Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Oct. 14, 1999, edition 1 / Page 6
Part of Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
OPINION ???'?? J*UM CUUHMt >i? r?un The Chronicle 1U Omm*J*4/tmm J ???? Mn i ?rfljlii .m Ernest H. Pitt PublisherICo-Founder Ndi bisi Egimonye Co-Founder ' elaine Pitt Business Manager Fannie Henderson Advertising Manager jeri Young, Managing Editor steven Moore Production Manager Karen J. Olson Circulation Manager Z _ ?""''C~TZ of Circulation -*.-' j111'"1 r IvM ANOCWUUII a R# - AiiocMlon We need lottery now On Sept.'29 Gov. Jim Hunt asked state agencies to cut their operating budget by 1 percent. These funds will be used to offset the devastation' caused by the remnants of Hurricane Val Atkinson Jones Street Hoyd. All agencies, large and small, will have to ante up. Even the Unjversity of North Car olina and her 16 constituent institutions will have to do some belt tightening. We all know how crucial it has become to do everything we can for our neighbors down east but an across-the-board 1 percent reversion hits some of our universities too hard, espe cially our historically black colleges and universities. I applaud the governor's attempt to lighten the impact on education by asking for only 1 percent from the State Depart ment of Public Instruction, community colleges and the uni versity system - but that's too much when you're already hurt ing. All other agencies will have to revert 1 percent plus the average of the last five years' reversions. The total amount reverted will vary widely among agencies. The number crunchers at the State Bud get Office project that the mandatory rever sions will generate $200 million. These funds will be used to match funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA requires North Carolina to match 10 percent of all FEMA funding. Experts say it may take as much as $5 billion to restore the impacted area to normal. If Hunt FEMA made $5 billion available to North Carolina, the state would have to cough up $500 million as our matching share. Just where will we get another $300 milliort? The State Employee Incentive Bonus Program is saving the state a lot of money, but nowhere near $300 million. The Rainy Day Fund won't cover it, and a tax increase will prob ably be out of the question, which leaves only two other options. The first would be a deeper cut in state operating budgets, which would almost certainly lead to layoffs. This would be painful and unwise. It would be like robbing Peter t<5 pay Paul depriving one family to help another. The other option is a real possibility. The Legislature could pass the North Carolina State Lottery bill. We have two bills already submitted; one by Sen. Tony Rand, DrFayetteville, and the other by Rep. Toby Fitch, D-Wilson. The time has really come for a state lottery. We have the need and the purpose, we have the people behind it, and all we need now are the will and the votes of the * Legislature. Please, no more legislative maneuvering, no more resolu tions and no more referendums; let's just pass the bill. . The people have already decided. Poll after poll after poll has yielded the same results -/North Carolinians want a state lot tery. Higher taxes are not the answer. Budget cuts will hurt everyone, and we definitely can't afford to take any more away from education. The state lottery is not a panacea but it is what the people want and right now it's what the people need. Val Atkinson can be reached at: ValA tkinson@Prodigy. Net> Val A tkinson@Prodigy. Net. To the Editor: The Wake Forest University Chapter of the American Asso ciation of University Professors (AAUP) has established a Legal Defense Fund for any staff members of WFDD who have acted on behalf of freedom of speech and journalistic integrity. As faculty, we insist that all members of the Wake Forest University community enjoy the most basic of rights, that of freedom of expression. Anyone wishing to donate to this cause can send a check to the Legal Defense Fund, c/o Central Car olina Bank & Trust Co., Reynol da Manor Branch, 2804 Fair lawn Dr., Winston-Salem 27106. Please endorse the back of the check with "Deposit to Legal Defense Fund." Simone M. Caron Associate Professor of History Treasurer. WFU-AAUP To the Editor: I read with interest your let ters on your editorial page last week from Madge Hanes and Ruby Rodney in reference to Alvin Schexnider. It makes one wonder just how far people will go to support a person who mis uses North Carolina tax dollars for their own personal use. Schexnider was entrusted as chancellor of Winston-Salem State University, a state-sup ported university, to use taxpay ? ers' money wisely. I wonder if Madge Hanes and Ruby Rodney would be upset if Schexnider or anyone would access their bank accounts and begin to spend at will. Would they be so quick to forgive? The same principle applies. You are using money that does not belong to you. James Swaggart Winston-Salem V ism ? , TROOPS!"' V J Congress must make hurricane aid its top priority Senator John Edwards Guest Columnist I When Hurricane Floyd made its run up the East Coast, wreaked havoc in Eastern North Carolina and continued into New England, it drove more than 2 million Americans from their homes - the largest evacua tion in U.S. history. Streets were flooded, forcing residents onto rooftops. Homes were washed away or rendered uninhabitable. Airports were closed. Millions of people went without power or running water. Worst of all, more than 70 peo ple were killed. There is little that mankind can do to quell Mother Nature's occasional outbursts of fury. Congress cannot alter the laws of meteorology. What we can do is provide disaster victims with hope, emergency