European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 16, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday november 16, 1908 the stars and stripes Page 7 Dukakis ready to face state problems Boston a Defeated demo cratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis facing an uneasy transition Back to the Massachusetts statehouse acknowledged monday that his state has fiscal problems but insisted they re not As bad As George Bush said they were. In a scene far removed from the cheering rallies of the presidential Campaign the governor fielded questions from his Home state press on issues Rani ing from taxes to a new car for the lieu tenant governor. We face major challenges Dukakis acknowledged at a jammed Beacon Hill news conference. But he disagreed with critics who say the slate faces a fiscal crisis and denied lha problems had worsened at Home because of his 20 Mofit i presidential Campaign. As he did on the Campaign Trail Dukakis refused to Rule out new state taxes. He promised to balance the current is 1.6 billion state budget when the fiscal year ends next june. Asked about his own political future Dukakis said lie had made no decision about whether to run for governor again in 1990. When his current term expires it s too Early to Tell. I m Back at a Job i love. I m challenged by it Dukakis said promising to make a decision an his plans sometime next  last wednesday Dukakis held a news conference to assess his unsuccessful presidential Campaign. At the time he said he planned to continue the fight for the nation Al Agenda his Campaign stressed but would not speculate on a possible second run for the presidency in 1991 Dukakis appeared in Good spirits Mon Day after his first weekend of rest in months. While Bush vacationed in Florida with Federal office seekers and International Stock raders hanging on his every word Dukakis walked from his Home in suburban Brookline to the local trolley Stop and Rode Public transit to work monday with no fanfare. The Only news conference question touching on Dukakis presidential Campaign was from a reporter who wanted to know if the time the governor spent campaigning was to blame for the state s Fis Cal situation. Dukakis admitted that the race look some of my attention away but he said other slates Are facing the same fiscal problems. In any Case he said i m Back and rain to go on the Campaign Trail. Bush challenged Dukakis credentials As a fiscal manager by brandishing a copy of the tabloid Boston Herald featuring a front Page Story on the slate s borrowing to pay its Bills with a Banner headline read ing what a mess Dukakis refused to characterize the stale s fiscal condition and declined to specify the size of the shortfall in the iii.6 billion budget. Moments later however his top budget official testified at a House oversight hearing that the slate lacks at least $282 million. I have grave concerns about whether state cues will increase by the 8.3 percent level needed for the fiscal 1989 budget. Administration and finance Secretary Frank cede said under question ing by the House panel. Dukakis announced three Steps to address the fiscal  most new Hir ing will require specific approval each Cabinet member will be Tola to generate savings targets and the administration will crack Down on accounts that tradition ally run deficiencies especially medicaid Dukakis said the slate s Revenue advis Ory Board would meet soon to reassess hit Revenue forecast for the current year and for neat year. He said he would take the Board s advice very very  asked about the need for any new or higher taxes Dukakis said i Hope we can avoid them.". We Are in a very difficult iwo year Peri cd Here the governor said citing the continuing affect on stale finances of the 1986 Federal few changes. He said new York California and other states were facing Sim Ilar problems. Editor top aides quit to protest Monitor changes Boston a editor Kalherine fanning and two of her lop assistants at the Christian science Monitor resigned monday saying a restructuring of lie Church owned newspaper Means a serious weakening of its editorial  fanning was joined in resignation by David Anable managing editor and David Winder assistant Man aging editor of the paper which has a monday through Friday circulation of 170,000. Directors of the Church named Richard Nunneman general manager of print publishing for the Church As editor in chief in charge of editorial Content for the newspaper and All of its print and broadcast enter Prises. Richard Cattani editor of the editorial Page was named editor fanning 61, said in a statement that the Church had decided to Cut the daily size of the newspaper to 16 pages from its average of 28 pages and to eliminate advertising. The increasing diversion of Church funds from the Monitor to other Media the decision to downsize the paper and drastically Cut its staff Means the serious weak ening of its editorial substance she said of the paper which has lost Money for years but is widely respected by its readers and by the newspaper Industry. Fanning said she also was protesting the decision to allow John 1 Hoagland the Monitor s business manager control Over Content which she said threatens the editorial  "1 leave this Superb editorial staff with great sadness and profound respect she said. Hoa Gand said that in february of next year the paper would introduce a new design. He said details of " the redesign and other changes would be revealed in the next Lew weeks. We expect that this new align ment plus revenues from our new products will help supper1 our daily newspaper Hoagland said. We continue with an unwavering commitment to offer both print and broadcast serv ices.". Nunneman praised fanning for bringing a great sense of i Fannin Tanily to the paper As Well As a deep concern for the human  became the first woman editor of the Monitor in 198 after leaving the daily news in Ancho rage Alaska where she served As publisher and editor for 12 years. After starting out