of Fredericksburg, co-chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.
Lawmakers left in place several of Allen's key initiatives, including a remedial reading program for first-graders, a down payment on reducing nutrient-overload in the Chesapeake Bay and an accelerated timetable for implementing statewide welfare reform.
But the budget committees set up a potential battle with Allen by proposing increased legislative oversight of the state Department of Environmental Quality.
Both committees voted to require DEQ to report to the General Assembly on steps taken to respond to a watchdog agency's criticism of bloated top management and lax environmental enforcement.
In their deliberations, the money panels provided some election-year cheer to public colleges and universities - and their powerful business supporters.
Higher education advocates were upset that Allen reserved only $116,000 of the $235 million mid-biennium surplus for colleges and universities. The Assembly money committees responded with an extra $18 million to raise college faculty salaries an average of 5 percent next December, up from 2 percent in the original 1996-98 budget.
All told, the House Appropriations Committee came up with a total of $30million in new funding for higher education.
The money committees also looked after the state's politically active schoolteachers and 100,000 state workers. These two groups will get raises of 3 percent or 4 percent next December, depending on the final House-Senate compromise.
The money committees also proposed spending $21 million to prevent state workers from losing money under a new payroll schedule and $27 million to shield workers from rising health insurance premiums.
Lawmakers proposed supplementing the workers insurance fund with surpluses from various state agencies, a move that some Allen administration officials warned could lead to cutbacks in some services.
Norfolk Sen. Stanley Walker, co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said lawmakers have been assured the $27 million will not hurt other programs.
"It's spread all around," Walker said.
Other budget highlights:
* The state would accept $14.9 million in federal "Goals 2000" funds that Allen had long resisted because he feared the money would come with strings attached.
* With Virginia Military Institute agreeing to accept women, the House Appropriations Committee wants to phase out a women's leadership program at private Mary Baldwin College.
* Day care programs for the working poor would get a $12.7 million boost from the House Appropriations Committee and a $4.2 million bump from the Senate Finance Committee.
* The state would pay $4.1million to hire 1,000 additional police officers under a federal Community Policing program.
* The state would delay building several new prisons and bring about 600 inmates housed in a Texas prison back to Virginia. About 1,000 nonviolent inmates would be diverted to local and regional jails.
The House and Senate will vote on their respective spending plans on Thursday. The two chambers must reconcile the differences by Feb. 18. The final Assembly budget revisions are subject to amendment or line-item veto by Allen.
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Chart: Budget proposals - Southwest Virginia. KEYWORDS: MGR GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1997by CNB