DATE: Monday, September 8, 1997             TAG: 9709080040

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B9   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE                   LENGTH:   46 lines

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR CANDIDATES TALK AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, CAR TAX

Virginia should follow California's lead and dump affirmative action programs, said John Hager, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, at a joint appearance with his Democratic rival, L.F. Payne.

``I would be in favor of ending those affirmative action programs because I think early attitudes are more important than government restrictions,'' Hager said Saturday as the candidates answered questions for 90 minutes on WINA-AM's ``Talkback'' call-in show.

But Payne, 52, countered that the state should continue university affirmative action programs that have provided opportunities for women and blacks.

``I think we should not end affirmative action here in Virginia but rather that we ought to be very concerned about quotas, and I am very opposed to any kind of quota system,'' said Payne, who served nine years in Congress representing the 5th District.

In other issues, Hager, 61, a retired tobacco executive, advocated the proposal of GOP gubernatorial candidate Jim Gilmore to phase out the personal property tax on automobiles.

Payne said he finds Democratic gubernatorial candidate Don Beyer's more modest tax relief plan ``the more responsible and the one that I could support.''

Hager and Payne both said they oppose smoking by young people but are concerned about the effects of the war on tobacco on state farmers and workers who depend on the industry.

To a listener's question, Hager said there was some uncertainty about tobacco's addictiveness: ``If 41 million people have quit smoking, there's certainly some question about it being addictive.''

Payne asked Hager whether he was satisfied with Becky Norton Dunlop's record as Gov. George Allen's top environmental official, and Hager said he was.

``Becky Norton Dunlop has done a fine job,'' Hager said. ``She has worked very hard to carry out the agenda of the Allen administration.''

Gilmore said last month that he would not reappoint Dunlop.

Payne said he and many state businesses are concerned about Dunlop's record because they do not want the federal Environmental Protection Agency to strip Virginia of its enforcement powers for doing an inadequate job. KEYWORDS: CANDIDATES

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