
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, June 10, 1990                   TAG: 9006110180
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: F-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

BRIEFLY PUT

ATTORNEYS on both sides of Virginia's pension tax refund controversy found comfort in a pair of U. S. Supreme Court decisions last week that dealt with legalistically related cases from Florida and Arkansas.

Attorney General Mary Sue Terry saw "good news for Virginia taxpayers" in the court's rulings. Michael Kator, a lawyer representing pensioners who are seeking refunds, was equally optimistic that the rulings were good news for federal retirees.

The U. S. Supreme Court triggered this controversy with an earlier decision that made illegal the state's old system of taxing federal pensions while exempting pensions of state and local government retirees. The court, ultimately, must decide whether some 200,000 federal pensioners living in Virginia are entitled to refunds.

With a $400 million hit on the state treasury at stake, Virginia taxpayers should hope Ms. Terry's reading of court signals is the correct one.

by CNB