THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 28, 1997 TAG: 9701280277
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: David M. Poole, Robert Little and The Associated Press
contributed to this report.
LENGTH: 152 lines
State employees' health insurance still losing money
Two years ago, state managers predicted that insolvency loomed on the horizon for the health insurance program that serves more than 170,000 state workers and their families.
The administration of Gov. George F. Allen ignored their advice and drew down the insurance fund surplus by another $40 million.
Democratic lawmakers say the administration's decision increased the likelihood that state employees could face a double-digit premium increase beginning in January 1998.
``That doesn't sound like stable management,'' said Del. Glenn Croshaw, a Virginia Beach Democrat.
In a meeting before a joint General Assembly money subcommittees, Allen administration officials backed away their sweeping dismissal of an independent study released last week showing the Key Advantage health program would need a serious infusion of cash next year.
But Allen officials continued to take issue with Democrats' contentions that the fund is teetering on the precipice of ruin.
The insurance issue is fraught with election-year politics, with both Republicans and Democrats wanting to curry favor with the 100,000 state workers.
Democrats have worked to push the issue to the fore, positioning themselves as saviors of Key Advantage.
Allen administration officials have waged a counter-offensive, noting that even Key Advantage managers who warned of dwindling reserves two years ago did not recommend corrective action until January 1988.
All sides agree that Key Advantage - which is losing $3 million a month - has enough reserves to carry it through the end of 1997.
The question then becomes whether the Democrat-dominated General Assembly will intervene this winter with a taxpayer-financed bailout or whether the Allen administration will be left to adjust premiums this fall.
Without reducing benefits or beefing up taxpayer support, employees with no dependents could see their monthly premiums rise to $213, up from $172.
ALSO MONDAY
``Old dreamer's heart''
won't save this song
``Carry Me Back to Old Virginia'' is rotten through-and-through, state senators decided Monday, and can't be salvaged with a few cheery changes.
Senators rejected a friendlier incarnation of the state song by a voice vote, instead moving forward with a plan to have a special committee select a replacement.
Supporters of the state song had proposed replacing references to ``old darky's'' with ``dreamer's,'' and other changes designed to make the song less offensive.
``You cannot fix this song,'' said Richmond Sen. Benjamin J. Lambert III.
Despite concerns that ``everybody in Virginia with a banjo'' will come to the capital hawking new songs, the Senate advanced the plan to find a replacement.
A final vote should come today. If it passes, the measure will move to the House of Delegates.
Students who fail the Literacy Passport Test would have to take extra classes or summer school to pass the exam if a bill endorsed Monday by the House Education Committee becomes law.
The passport test assesses reading, writing and math skills. Last tear, about one-third of Virginia's sixth-graders failed the test, which is required for high school graduation.
A proposal to dilute the governor's power to fill seats on the State Council of Higher Education moved forward over the objections of the Allen administration.
The House Education Committee voted 13-8, mostly along party lines, to send the measure to the House of Delegates floor. (Richmond Del. Anne G. ``Panny'' Rhodes of Richmond was the only Republican favoring the bill.)
The bill would oust the council and replace it with six members appointed by the governor, five by the General Assembly. Now, the governor fills all 11 seats.
Secretary of Education Beverly Sgro urged defeat of the bill, which she called ``very, very elitist.''
Allen spokesman Ken Stroupe said the governor probably will veto the bill if it passes.
The Senate passed a bill Monday requiring state agency heads to get their senior employees approved by the General Assembly. ``These people should be subject to sunshine, to a little light of day,'' said patron Sen. Emily Couric of Charlottesville.
A Senate committee endorsed a bill intended to reduce the unemployment tax paid by businesses by changing the formula for calculating the unemployment compensation trust fund.
A Senate committee approved a bill that would give fire officials the right to require the installation of smoke detectors if the owner has been unwilling to maintain the devices.
NOTICED & NOTED Killing Earley's bill was just a mistake
When members of the state Senate killed Chesapeake Sen. Mark Earley's bill to allow advisory referenda in Chesapeake they didn't mean it.
As soon as the bill died on the floor last week, Earley jumped up and assured his colleagues they'd made a mistake.
``This is just a little charter amendment for the city of Chesapeake,'' he said. ``I think some members might have misread their calendars.''
The bill would allow citizens in Chesapeake to hold a referendum to advise the city council, if they collect signatures from about 20,000 registered voters.
Earley called for another vote, and seconds later the Senate approved the bill overwhelmingly.
``It's like magic,'' Earley said.
Senators rarely read charter amendments for cities they don't represent, and several said later they never intended to kill Earley's measure. But when one senator voted against it and a red mark flashed on the tally board, others figured it was a bill worth killing and voted the same way.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
``Some of them sounded like rejects from `The Gong Show.' ''
Fairfax Sen. Richard L. Saslaw, describing the torrent of Virginians who've come to Richmond offering replacements for the state song.
WHAT'S NEXT
Wednesday, two measures that have strong points of view attached to them - one on same-sex marriages and the other requiring minors tell parents before getting abortions - come up in a public hearing at 2 p.m. in a Senate committee.
STAYING IN TOUCH
CONSTITUENT VIEWPOINTS - A toll-free hot line to give commonwealth citizens the opportunity to express their views on issues before the General Assembly: (800) 889-0229
For more information:
The Clerk's Office
House of Delegates
P.O. Box 406
Richmond, Va. 23218
(804) 786-6530
The Clerk's Office
Senate of Virginia
P.O. Box 396
Richmond, Va. 23218
(804) 786-3838 ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Sen. Mark Earley
ASSOCIATED PRESS photo
A delegate get-together
Del. Alan A. Diamonstein (D-Newport News), left, and Del. J. Paul
Councill Jr. (D-Franklin) exchange a few words Monday before
Diamonstein's bill relating to the State Council on Higher Education
came up before the House of Delegates' Education Committee. The
committee voted 13-8 to send the measure to the House floor.
KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1997