assistance and a chance to rebuild their lives. Unfortunately, our reaction to recent calamities indicates that such a goal is easier said than done. In 1997, partisan bickering needlessly delayed $5.5 billion in important aid for disaster victims in 35 states, including those Americans vic timized by massive floods in the Pacific Northwest, the Dakotas and Minnesota. There was plenty of responsi bility to go around for that fail ure, but Floyd's victims will be better served by change than blame. In the two months remaining before Congress recesses for the year, the House and Senate must respond quick ly to any relief requests and adopt reforms to ensure that we are adequately prepared for future disasters. These tasks will involve four important steps. First, we must pass hurricane assistance with out delay. As they have countless times over the past seven years, Director James Lee Witt and the Federal Emergency Manage ment Agency have responded quickly and valiantly to Hurri cane Floyd's devastation. Con gress should do the same.' If FEMA forwards an emergency spending request to Capitol Hill, both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees should quickly complete work on an aid package that includes emergency cash assistance to farmers. Second, that emergency aid package should stay true to its name and only provide funding for the legitimate emergencies spawned by Hurricane Floyd. While that directive might appear redundant, Congress has proven adept at burying non emergency spending items in emergency legislation. Congressional budget guide lines state that emergency spend ing must be necessary, sudden, urgent, unforeseen and tempo rary. For that reason, many assume that it is reserved for natural disasters like hurricanes or floods. But for the last year, Congress has abused its emer gency spending powers in a manner befitting the little boy who cried wolf. In October 1998 it stretched the emergency definition to direct $3.35 billion to the long foreseen Year 2000 computer problem. In June 1999, Congress loaded down an "emergency" bill for the Balkans conflict with nonemergency spending items. Congress also considered an "emergency" bill to pay for the 2000 census, which was ordered two centuries ago by our found ing fathers in Article I of the U.S. Constitution. Since all emergency expendi tures reduce the federal budget surplus, these abuses have undermined the emergency spending process and weakened our ability to meet legitimate needs in the future. "Clean" leg islation for Hurricane Floyd vic tims would go a long way toward rehabilitating congressional credibility on this subject. - Of course, we would have less need for massive relief packages if Congress realistically funded existing emergency accounts each year. Our third step must be to reverse that trend through preventive budgeting. While Congress cannot antic ipate the precise kind or cost of future disasters, we do know that they will occur. Unfortu nately, we're doing very little to anticipate their potentially ruinous financial effects. For example, Congress prospectively budgets an annual amount not to exceed $320 million for FEMA's disaster relief fund. Yet since Hurricane Andrew, average emergency outlays have exceed ed $1.7 billion each year. By sys tematically underfunding FEMA's accounts, the House and Senate have forced us to deplete the surplus in respond ing to disasters like Hurricane Floyd. Finally, Congress should ? encourage FEMA in its efforts to lessen the devastating conse- ,i quences of hurricanes, floods \j and earthquakes before they occur. Before Andrew savaged i> Florida in 1992, FEMA had! approximately $800,000 to ??: spend each year on hqrricane i mitigation. After Andrew, Con gress increased that annual amount to $10 million. r, That investment paid divi- > dends. The New York town of Freeport Village, on Long ? Island's south shore, has long been susceptible to high winds, and flooding caused by hurri- b canes. But a FEMA mitigation project protected several once vulnerable properties from flooding during Hurricane ' Floyd. Congress should build ; on that kind of success and help , FEMA make mitigation a prior- ; ity for all potential disasters. On Sept, 7, the House and Senate returned from their -August recess amid fears of a fall appropriations meltdown. - While we expect grueling negoti ations before Congress and the White House work out their dif ferences on the spending bills that have not yet been signed into law, it is vital that there be no rancor over passage of hurri cane measures. Floyd's victims deserve our best - and fastest - bipartisan response to their suf fering.. Senators John Edwards and ' Boh Graham wrote this column. y i V T The holiday season is quickly approaching. Soon, people everywhere will I / be enjoying the smells of Thanksgiving, the merriment of Christmas and WICES FROM THE COMMUNITY... New Year's celebrations. We asked locals which holiday were they most look- I B.J. Jonningg "I am looking forward to Christ mas. That 's when me and all of my friends gather together and have a good time." Donald LitHojohn "Christmas. I plan on getting a lot of presents, so I can't wait for <Christmas." . t i Dmcarii Graham "I can'J wail for Christmas. I like it and / get a lot of presents, and it's a time for the family to come togeth er and have a great time." Janay Lath "I can't wait for New Year's to get here. I'm ready to make my New Year's resolution come trite." Carlo Kobartt "I'm ready for Christmas to get here. I want to get some new clothes and spend time with my family." ' '< I
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Oct. 14, 1999, edition 1
6
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75