THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 4, 1997 TAG: 9701040305
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 70 lines
The schizophrenia has been with Michelle Hopper 14 years. The past six were spent in a mental hospital waiting for the right treatment, a stay prolonged, in part, because she is borderline mentally retarded.
But then a new drug called Clozaril made the 33-year-old Virginia Beach resident well enough to enter a transitional program, and ultimately leave the hospital and hold down a job. The drug was so effective that she stood in front of a panel of state lawmakers Friday and told them quietly and deliberately that it is the most important thing in her life.
``Without it, I would probably not be standing before you today. It is as simple as that,'' Hopper told a gathering of state budget writers at Old Dominion University. ``And there are probably other people out there with similar problems.''
Her story seemed to say so much about hope and the human spirit that the crowd of 200 broke into applause.
Hopper also underscored one of lawmaking's most hair-pulling complexities - determining priorities in a state budget with limited dollars to serve 6 million people.
At the most, legislators figure they have about $235 million to sprinkle around Virginia for various programs this year.Advocates for the mentally ill have asked for $26 million in new funding - including $10 million for the kinds of new medications that helped Hopper leave Eastern State Hospital.
But that was only one of several dozen requests offered during a three-hour hearing in Norfolk Friday, and the hearing was the fourth of five held throughout the state. The government can finance only a fraction of those requests, usually with less money than their advocates want.
``The fact of the matter is that everything they say is absolutely true,'' said Norfolk Del. William P. Robinson, a member of the House Appropriations Committee. ``It's all important. These are things that matter so much in these people's lives, and we can only say yes to a few of them. We can't say yes to them all.''
``It's tough. There are a lot of tough choices to be made every year about things like this,'' said Chesapeake Sen. Mark Earley, a member of the Senate Finance Committee. ``And this year isn't as bad as others have been.''
One after another, lobbyists, business officials, educators and a smattering of Virginia anybodys stood at the microphone Friday and pitched for their piece of the government pie. Money for higher education was dominant.
But there were also requests for transportation funding, prisoner education and more resources for the Norfolk Public Library. Several speakers asked lawmakers to give more support to the Port of Norfolk. They asked the government to prop up public television, regional cooperation programs and counseling programs for the mentally ill.
``I'm here to thank you,'' said Arzim Azim, who credits a state-funded program with straightening out his life after a decade in prison. ``But I'm also here to ask you to do more.''
The legislators will carry the information back to Richmond for the annual General Assembly session that convenes Wednesday.
While 1997 is technically not a budget year for Virginia - the two-year budget was approved in 1996 - lawmakers still spend much of the interim sessions debating changes, offering new programs and making any adjustments needed to bring state finances into balance. They have 45 days to adopt any amendments.
All of the requests gathered around the state would total billions of dollars. Only a handful will come to be.
``We'd do them all, if we could,'' said Norfolk Del. George Heilig. ``But, of course, we'll have to say no to most.''
KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY BUDGET