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Letters
Republicans
Helped Kill
Allen Budget
To the Editor:
It appears that the Republicans have not given up on trying to hide what happened in Richmond in this year’s General Assembly session and veto session. Two articles in the April 12 edition of the Rappahannock News by Jay Katzen and Kevin Miller so thoroughly distort what happened in Richmond that one must ask if their authors were even there.
These gentlemen claim that the Democrats stopped the Allen budget in Richmond. In the regular session of the General Assembly, did these two gentlemen vote for the Allen budget or not? Jay Katzen did not, because not one Republican in the House of Delegates voted for that budget. How about the Kevin Miller? Out of 17 Republicans in the State Senate, was he one only six Republicans who voted for the Allen budget, or one of the 11 who did not? It is clear from these numbers that the Democrats did not stop the Allen budget by themselves.
Indeed the Republicans have a problem here. The Allen budget cut a lot of local services, like county extension agents, 250 police officers, support for public education and meals on wheels for the elderly, all to save a measly $33 a year for each taxpayer. Republicans did not support this budget, because the public was strongly against these cuts.
In the veto session the General Assembly comes together to examine the vetoes of bills by the Governor or amendments he may offer. George Allen proposed a new initiative, thoroughly outside the purpose of the veto session, to return lottery money to the localities and shift some budget cuts around. The General Assembly was to examine this budget proposal and vote in it in 48 hours. The Democrats in the General Assembly, recognizing that this was not a serious proposal but something cobbled together at the last minute to give Republicans political cover, gave this proposal the attention it deserved. They ignored it. (Indeed, it seems that this proposal was designed to be ignored. Was it just a coincidence that metropolitan areas like Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, Charlottesville, Roanoke and Tidewater — areas of strong Democratic support — were net losers under his proposal? Arlington and Alexandria alone would have seen a net loss of $ 1.1 million in revenue.)
The truth is that George Allen proposed a budget that Republicans could not support. No amount of finger pointing or political posturing can hide that fact. The Allen budget would have been a disaster for small localities, and it was defeated with Republican and Democratic help. The next time a Jay Katzen or a Kevin Miller tells you differently, ask him how he voted on the Allen budget. Then observe carefully how that candidate “tap dances” away from the subject.
J. KENT REEVE
Washington
95.8%