The Big Lake Wildcat (Big Lake, Tex.), Vol. 58, No. 11, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 17, 1983 Page: 2 of 12
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PAGE 2
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MARCH 17,1983
®br Bifl 01ct Dilkai
Opinions . . . ours, yours, theirs...
STATE CAPITAL
HIGHLIGHTS
By LyndvN Wiliam*
TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION
employment rate for Feb-
ruary rose to a record 8.8
percent, a grim reminder to
lawmakers that the economy
is suffering, no matter who
figures the budget.
AUSTIN—Several events
building up steam in the
Legislature came to a head
last week as lawmakers scur-
ried to find replacements for
dwindling state dollars
The hectic week began
with Comptroller Bob Bul-
lock's revised revenue fore-
cast which was closely fol-
lowed by Gov. Mark White's
budget address to a joint
session. Both officials recom-
mended tax increases of dif-
ferent varieties
At week's end. House
Speaker Gib Lewis an-
nounced his own House
Ethics Committee would in-
vestigate his failure to fully
disclose his business interests.
Bullock trimmed $867 mil-
lion from earlier estimates of
state monies available for the
next two fiscal years, blaming
oil prices and sluggish tax
receipts for the reduction in
state cash.
His announcement im-
mediately fueled the on-go-
ing debate of whether the
Legislature should pass a tax
bill or slash state spending
The Legislature itself re-
mains visibly divided as Lt.
Gov Bill Hobby seeks a tax
increase and House Speaker
Gib Lewis stands adamantly
against one.
construction, which got a
mixed reaction.
All in all. White’s budget
is still over a billion dollars
more than Bullock says will
be available.
If White and Bullock can't
agree on revenue estimates,
it should come as no surprise
to onlookers who have
watched the pair jockey for
position these past two
months: it’s no secret that
Bullock intends to challenge
White in the '86 guberna-
torial race.
Luxury Taxes
White, who earlier op-
posed a tax hike, told law-
makers he supported raising
an additional $800 million in
state revenue by taxing al-
coholic beverages, tobacco
and amusements such as
video games and pinball
machines
The governor also suggest-
ed issuing bonds for highway
Special Session
Bullock has come out in
favor of a nickel-per-gallon
gasoline tax hike for in-
creased state highway con-
struction, perhaps the most
palatable tax for legislators
to levy and taxpayers to ac-
cept.
White avoided support of
any tax hike as long as he
could, and whether Bullock
played a role in forcing his
change of stance, White re-
sponded by suggesting tax
raises for luxuries, or "sin"
taxes as members sometimes
call them.
But legislators don’t want
the political heat that a tax
vote might bring, and could
well fail to pass any appro-
priations bill this session.
Some lawmakers are al-
ready predicting a special
session on the state budget as
their best protection for Tex-
as. By then, the price of oil
will probably have stabilized,
and lawmakers will have
bought time to see whether
Bullock's or White's esti-
mates come closer to the
mark.
Meanwhile, jjje Texas un-
Speaker Lewis
House Speaker Gib Lewi*
refigured his financial dis-
closure report and revealed
last week he has 49 business
interests not included in hi*
original report.
Lewis, earlier caught heat
from the press and some of
his opposition colleagues for
not revealing his business
connection to alcoholic bev-
erage interests amid charges
he was sabotaging DW1 re-
form legislation.
Last week's update re-
vealed Lewis also has part-
nership ties with a horse rac-
ing lobbyist, which had gone
unmentioned in an earlier
financial disclosure report re-
quired by law.
Legally, Lewis slipped off
the hook when the Travis
County District Attorney ad-
vised that the law penalized
a lawmaker for failing to file
a report, but not for filing an
incomplete report. Lewis will
not be prosecuted, but the
Ethics Committee will con-
duct a secret investigation.
The press also revealed
that Lewis recently ordered
dismantled a $100,000 so-
phisticated phone system in
his office, which the state
now has in storage.
way representatives sign up
to sponsor Senate bills.
Tradition has the senator
choose a House sponsor for
his bill when it is considered
in the House. The proposed
change would have let House
members sponsor bills on a
first-come, first-serve basis.
