THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 26, 1994 TAG: 9408260639
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Short : 37 lines
Virginians will be asked to pay for abolishing parole by approving a multimillion-dollar bond issue for prison construction next year, but details of the plan are still being worked out with lawmakers, Gov. George F. Allen said Thursday.
``We do not need to raise taxes,'' Allen said. But he will recommend paying for the estimated $850 million in new prisons needed over the next decade through a variety of bond issues, he said.
Included in the mix will be some general obligation bonds, which carry ``the full faith and credit'' of the commonwealth and must be approved in a voter referendum, Allen said.
The precise amount of that recommendation is being worked out with senior lawmakers, including the chairmen of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance committees, he said.
The administration estimates that its parole abolition plan will add between $200 million and $250 million to the about $600 million in prison construction already needed to house a growing inmate population over the next decade.
In addition, the plan will increase operational costs by about $600 million during the period, they said. Allen said those costs will not be financed through bonds, but as part of the state budget.
The last time Virginians approved a general obligation bond issue for prisons was in 1977. by CNB