ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, February 5, 1996 TAG: 9602050023
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: General Assembly Notebook
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: MARGARET EDDS, DAVID M. POOLE AND ROBERT LITTLE STAFF WRITERS
From the frivolous to the sublime, budget amendments flowed into the capitol last week. Before the deadline for introduction had passed, there were about 2,200 ideas for altering Gov. George Allen's proposed $34.6 billion biennial budget. The additional requests totalled about $5.2 billion.
Many of the proposed amendments had a distinctly local flavor, and the success of lawmakers in actually "bringing home the bacon" may prove to be an exercise in pure clout. Those with powerful positions and chits to call in often wind up with more money for pet projects than those who don't.
Universities, museums, nonprofit groups and residents all stand to benefit if proposed amendments are adopted. A few of the dozens of local requests:
* House Majority Leader Richard Cranwell of Vinton has asked for $550,000 over two years to replace a proposed cut for public radio stations and raise the state's investment in them 15 percent.
* Del. Jim Shuler, D-Blacksburg, wants $10 million more for Virginia Tech to, as he puts it, pay for the additional 1,005 Virginia students the university "has enrolled in the last five years without general fund support."
* Del. Vic Thomas, D-Roanoke, requested $50,000 in additional funds for the Roanoke Valley's Economic Development Office.
Some amendments deal with budget language rather than appropriations. Del. Clifton "Chip" Woodrum, D-Roanoke, wants to specify that poor families whose children are enrolled in Head Start day-care programs won't have to pay fees. Policy changes in Richmond have resulted in some families having to pay such fees.
Baker wants no part of symbolic request
Del. Tommy Baker of Pulaski County was the lone Republican hold-out last week when GOP lawmakers made a symbolic request for equitable representation on House committees.
He later explained that he saw no point in voting for a measure that had no chance of passage in a chamber where Democrats hold a three-vote margin.
He said Republicans interested in equity can make it a House policy the day after they gain a majority, if that ever happens. Until then, he said, the talk of equity is nothing more than politics.
"Let's do the people's business; leave the politics to someone else," he said.
Is Montgomery County a mother of governors?
Montgomery County, they say, is the mother of the General Assembly's youth governors.
State Sen. Madison Marye said it, anyway.
The Shawsville Democrat stopped Friday's Senate session to introduce Blacksburg High School senior Chris Donald, this year's governor in the youth General Assembly. Donald is the third teen-age chief executive from Montgomery County, Marye said.
Every year, high school students from around the state gather in the capitol for the Model General Assembly, debating issues and policies and passing bills. Participants, elected by their classmates, select officers and committee heads.
Donald, a member of the Blacksburg High Student Council, was a page in the House of Delegates - a minor sore point among members of the upper chamber.
"Considering your earlier career in the House, it's remarkable you've had such success," said Lt. Gov. Don Beyer, president of the Senate.
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1996by CNB