at the paper As a $2-pcr hour librarian she and her Laic husband Larry fan Ning bought the daily news in 1967, she is a former president of the american society of newspaper editors. Supporting the newspaper reportedly has Cost the Church 120 million a year while the Church seeks o establish a monthly news Magazine and radio and Tele vision programs. John Hart Anchor of inc Monitor s half hour television news show world Monitor said there May Bemore integration of operations. I think there s going to be a change so that there won t be a separate to and Ilion separate radio bureaus. We re All going to work for the same company now. Which does t mean that we re going to be taking away people from the  also said he can t characterize in any Way re ports that the Church had Over committed itself to the Tele vision Enterprise. I understand thai people feel that Way. But Jack Hoagland Coplai us it otherwise he said. The ambitious half hour show broadcast Ike each weekday on Cable television s discovery Channel is being financed by the Church for five years at $20 million a year for a total of 100 million. Hart said. The first year Siart up Cost of Usa today the television show for comparison was j40 million. Calif High court asked to of insurance rate Cut san Francisco a California s attorney general asked inc state supreme court on monday to allow a voter approved 20 percent Cut in automobile insurance rates to take effect White the court reviews insurance company lawsuits. The voter believed that they were enacting immediate insurance Reform with the adoption of proposition 103," attorney general John Van de Komp said in papers tiled with the court that expectation should not be frustrated without giving the initiative a fair Chance to  he asked the court to withdraw the order it issued lost thursday mocking enforce ment of proposition 103 As an alternative Van de Kamp said the court should allow All provisions of the measure to take effect. Except the 20 percent rate Rollback and should require insurance companies to set aside enough Money to lower their premiums if they lose their Case. Provisions of the initiative backed by consumer advocate Ralph Nader include a 20 percent reduction in insurance Rales from those in effect in november 1987 a freeze at those Levels until november 1989, when the rates would be Cul an additional 20 percent for Good Drivers exemption from the Roll Back for insurers who could show a sub Stantial threat of insolvency and conver Sion of the state insurance commissioner loan elected office in 1990. Lawsuits filed Fay the insurers contend among other things that the rate Rollback violates the companies constitutional rights by denying them the ability to make a fair profit insurance companies spent at least $60 million fighting rate reduction initiatives on the ballot and unsuccessfully promoting a no fault Auto insurance Initia Tive proposition 104. Several insurers have responded to passage of proposition 103 by saying they were pulling out of California. Van do Kamp who backed an unsuccessful rival rate reduction initiative proposition 100, is defending proposition 103 in court. California backers of the proposition a group called voter re Volt said they lacked the Money needed to enter the Case now but were starting a fund raising drive that would let them intervene later. Van do Kamp s Brief written by Deputy attorney general Timothy laddish asked the court to Lake the Case itself rather than referring it to a lower court and decide the constitutional issues quickly. In urging he court to lift inc stay he said insurers Are not Likely to succeed in their suits and have not shown that they would suffer irreparable injury if proposition 103 were allowed to Lake effect while the Case was pending laddish said the court has rejected the same constitutional Challenge to local rent control Laws that rolled Back rents to a previous period and required administrative approval for future increases he compared those Laws to proposition 103, which allows the insurance commissioner to consider a company s financial situation in granting exemptions from the 20 percent Rollback and in reviewing future Rale increase applications. Allstate levying Boston a less than a week after California voters threw the insurance business into turmoil by or Dering a rate Rollback Allstate insurance co. Announced monday it is leaving Massachusetts because of losses and frustration Over the slate s regulatory climate. Kevin Sullivan director of alls Laie s group Auto division told a news conference that Allstate has lost is 15 million in Massachusetts Over the past five years largely due to the unique regulatory environment for Auto insurance. Alls Latu would be the third major insurer to aban Don Massachusetts following Kimper croup and fire Man s fund insurance cos. Two smaller companies also have pulled out Allstate will not renew its License when it expires june 30. Until then it Wilt sell new policies and follow through on current ones until they expire Sullivan said. A.  a v Peter Rice Massachusetts Deputy insurance com missioner reacted with Complete  i Griess our Overall assessment is we think the com Pany was premature in assessing the effect of the recently passed Auto Reform Bill on the Market Rice said. Last week a Bill was signed that will reduce 1989 insurance premiums by 16 percent or j400 Mill Ion by cracking Down on fraud and abuse reducing required coverages and limiting the number of Auto cases that end up in court. The legislation was prompted by Industry court challenges and rate decisions increased Massachusetts Rales by nearly one third since 1986 to among the highest in the country v Massachusetts requires companies wiling any form of insurance in the state to participate in an open High risk Auto insurance Pool. In addition state Law forbids open Competition for automobile insurance. Instead the state insurance commissioner annually calculates a single statewide Rale for each category of insurance