THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 3, 1995 TAG: 9506020005
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
Your May 14 editorial praising the Center for Innovative Technology's success in putting university research to work for economic development in Virginia was much deserved and most welcome.
You are correct in your assessment that Virginia's future-minded investment in CIT is now paying off in job creation and new businesses, but you were mistaken in counting the Allen administration among CIT's supporters.
In fact, the Allen administration attempted this year to slash CIT funding by $4 million, about half of the agency's budget. We in the General Assembly restored CIT funding based on the remarkable success you reported and CIT's continuing potential for positioning Virginia in the forefront of the technology economy.
Even more disturbing, the Allen administration tried to cripple Virginia's public colleges and universities by imposing $52 million in drastic budget cuts that would have sent us tumbling toward the bottom ranks in state support for higher education.
General Assembly Democrats - with support from some courageous Republicans - stood up to the Allen administration's attempts to jeopardize the higher education and technology infrastructure that Virginia has worked for generations to build. But that doesn't mean the battle is over. We fully expect to have to fight it again next year.
We know that virtually every business and industry that considers expanding or locating in Virginia puts higher education and technology transfer at the top of its list of critical resources. Nowhere is that more true than in Hampton Roads as we struggle with the challenge of defense conversion.
THOMAS W. MOSS JR.
Speaker, House of Delegates
Virginia General Assembly
Norfolk, May 24, 1995 by CNB