Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 21, 1995 TAG: 9510220015
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARGARET EDDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
A group of business leaders calling for increased funding of higher education said Friday that it will mount an advertising campaign on behalf of General Assembly candidates who support its agenda.
At a news conference called to announce widespread support from legislative candidates, the chairman of the Virginia Business Higher Education Council said the group will spend about $10,000 on print and radio "to be sure those candidates supporting us are known to the public."
The ads, focused on the Nov. 7 election, will begin running in about a week, said John "Til" Hazel Jr., a Northern Virginia lawyer-developer.
The organization named 165 candidates - out of 248 who are running for the state Senate or House of Delegates - who are pledged to support the council's agenda of increased funding, improved quality, greater affordability and more efficiency in higher education.
Noticeably absent from the group, however, were Republican floor leaders in both the House and Senate. Neither Sen. Joseph Benedetti, R-Richmond, nor Del. Vance Wilkins Jr., R-Amherst, was on the list.
In Western Virginia, all the Democratic candidates for the General Assembly signed the pledge. But fewer than half the Republican candidates signed. The legislature's lone independent, Del. Lacey Putney of Bedford, wasn't on the list, either.
Some Republicans have shied away from the council's emphasis on $200 million in additional funding for colleges and universities in the next session. Gov. George Allen, for instance, has said he supports the group's general goals but cannot make any dollar commitment.
The pledge circulated to candidates did not mention the $200 million but called for "increasing per-student general fund appropriations to Virginia's two- and four-year public institutions for each year of the 1996-98 biennium."
The GOP candidates in Western Virginia who backed the pledge were state Sen. Brandon Bell of Roanoke County, Del. Morgan Griffith of Salem, Del. Allen Dudley of Rocky Mount, along with House challengers Newell Falkinburg of Roanoke, Larry Linkous of Blacksburg and Jeff Artis of Roanoke, plus Senate challenger Pat Cupp of Montgomery County.
Among those who did not sign on with the business group were Trixie Averill, the GOP challenger to House Majority Leader Richard Cranwell, D-Roanoke County.
She already is on record saying that Virginia's colleges and universities need to concentrate on cutting costs. "They've been in their ivory towers for so long they think they're invincible and should not be touched," she said in an August interview. "There is is so much out there that is fluff. I think the professors get caught up in their own little world. Welcome to the real world. In the real world, everyone has to deal with budgets."
Also missing from the list were:
Among state Senate candidates: State Sen. Malfourd "Bo" Trumbo, R-Fincastle; Del. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg, who is seeking an open seat that covers Bedford and Bedford County; and former Del. Emmett Hanger, who is challenging state Sen. Frank Nolen, D-Augusta County, for a seat that covers Rockbridge County, Lexington and Buena Vista.
Among House of Delegates candidates: Del. Tommy Baker of Pulaski County; Larry Roach, the challenger to Del. Ward Armstrong, D-Henry County; Phil Plaster, the challenger to Del. Roscoe Reynolds, D-Martinsville; and Ben Nicely, the challenger to Del. Creigh Deeds, D-Warm Springs.
Hazel, the business group's leader, also made an appearance in Roanoke on Friday, speaking to a breakfast meeting of the Roanoke Valley Business Council, a group composed of the chief executive officers of the 50 largest employers in the valley.
Staff writer Dwayne Yancey contributed to this report.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB