THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 11, 1996 TAG: 9601110549
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVID M. POOLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long : 112 lines
Gov. George F. Allen went out of his way Wednesday to reassure Democratic lawmakers that his in-your-face style of politics is a thing of the past.
In his annual speech to the General Assembly, Allen heaped praise on Democrats for past bipartisan efforts to reform welfare and overhaul the state's criminal sentencing laws. He even singled out senior Democrats whom last year he vilified as ``elitists'' and ``dinosaurs.''
``I've never heard the governor stroke so many Democrats in my life,'' exclaimed Sen. L. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth. ``You talk about the olive branch. He really stuck it out there.''
Allen has struck a conciliatory tone out of necessity; his effort last fall to gain GOP majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly fell short. The goal for his final two years in office will be to scale back his sweeping conservative agenda and try to achieve more modest goals.
``Whatever our differences may be,'' he said, ``let us each fulfill our duty - without regard to pride or petty political advantage - to bring forth the full flowering of our Virginia Renaissance.''
Republicans and Democrats alike said the tone of the speech bodes well for a more harmonious General Assembly session, which convened earlier in the day and is scheduled to continue for 60 days.
``I think we have more encouragement to work with this governor, and I welcome that,'' said House Majority Leader C. Richard Cranwell, D-Roanoke County.
``This was very positive,'' said Del. Allen W. Dudley, R-Rocky Mount. ``If the Senate ever gets started, we'll do some business.''
There were no surprises in the State of the Commonwealth Address, the third that Allen has delivered since taking office in January 1994.
Allen began by crediting the Democrat-controlled General Assembly for helping keep his campaign promises of ending parole for violent criminals and nudging able-bodied mothers off the welfare rolls.
Allen highlighted two of his more achievable goals for the coming session: overhauling the state's juvenile justice system and revamping local business license taxes.
He backed off his call for cutting the state income tax rate for individuals, an idea that the legislature summarily killed last year. Instead, he announced the creation of a bipartisan commission to study the state's tax structure.
``This debate (over taxes) is older even than our republic and it certainly was renewed in Virginia last year. In the climate of an election year, that debate became harsh and negative. But it doesn't have to be that way.''
Allen embraced the Democrats' agenda for more spending on public schools, with one caveat: accountability.
The chief executive renewed his call for spending up to $20 million to create standardized student tests that would gauge how well public schools are spending their state funds. School districts that do poorly would lose funding or face other sanctions.
Taking a page from populist Ross Perot, Allen held up a chart showing that while state spending on education has tripled since the 1980s, test scores have remained flat.
``Accountability is what is lacking in our schools today,'' he said, ``and providing it will be the true test of leadership in education in this session.''
On higher education, Allen took credit for coming up for an extra $350 million in his spending plan for 1996-98.
But Democratic lawmakers were quick to note that most of the money is either already in the budgets of state colleges and universities or would come from a one-time windfall from a proposed Trigon Blue Cross-Blue Shield settlement.
Not all Democrats were thrilled with Allen's speech. Petersburg Del. Jay W. DeBoer said much of the Republican's agenda sounds identical to the proposals he put forward last year.
``I see no new message here,'' DeBoer, a Democrat, said. ``I see a new `kinder and gentler' packaging of last year's message.'' MEMO: THE FULL SPEECH
The complete text of Gov. Allen's speech is on the News page of Pilot
Online at http://www.infi.net/pilot/
ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
BILL TIERNAN/The Virginian-Pilot
Gov. Allen and his wife, Susan, greet Del. David G. Brickley, a
Democrat from Woodbridge, as they leave the House chambers Wednesday
after the address in Richmond.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPEECH
Instead of the Democrat-bashing of last year, Allen reached out
to his political rivals and called for a new spirit of cooperation.
``Whatever our differences may be, let us each fulfill our duty -
without regard to pride or petty political advantage - to bring
forth the full flowering of our Virginia Renaissance.''
He didn't abandon tax cuts completely. Announced he would appoint
a bipartisan commission to study ways to make Virginia's tax
structure more competitive with those of neighboring states.
Stressed the need to make schools more accountable for student
performance. ``Spending more money is easy. But, my friends,
insisting on accountability takes courage and vision. Accountability
is what is lacking in our schools today, and providing it will be
the true test of leadership in education this session.''
Called for a broad-based juvenile justice reform that seeks to
both rehabilitate youthful offenders who want to set their lives
straight and punishment for hard-core young criminals. ``We must
move the hardened juvenile murderers, rapists and other especially
violent criminals into secure and separate facilities within the
Department of Corrections.''
KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY by CNB