THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 17, 1995 TAG: 9501170324
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVID M. POOLE AND ALEC KLEIN, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
The House Finance Committee on Monday recommended giving a second chance to about 2,500 federal retirees whose applications for state income tax refunds were either late or incomplete.
The committee voted unanimously to reopen the application process for federal and military retirees who missed the Nov. 1 deadline because of misdirected mail or other reasons ``beyond their control.''
State Tax Commissioner Danny Payne cautioned that the legislation is so broad that it could bring in thousands of retirees who missed the deadline and raise settlement costs by up to $20 million.
``You have really opened up the gates,'' Payne said.
Committee Chairman C. Richard Cranwell said lawmakers wanted to give pensioners ``the benefit of the doubt.''
The bill, which now goes to the full House of Delegates, would give retirees a 60-day extension to file a claim. The measure was drafted to accommodate 1,455 retirees whose claims were postmarked after Nov. 1. It also would cover 670 pensioners who returned incomplete forms and 371 retirees who filed forms that lacked appropriate signatures.
The Tax Department has made some 168,000 taxpayers eligible to participate in a proposed $350 million settlement with federal retirees whose pensions were taxed illegally from 1985-88. Retirees would get back 76 cents on every dollar of tax they paid, with no interest. Retirees have until Feb. 1 to accept or reject the offer. So far, nearly 95 percent of those who have responded have agreed to take the deal.
Inspiration graced the state Capitol Monday in the form of a nursery rhyme. State Sen. Madison E. Marye, D-Shawsville, not exactly enamored of a bill on riverboat gambling, recited the following verses to his colleagues in the hallowed, gold-trimmed, tradition-laden Senate chambers:
Hark, hark, the dogs do bark
The lobbyists are coming to town
There are some in rags and some in tags
And some in velvet gowns
They buy us meals, they buy us gin
They tell us gambling is no sin
Especially since it's on a boat
No harm could come from a friendly vote.''
From high school students to Ph.Ds, from the physically handicapped to the financially burdened, more than 500 people lined up Monday with the same message to the General Assembly:
Don't cut our program.
In the sixth and final public hearing on the proposed 1995-96 state budget, speaker after speaker pleaded for lawmakers to spare them from Gov. George F. Allen's $400 million in spending cuts.
``Today, it appears that Virginia is retreating from its historically strong support for higher education,'' said John T. Hazel Jr., chairman of the Virginia Business-Higher Education Council, echoing the sentiment of several other speakers. ``The governor proposes reducing the existing level of funding by $47.4 million in 1996 . . . Virginia's lack of public will to invest in higher education is troubling.''
Others were more troubled by proposed cuts in public television, museums and public health services, to name a few.
``Cutting back on the disabilities movement is like cutting back on the civil rights movement,'' said speaker Dolores H. Dabney, a quadriplegic fighting to preserve funding for state rehabilitative services.
Despite overwhelming opposition to the proposed budget cuts, at least one Allen supporter called the public hearing ``a travesty.''
``I could not attend any of the other public hearings because you all decided to hold them in the middle of the workday, when the majority of us are working to pay our taxes,'' Anne P. Petera, Republican chairwoman of the 1st Congressional District, said in prepared remarks that she did not have the chance to present to lawmakers. ``. . . Anyway, my point for being here is to support the governor's budget, and to urge you, members of the legislature, to do the same. I know better how to spend my money than you do.''
The governor was also backed up by his secretary of commerce and trade, who called reporters to defend Allen's proposal to phase out a local tax on the gross receipts of businesses and professionals. Without that revenue, city and county officials warn that they will be forced to raise taxes.
Commerce Secretary Robert T. Skunda said: ``It's a bad tax, poorly administered and a hindrance to our economic competitiveness.''
The Senate agreed to a House amendment on a bill that would raise or eliminate the interest cap on small loans by consumer finance companies, depending on the amount of the loan. The bill now goes to the governor. MEMO: The Associated Press contributed to this story.
KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1995 FEDERAL RETIREES TAX REFUND BUDGET
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