THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 13, 1996 TAG: 9603130012
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
A week ago, the 1996 General Assembly session was shaping up as one of the dullest since the late 1980s. So much for early forecasts.
In its waning hours, power-sharing, personality and politics combined for a test of wills that kept the 140 honorables in town two extra days adopting a $35 billion budget and rejecting a bill requiring parents to be notified of their teenagers' abortions.
Those flurries aside, education assumed a deserved place as the commonwealth's top priority in the past 60 days, a 20-20 split between Republicans and Democrats in the state Senate broadened its power base but complicated decision-making, a state already tough on adult criminals got tougher on juveniles, and George Allen hushed.
Education: With Allen's blessing, partisan leaders united in focusing on spending for higher education and public schools. This is good news after a period in which prison-building has gobbled up extra cash.
What is sobering is that, even with an extra $200-plus million in general-fund money and major planned additions to the state's bond portfolio, Virginia's colleges are getting only half of what supporters say is needed to put the state on a spending par with our neighbors.
The Budget Squeeze: Virginia was one of two states to avoid a tax increase during the past recession. We are still feeling the financial effects of that prudence. To accomplish their goals, the legislators had to scour all the hidden nooks and crannies in the budget-making maze. Unfortunately, most had been raided already.
That left them using up the entire $175 million from a one-time settlement with Trigon Blue Cross Blue Shield, flirting with more addictive forms of state-sponsored gambling and adopting a bond package that will push the upper ranges of the state's self-imposed debt limit. It would have been better to save some of the Trigon largesse. The bonds will bear careful watching. And while the Assembly correctly rejected Keno-style lottery games this year, the temptation to balance the budget with easy cash probably has not been permanently quashed. It should be.
Juvenile Justice: Virginia joins a growing number of states in automatically trying youth as adults when they are charged with murder or aggravated malicious wounding, and in giving prosecutors - not only judges - the option of transferring them to adult court for some other violent crimes.
The new rules apply to those 14 and older; in New York, children as young as 7 can be tried as adults in rare cases. That such changes are grounded in reality is a tragic fact of our times. No one should pretend that stiffer sentencing is a solution, however, and fortunately the legislature has not. The budget includes about $25 million for community-based corrections programs and counseling for first-time offenders.
Corporate Concerns: There was no lessening of the Assembly's longtime love affair with business. Motorola, which is investing more than $1 billion in a computer-chip plant near Richmond, won $60 million in cash incentives; Virginia Power was awarded more freedom to negotiate rates with large customers; manufacturers got protection from lawsuits seeking to reclaim Medicaid costs; and Trigon got approval to convert to for-profit status in exchange for the aforesaid $175 million. Such decisions may be good for Virginia, but there is too little independent scrutiny of whether that is the case. There's a titanic imbalance between the resources, clout and campaign contributions of consumer lobbying interests and corporate ones.
One pro-consumer victory worth applauding is the freezing of college tuition rates for in-state students for the next two years. That break will be welcomed by parents who are already paying top dollar at the University of Virginia, William & Mary and other state universities.
Choosing Judges: After decades of righteous indignation and campaign-trail grousing, Republicans won a deserved place at the table in naming judges. If picking the judiciary must be a prerogative of politicians, then they should all have at it equally. It was not immediately apparent that the calibre of this year's selectees was any better (or worse) for the change.
The Finale: The 1996 session will be remembered for its closing fireworks. Stymied by the question of how many people should sit at the bargaining table and who they should be, House and Senate budget negotiators delayed a crucial week in getting to work. Both said high principle was involved; to outsiders the ``principle'' looked suspiciously like a power struggle.
House Speaker Tom Moss and Senate Finance Co-Chairman Stanley Walker, both of Norfolk, were two of the three key antagonists. While we see no compelling superiority in Moss' principle (the integrity of the House) over Walker's (the Senate seniority system), Moss had one key advantage. The third player, Finance Co-Chairman John Chichester (whose principle was honoring a political debt) sided with him. That made two against one. It should have taken Walker, a veteran numbers-cruncher, less time to count.
Moss will also be remembered as either the hero or villian of the session for killing on procedural grounds a parental-notification bill that had passed both chambers. We side with the former. In this case, both the procedure and the policy were wrong. Virginia would be better served by an abortion-notification bill that recognizes the dysfunctional nature of many families.
Allen had a chance to sign such a bill two years ago and did not. What is certain is that those on both sides of this emotionally charged issue will return to fight another day. Until then, sine die.
KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY by CNB