THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 11, 1995 TAG: 9501110007
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: By JOHN GOOLRICK
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
State Sen. Hunter B. Andrews, the foremost practitioner of the legislative art in the Virginia General Assembly, has outlasted many Virginia governors.
And the probability that the Hampton senator will have no serious opposition for re-election next year indicates he is likely to be around when Gov. George Allen's term is history.
Since Andrews, who has been a senator since the 1960s, is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and exerts by force of intellect and personality an inordinate control over state purse strings, one has to wonder why the Allen administration seems to deliberately antagonize such an influential man.
When Andrews expressed skepticism over the governor's plan to significantly cut state spending and taxes at the same time, Allen's press secretary, presumably speaking for the chief executive, called his words ``pablum.''
Later, the same press secretary contended that those who criticize the governor's plan are elitists.
While elitist may be a fair characterization of Andrews in terms of intelligence, he has been the premier advocate in his long years of legislative service of adequate funding levels for public education and higher education. He worked with Mills Godwin, Linwood Holton and other governors to help pull Virginia up from near the bottom of the education barrel nationally to a respectable ranking.
Now he is not likely to sit idly by while millions of dollars are taken away from education to help provide tax reductions and more prisons.
A conservative Democrat, Andrews feels strongly that while the federal government may be out of control, Virginia has had fiscally responsible government and, indeed, ranks in the bottom half of states when it comes to income-tax rates. He points out that the state income tax has not been raised since 1972.
Andrews probably would have been governor long ago if it had not been for his trademark sarcastic wit that at times has gotten him in trouble with the media. When Charles Robb became governor, Andrews often referred to him in private with a derogatory nickname but helped guide Robb's legislative programs through the Assembly.
The senator from Hampton made no secret of his distaste for Gov. L. Douglas Wilder during Wilder's term, and the two often exchanged acrimonious barbs. Even so, when Wilder had to tighten the state's fiscal belt during a disastrous recession, Andrews supported those efforts.
Now he is faced with a governor who pledged during his campaign to drastically reduce the size of state government and seems bound and determined to carry out that pledge.
Some think Allen's move is a deliberate effort during an election year to put Democrats in a position of refusing to lower taxes and cut government so that the issues will redound to Republican advantage next November.
There is probably some truth in that contention since the GOP hopes to gain control of the legislature for the first time in modern history.
Allen, since his inauguration, has proved to be the most politically driven governor in the state's history, one who seems to relish picking fights with the Democrat-controlled legislature. While previous Republican governors courted key conservative Democrats such as Andrews, Allen takes the position that all Democrats are alike.
If the governor is to push his program through the current session, it will be in the face of stiff opposition from Andrews and Del. Richard Cranwell of Vinton, two of the state's most influential figures. It will be a tall order, and the odds are that the governor won't get nearly all of what he is asking for.Why what Gov. George Allen wants he may not get
Why Governor Allen may not get all he wants MEMO: Mr. Goolrick, a former political reporter, is now an aide to 1st
District Rep. Herbert Bateman. Opinions expressed are his own.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo
MR. ANDREWS
by CNB