THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 14, 1996 TAG: 9601130034
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Long : 106 lines
Gov. George F. Allen clearly adjusted to political realty in his televised State of the Commonwealth Address, delivered this week to the General Assembly.
He might have continued to attack Democrats as ``dinosaurs'' and ``big spenders.'' But the conciliatory route he chose is the best one for Virginia. He sought common ground with Democrats, without jettisoning his conservative principles.
In his address, he shared credit for the state's accomplishments with legislators, even Democrats. He mainly avoided hot-button issues guaranteed to annoy the opposition party.
Among his proposals:
Taxes
He established a ``balanced bipartisan'' Governor's Commission on Competitive Tax Policy to recommend budgetary reforms and tax improvements. Given that neither Democrats nor Republicans would dare broach a tax increase, the commission should do no harm and could do good. Because it is bipartisan, its recommendations might be enacted.
He called for exempting all businesses with gross receipts of less than $100,000 from paying the Business, Professional and Occupational License Tax, a gross-receipts tax commonly called BPOL. Given his druthers, the governor would abolish the tax, though cities say they sorely need its revenue. His compromise is a good one, if the cities' lost revenue can be made up from the state's general fund. The tax is especially irksome to beginning businesses, because they have to pay it even while losing money.
Regionalism
He will seek legislation ``enabling localities to enter into agreements for regional development and sharing of revenues generated by regionally beneficial economic-development projects.'' Without such ability, individual cities and counties cannot join to form the kind of powerful economic regions necessary to compete with the likes of Charlotte and the Golden Triangle in North Carolina.
Economic Development
He'll submit legislation transferring all of the state's economic-development, export and tourism-marketing efforts into a new agency called the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. A centralized effort makes sense. He proposes additional incentives for attracting businesses to Virginia, which is fine, so long as he doesn't give away the store. National competition for new businesses is intense, and incentives are required to stay in the recruiting game. Allen has done well at the game so far.
Elementary and Secondary Education
``Spending more money is easy,'' he said. ``But, my friends, insisting on accountability takes courage and vision.'' He got it backward. In these tight times, spending more money is hard, and insisting on accountability merely takes words. While favoring statewide education standards, Allen opposes national ones, a not entirely consistent position. And an expensive one, since Virginia will pay heavily to develop its own tests. Virginia high-school graduates will need to compete nationally for good jobs, not merely with fellow Virginians.
Virginia Education Association President Robley S. Jones said the governor's budget is the best one for education that he's seen in his five years as president. They've been lean years.
Higher Education
Allen wants a significant increase in Tuition Assistance Grants, essentially vouchers for Virginians who attend private rather than tax-supported schools. Inflation has shrunk the grants' value, so they need to be increased.
He compared the Christmas wish list of his 7-year-old daughter, Tyler, with the desires of higher-education supporters. He hoped those who demand more and more money for higher education would understand, as Tyler does, that even Santa cannot meet all requests. But after years of belt tightening, Virginia universities are hurting. Hundreds of millions of dollars will be required to restore them to their former state of robust health and to stop faculty from departing for greener pastures. The universities' supporters are not greedy children, as Allen's Santa comments imply. They believe Virginia must be educationally competitive in order to be economically competitive, a main Allen goal.
Lottery Profits
Allen still wants to return them to localities to reduce class size, defray school-construction costs and cover other school expenses. Decisions on how to spend the money would be made by local officials. Currently, lottery profits go into the general fund, and money for education comes out of the general fund. The current method works well. Lottery profits vary from year to year, which makes them an undependable source for education. Better to pay for education from the general fund.
Juvenile Justice
He has plans for removing disruptive students from classrooms, including establishing alternative classrooms for them. Surprisingly, he said he would take the best recommendations from the Commission on Youth, led by Del. Jerrauld Jones, D-Norfolk, as well as from his own Commission on Juvenile Justice Reform, led by Attorney General James Gilmore. The latter commission has emphasized getting tough; the former, rehabilitation. We favor both.
Voter Initiatives
The governor wants to let voters pass laws directly, as is done repeatedly in California, often with questionable effect. We prefer representative democracy over direct democracy. The people we elect to represent us presumably will weigh the issues. Voter initiatives can permit demagogues to foment all manner of mischief.
On the whole, however, we see little in the governor's address to cause Virginians' worry. The governor has moved toward the middle, where most Virginians' dwell. Rather than insist on a purely conservative agenda with little chance of success, he has proposed the possible. by CNB