THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 12, 1996 TAG: 9604120803
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVID M. POOLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
Crying partisan foul, Gov. George F. Allen vetoed a Democrat-inspired spending restriction on Norfolk's Republican sheriff, Robert J. McCabe.
Under a provision in the state budget, McCabe would need the City Council's approval to spend about $200,000 a year in revenue from phone calls by inmates. McCabe has used the money to supplement the salaries of his administrative staff. Del. William P. Robinson, D-Norfolk, has said the money instead should go toward improving inmate programs.
Allen contends the restriction was a way to settle a political score with the sheriff's top administrator, George E. Schaefer, who chairs the Norfolk GOP committee and twice ran for the House of Delegates. Schaefer receives an annual supplement of $4,800.
``This offensive provision was directed at a particular employee who was singled out for purely partisan political reasons,'' Allen wrote in veto documents released Thursday.
Allen penned three other line-item vetoes on the state budget, vetoed nine bills and amended 160 others. The General Assembly will reconvene next Wednesday for a one-day session to consider the governor's vetoes and recommendations. A veto override requires two-thirds vote.
In other action affecting South Hampton Roads:
Allen is seeking the power to appoint members of a sports authority that is to consider building an arena for major league hockey or basketball.
The General Assembly had approved a bill giving Hampton Roads communities the right to name 15 members of the proposed Hampton Roads Sports Facility Authority.
Allen amended the bill to shift the appointment power for himself and his successors.
The governor also included amendments specifying that the arena could be built only for franchises in the National Basketball Association or National Hockey League.
In a pari-mutuel wagering bill, Allen offered an amendment barring minors from off-track betting parlors, unless accompanied by a parent.
The amendment would not affect Colonial Downs, which earlier this year opened an off-track betting facility in Chesapeake.
Brett Stansley, vice president of Colonial Downs, said the facility recently barred unaccompanied children because they were distracting bettors. State law prohibits minors from placing bets.
Allen also proposed eliminating a citizens panel that would oversee the state's consumer affairs programs.
The General Assembly created the panel in response to critics who said Allen has ignored consumer protection. But the governor said that giving an Assembly-appointed panel oversight of an executive agency would be ``novel, wasteful and unacceptable to me.''
Allen also vetoed a campaign finance bill that would double the threshold - $100 to $200 - for identifying campaign contributors.
The Assembly raised the limit so that volunteer campaign treasurers could concentrate on disclosing large, more influential donors. But Allen said the bill would weaken disclosure laws. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
WHAT'S NEXT
The governor vetoed or amended bills Thursday that the General
Assembly passed in its January-March legislative session.
The lawmakers reconvene April 17 to consider the governor's
recommendations.
The 40-member Senate and 100-member House of Delegates can
override a veto with a two-thirds majority and reject an amendment
on a simple majority.
If they reject an amendment, the governor can sign the bill into
law or veto it.
by CNB