Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 21, 1994 TAG: 9412210091
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ROBERT FREIS AND MELISSA DeVAUGHN STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Allen announced those cuts Monday as part of a massive plan to reduce state spending, build new prisons and lower taxes by $2 billion over the next five years.
"If this budget is adopted, we're in deep, deep trouble," Miller said. "A number of extension personnel, outstanding people, are going to have to be fired."
Stunned extension employees across Virginia spent what Miller called "Black Tuesday" trying to absorb the impact of Allen's cuts.
If approved by the General Assembly, the governor's plan would cut Tech's extension services by $7.3 million, threatening 275 jobs. Agriculture and forestry programs would be cut by $4.9 million, which could cost another 85 jobs.
"It certainly dampens your holiday spirit," said Joe Hunnings, director of Montgomery County's extension office. "We've been singled out fairly heavily, compared to other state agencies."
The Tech program cuts would amount to a third of the 1,100 state employees Allen wants to lay off.
Extension services have been pinched by gradual state budget cuts and employee reductions in the past five years.
"We had done preliminary planning for all sorts of scenarios, but nothing with this magnitude," said Charles Stott, extension spokesman.
The cuts may close some of Tech's 12 agricultural research farms across Virginia.
"There is a perception that extension is strictly agriculture. That's a misconception," Stott said. "We've changed along with the state."
Extension now offers 4-H programs in cities, teaches language skills to immigrants and counsels families on financial planning. In rural areas, extension agents protect groundwater quality by assisting farmers with pesticide management, Stott said.
Miller predicted the cuts will increase Virginia's rate of farm failures.
In his budget summary, Allen said the cuts to extension would put it "at a level equivalent to the national average."
That, said U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesman Gene Spory, is misleading.
Federal allocations to state extension services are based on rural population rather than a national average, he said. It would be more accurate to compare matching funds, Spory said. Most states give extension $3 or $4 for every $1 contributed by the USDA.
"In North Carolina, the state matched our funds by almost 3-to-1, and so did Virginia in 1993," Spory said. "If you take $7.3 million out of Virginia's extension, you drop to almost 2-to-1. To do this would be a tremendous blow."
Throughout the state, the agribusiness community expressed its support for extension.
Greg Hicks of the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation applauded Allen's efforts to deflate bloated state spending, but pointed out that extension services may not be the right place to start cutting.
"Virginia Tech did a study showing every $1 million spent on research returns $10 million in economic development," Hicks said. "Some look at [extension] as a budget item. We look at it as an investment."
by CNB