THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 18, 1995 TAG: 9501180448
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVID M. POOLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long : 117 lines
Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday began staking out a plan of rebellion against Republican Gov. George F. Allen, whose popularity has so far tamed opposition in the legislature.
For the first time, Democrats provided figures to suggest Allen's proposed tax cuts don't add up with his plan to borrow money to build prisons.
And the 13-member Legislative Black Caucus pledged to work against Allen's plan, saying it would have a ``devastating'' impact on minorities by cutting state funds to minority business programs, core cities, Medicaid for teenagers and the state's black public universities.
The Democrat-controlled House Appropriations Committee released figures showing that revenue lost from Allen's tax cut - $393 million over the next two years - would more than pay for the $375 million worth of prisons that he wants to build during the same period.
Even one Republican lawmaker said Allen's plan doesn't make sense.
``If we have the revenue available, why go into debt?'' said Del. Clinton Miller, a Woodstock Republican who is not shy about criticizing Allen.
Some Democrats accused Allen of financing the short-term political gains of a $2.1 billion tax cut with long-term debt.
``I am shocked,'' said Del. Thomas M. Jackson of Hillsville. ``I don't like the credit-card approach to government.''
Ken Stroupe, Allen's press secretary, dismissed the lawmakers' criticism as political posturing.
``It's a matter of priorities,'' Stroupe said. ``The governor's priority is to provide a tax cut to every Virginia taxpayer now and to finance capital projects through bonds, as the state has done for a number of years.''
A series of closed-door strategy meetings appeared to solidify the resolve of House Democratic to scale back Allen's proposed tax reductions and corresponding spending cuts, once thought too popular to oppose.
``We know there are room for some cuts,'' said Newport News Del. Alan A. Diamonstein, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. ``But the city of Newport News says they don't want to have to take police off the streets, teachers out of the schools or to raise property taxes.''
Democrats say Allen's proposal to force localities to stop imposing a gross receipts tax on businesses will drive local governments to raise property taxes.
House Majority Leader C. Richard Cranwell of Roanoke County said there was no ``rational basis'' for cutting taxes when Virginia ranks 46th out of 50 states in combined state and local tax burden.
``Why are we taking police off the streets?'' Cranwell said in an interview. ``Why are we taking money away from school children? Why are we crippling our institutions of higher learning?''
Cranwell predicted that the spending plan that emerges from the 46-day General Assembly session will fall short of Allen's sweeping proposal.
Black caucus chairman Jerrauld C. Jones, a Democratic delegate from Norfolk, blasted Allen's plan to trim $403 million from the state budget.
``The bottom line is that despite Gov. Allen's rhetoric, he is trying to balance this budget on the backs of Virginia's working families and its most defenseless citizens,'' Jones said. ``Gov. Allen simply has gone too far in his attempt to make Virginia fit the cookie-cutter Republican mold of callous conservatism.''
Sen. L. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, said plans to cut funding for two of the state's historically black colleges - Norfolk State University and Virginia State University - are ``discriminatory.''
``I know a lot of people don't like me to say that,'' said Lucas, a Norfolk State graduate. ``But (the schools) already are underfunded. You can't ignore the fact that their needs are not the same as other colleges'.''
In addition, the caucus will propose resolutions to:
Establish a commission to study conditions that inhibit black males from reaching their potential.
Oppose any efforts to eliminate or consolidate historically black colleges.
Urge the General Assembly to give further study to welfare reform.
To cap off a day of challenges, Senate Finance Chairman Hunter B. Andrews sent Allen a letter asking why the governor missed a deadline for disclosing the amount of money spent by his Blue Ribbon Strike Force and other commissions.
A fire that killed five patients at Central State Hospital in Petersburg this month has provoked legislation requiring all hospitals in Virginia to install fire-suppression sprinklers.
``The deadline would be Jan. 1, 1997 - two years from the date of the fire,'' said Del. Jay W. DeBoer, a Petersburg Democrat who plans to introduce the sprinkler legislation.
The Virginia Hospital Association supports the bill, which could cost hospitals at least $23 million statewide.
``We don't want people to come to Virginia hospitals and not feel safe,'' association lobbyist Katie Webb said.
The hospital group resisted a similar plan five years ago, when the General Assembly required nursing homes to install sprinklers after fatal fires in Roanoke and Norfolk facilities.
Webb said an informal survey of 72 hospitals around the state found that more than half lack sprinklers in some buildings.
Retrofitting cost estimates ranged from $7 million at Roanoke Memorial Hospital to $4,000 for Johnston Memorial Hospital in Abingdon.
Costs for other hospitals include Community Hospital in Roanoke, $850,000; and Lewis-Gale Hospital in Salem, $282,000.
Costs for other hospitals include: Maryview Medical Center in Portsmouth, $2 million; Portsmouth General, $400,000; Sentara Bayside Hospital in Virginia Beach, $300,000.
Also on Monday, about 150 teenagers came to the Capitol to urge legislators to preserve a program that encourages disadvantaged youths to attend college. Allen wants to eliminate Project Discovery to save about $1 million.
Project participants gave Allen's office petitions containing nearly 1,200 signatures of students opposing the cut.
Ann Rogers of Roanoke, resource developer for Project Discovery, said services Allen wants to cut are more important than the relatively small tax breaks families would get under the governor's plan.
Project Discovery provides academic and financial aid counseling for disadvantaged students. It also steers the students into college preparatory courses and helps them visit college campuses. MEMO: Staff writers Alec Klein, Warren Fiske and Robert Little, and The
Associated Press, contributed to this story.
KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY by CNB