THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 20, 1995 TAG: 9502200068
SECTION: NORTH CAROLINA PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
After 30 years, a program intended to lift Appalachia out of poverty continues to pump money into western North Carolina counties that are now among the richest in the states.
The Appalachian Regional Commission continues to send federal dollars to prosperous places like Buncombe County in North Carolina, siphoning off dollars that could be spent on poorer counties.
State and federal officials say the infusion of more than $350 million into North Carolina since 1965 has brought better highways and more industry, elevating the standard of living.
Without the money, ``what you would have seen is a much more pristine area but a greater loss of the best and the brightest,'' Bill Gibson of Bryson City told The Charlotte Observer. Gibson oversees Appalachian money in a seven-county region in far western North Carolina.
But critics say the program has outlived its usefulness and should be abolished. Although President Clinton has proposed a $183 million budget for 1996, a 35 percent decrease, the program likely will be a tempting target when Congress looks for ways to cut government spending.
The commission's federal co-chairman, Jesse White, suggests eliminating wealthy counties from the 13-state Appalachian region, but says he doesn't have the power to do so.
``The problem is Congress defines in the law what those counties are,'' White said.
Until Congress decides to exclude richer counties, it's up to states to redirect the money.
The governors decided in 1987 to limit grant money to richer counties to 30 percent of the cost of a project, instead of the usual 50 percent. Each state has the option of deciding if it wants to abide by the guideline.
Only North Carolina chooses not to.
The Appalachian program was born after President Lyndon Johnson conveyed to the nation the stark image of Appalachian poverty during a visit to the ramshackle home of an unemployed West Virginia coal miner and his family.
The aim was to use federal dollars to stimulate the growth of jobs by building highways, water and sewer lines and vocational centers.
The unusual federal-state partnership is controlled by the 13 governors of the region and a federal co-chairman.
Appalachian commission officials say the program has worked.
The 13-state region has added 108,000 new jobs in the past 10 years. Infant mortality has dropped from 26.5 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1960 to 8.5 deaths in 1992.
The commission earmarks one-fifth of its money to provide extra help to particularly poor counties such as Graham, Cherokee and Swain. Appalachian money pays 80 percent of a project in troubled counties rather than the 50 percent maximum that applies to other counties.
But the commission this year faces its toughest test yet.
Republicans want to cut federal spending severely. Rep. Cass Ballenger, whose district contains 14 Appalachian counties or parts of them, in 1994 voted to cut Appalachian spending and consolidate the commission with several federal agencies.
``We cannot continue to ride the federal government's largesse,'' the Hickory Republican said. by CNB