THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 4, 1996 TAG: 9602040045
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORT
LENGTH: Long : 110 lines
Reform of the juvenile justice system and major legislation in the names of two powerful interests - Trigon and Virginia Power - dominated last week's General Assembly session. The pace of work escalated and more bills - many of them carrying a direct impact on life in South Hampton Roads - passed significant stages.
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FOR-PROFIT STATUS SOUGHT: The nonprofit mutual insurance company Trigon Blue Cross Blue Shield wants to convert to a for-profit stock company. The State Corporation Commission must OK the switch.
Trigon has benefited from tax breaks over the years and has agreed to compensate the state for that blessing by putting $159 million worth of stock in trust: $95 million is in the governor's proposed budget. The bill would set the trust amount firmly at $159 million.
Consumer groups don't like that idea because it would ban the SCC from raising the value of the foundation.
The Trigon bills get their first hearing Monday before a House Appropriations subcommittee and the full Senate Commerce and Labor Committee.
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CONSUMER PROTECTION: Senators on Friday approved a measure 26-11 designed to protect consumers from big increases in their utility bills, despite one Virginia Beach senator's fear that it could scare the Navy out of Hampton Roads.
The bill helps protect Virginia Power's so-called stranded investment - millions in facilities and equipment bought to serve the Navy. If the federal government someday deregulates the power industry, the Navy could shop for power elsewhere, leaving that pricey investment fallow.
The bill moves on to the House of Delegates.
Supporters say the bill is necessary to keep Virginia Power from passing its potential losses onto residential customers.
But Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, thinks the law would force the Navy to lose money, making Virginia bases likely candidates for closure.
``I would hate to see the General Assembly give the Department of Defense a reason to consider relocating our bases,'' Stolle said.
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JUVENILE JUSTICE OVERHAUL: Wednesday, the governor was there, flanked by the attorney general and Norfolk Del. Jerrauld Jones, for a showy announcement of a long-in-coming, bipartisan plan to overhaul Virginia's juvenile justice system. The legislative package, which now moves to lawmakers, calls for trying as adults the young accused of heinous crimes - murder and rape - and opening juvenile courts to public scrutiny when felonies are heard.
Participants in the negotiating process say that they agreed to check politics at the door and that legislators showed a willingness to sacrifice some details in favor of a bill that most Assembly members will likely support.
Such political consensus-building has been a rarity in the state capital of late. Wednesday's deal is partly a child of the conciliatory mood born of the recent election, members say. But it also stemmed from the common conviction that the state's juvenile system needs to improve.
ALSO LAST WEEK:
The Senate voted Friday to restrict off-track betting in Virginia by forcing the operator of proposed parlors in Chesapeake and Richmond to channel profits into a planned thoroughbred track in New Kent County. The measure, approved 35-3, is designed to focus Virginia's racing business more on horses than on gambling. The bill now moves to the House of Delegates.
Also Friday, senators voted 38-2 to allow the Virginia Beach City Council to take over the financial responsibilities of the School Board. Offered by Virginia Beach Sen. Edward L. Schrock, the proposal grew from the recent financial problems, including a $12.1 million deficit, under the School Board's watch.
The vote was a victory of sorts for the freshman senator, who considered the bill one of his legislative priorities.
But the House of Delegates snuffed out a similar proposal already. And members there show little sign of warming to the Senate's version.
``We'll keep going,'' said Schrock.
Efforts to ban a proposed ``Brew Thru'' convenience store in Virginia Beach passed its first legislative test in committee Wednesday and is expected to come to the House of Delegates' floor for debate Monday. The 16-3 committee vote is an encouragement to those who think the concept promotes drinking and driving.
A group of businessmen is constructing a drive-through convenience store at 29th Street and Pacific Avenue at the Oceanfront. They are awaiting approval of an ABC license.
Employees who get locked out of their workplaces during labor disputes can collect unemployment checks under a bill the Senate passed Thursday. Opponents of the measure consider it an assault on Virginia's right-to-work law. Supporters counter that workers in every southern state except the Carolinas can collect such payments.
Legislation to force doctors to tell the parents of teenage patients before performing their abortions failed in a state Senate committee Thursday, though supporters say they'll return to the idea this session.
Two bills senators passed would require Virginia insurers to cover the costs of mammograms and Pap smears. Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, offered the bills at the request of doctors worried that many women skip the preventive procedures because they can't afford them.
HEALTH CARE ACCESS: A number of bills about access to health care were debated Thursday by a House of Delegates committee, but no action was taken.
One measure, expected to be heavily lobbied, pits doctors against insurers and other business interests in a battle over allowing HMO customers to choose their doctors.
Opponents of the bill say such doings would be the death of managed care and would increase health care costs.
The panel also is considering two bills that would give HMO clients direct access to ob/gyns; women now must go through their primary care physicians. Another proposal would allow women to stay longer in hospitals after giving birth. Many insurers only pay for 24 hours after delivery.
KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY by CNB