THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 31, 1995 TAG: 9501310298
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVID M. POOLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
Gov. George F. Allen decamped to Washington this week for a series of meetings with fellow governors, leaving behind a sweeping legislative program that appears to be coming apart at the seams in the Democrat-controlled General Assembly.
The latest sign of trouble came Monday when a group of high-octane business leaders launched a direct assault on Allen's signature plan to cut individual state income taxes.
James Ukrop - a Richmond grocery mogul and Republican campaign benefactor - warned that corresponding cuts in higher education would emasculate Virginia's public colleges and universities.
``This is not the Virginia of which we've always been proud,'' Ukrop said at a joint public hearing before House and Senate tax committees.
Allen aides tried to fight back, but speakers who favored slashing taxes and spending were outnumbered two to one. Many leadoff Allen backers emphasized family and religion over business and economic development.
Allen has been put on the defensive for the first time in his 13-month tenure. He has been unable to duplicate the golden touch he demonstrated last year in getting the legislature to go along with state subsidies for a Walt Disney Co. theme park, a settlement with illegally taxed federal pensioners and an overhaul of the state's parole system.
Instead, Allen has had to contend with a public performance rating that has dipped below 50 percent for the first time and an emboldened Democratic majority intent on rejecting his vision of scaled-back state services.
Democrats have axed Allen's plan to make sex education optional in public schools. They have sidetracked his plan to funnel state education money into semiprivate ``charter'' schools. They have all but acted on their desire to kill his plan to eliminate local business-license taxes.
Two remaining questions are the fate of welfare reform and the proposal to cut income taxes by trip-ling the personal exemption from $800 to $2,400.
With four weeks left in the Assembly session, it remains unclear whether there is still room for compromise or whether Allen and the Democrats are heading for an all-or-nothing showdown.
The outcome will reverberate in Assembly elections this fall in which Republicans have high hopes for gaining majorities in both chambers for the first time.
``Make no mistake about it,'' said state Sen. Malfourd W. ``Bo'' Trumbo, a Republican from Botetourt County, ``the Democrats are concerned they'll lose power and the Republicans are chomping at the bit.''
GOP lawmakers insist that Allen has put Republicans in a no-lose situation: If tax cuts pass, Republicans reap the political rewards; if tax cuts fail, they can blame Democrats.
Del. Harry R. Purkey, R-Virginia Beach, said that Democrats who are sounding so bold now will back down in the next few weeks.
``These people will recognize the reality that they have to go home and face re-election,'' Purkey said.
``You see movies of natives dancing around a fire to get their nerve up for battle?'' said House Minority Leader S. Vance Wilkins Jr. of Amherst. ``It looks to me like the Democrats are trying to get their nerve up to vote against the tax cuts. But I'm not sure they will.''
But some Democrats believe deep-sixing Allen's tax cuts may work in their favor. They say the public is beginning to feel that saving $33 in the first year for a typical family is not worth the cuts Allen has outlined in basic services like schools, police, and higher education.
The new Democratic boldness was on display Monday at the joint public hearing on Allen's income tax cut.
House Finance Committee Chairman C. Richard Cranwell of Roanoke County had the look of a poker player holding four aces, interrupting several speakers who favored Allen's plan and challenging their logic.
Bill Bolling, the Republican chairman of the Hanover County Board of Supervisors, spent most of his five-minute presentation fending off Cranwell.
``You would be willing, then, to cut $52 million from education to get $33 a year?'' Cranwell asked.
``My answer is that there's no area of this budget that should be off the table,'' Bolling replied.
``So, are you willing to take police officers off the street to get $33 a year?'' Cranwell said.
Bolling tried to restate his answer, but Cranwell persisted.
As Bolling returned to his seat, Senate Finance Chairman Hunter B. Andrews, D-Hampton, asked if it was true that Bolling was going to challenge Democratic Sen. Elmo G. Cross Jr. in elections this fall.
``After this,'' Bolling shot back, ``I intend to do so.'' MEMO: Staff writers Warren Fiske and Robert Little contributed to this story.
KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY by CNB