Critics of the plan charge it
was a power grab on the part
of House leadership to con-
trol, alter or kill bills already
passed by their colleagues in
the Senate.
House-Senate Fight
The Legislature narrowly
averted a rare House-Senate
fight last week when the
House leadership retreated
from a plan to change the
Odd* And Ends
—Both the House and
Senate held committee hear-
ings simultaneously on the
controversial pari-mutuel
gambling on horse racing bill
before sending it to subcom-
mittees for further study.
—A bill allowing gambling
at Texas dog racing tracks
was expected to be intro-
duced shortly before the
March 11 deadline for in-
troducing legislation. The
House began this week to
debate bills on the floor.
—State Education Com-
missioner Raymon Bynum
ruled that public school days
must be at least seven hours
for grades 4-12, and six
hours IS minutes for grades
1-3.
—White's two appointees
to the Public Utility Com-
mission said they will oust
the chairman, a Clements
holdover, in favor of Com-
missioner Alan Erwin.
—Former congressman
and ambassador Bob Krue-
ger said he will run and soon
formally announce his cam-
paign against U.S. Sen. John
Tower.
FRANKLIN BOOKKEEPING SERVICE
1101 N. HWY. 137 (Storey Electric Bldg.)
Any type bookkeeping, Notary Service
For large or small businesses
liicomt Tax S&rvica 884-2912
Here are a lot of friendly people
who may not understand
the facts of business life!
\
A lot of people, especially
those who shop out of
town, don t understand
that local businesses need
"the support of local people
and that local stores are
Really more valuable to our
community than just
having a convenient
store to run to when
you're in a hurry
Of course the convenience
is great but a sound, local
I
\x-
Cti'f ■ N
business community is
good for our town l ocal
1 firms provide local jobs
/ and pay local taxes They
help build a healthy
I financial base for our town
and that benefits us all
So before you shop out of
town, stop and think about
your own town s businesses
When you shop out of town,
you support someone else's
town instead of our town
No need to roam...the best shopping’s here at home!
No need to roam... the bo$t shopping's here at home!
Reagan State Bank
Cr i .l„ t„
Big Lake, Texas
MEMBER FDIC
iJS]
JsKf
*
i4irfy,
Larry Don Shaw
In the Texas House of
Representatives, bad
bills seem to come
around far too often,
while the good bills are
few and far between.
The bills that are most
popular with lawmakers
and voters alike are
those that stimulate the
economy, create new
jobs, inspire a partner-
ship between govern-
ment and private enter-
prise, help a large num-
ber of people and, most
importantly, don't cost
the taxpayer a single
penny. Therefore, I
welcomed the opportun-
ity to co-sponsor a pro-
posed amendment that
actually meets those
qualifications.
The bill, HJR 44, is
also known as the
Veterans Housing Assis-
tance Program. Basic-
ally, it is a program to
lend Texas veterans a
$20,000 down payment
so they car. purchase a
home, lt's patterned af-
ter the existing Veter-
ans Land Program,
which provides a long-
term, low interest loan
for the purchase of rural
land.
The new proposal was
spearheaded by Land
Commissioner Garry
' Mauro and has won the
endorsement of state
leaders, including Gov.
Mark White. 1 believe
the housing program
holds great promise of
stimulating the economy
through new' construc-
tion. According to pre-
dictions, the program
would spur construc-
tion of 25,000 homes,
resulting in the creation
of at least 45,000 new
jobs. That last estimate
is a conservative one,
based on the home-
building industry's
figures of 2.5 jobs per
house.
The program will be
financed through a $5
million bond issue that
will be repaid entirely
by the borrowers. As to
whether administration
of the program will re-
quire another large bu-
reaucracy, the answer is
no. According to the
plan, the state will issue
bonds and provide the
$20,000 down payment.
Lending institutions will
make the actual loans,
administer the program
and assure that all bonds
are repaid. The General
Land Office, through the
Veterans Land Board,
will simply certify
whether an applicant is
a veteran or not, and the
veteran will have to
qualify for the loan in
the same way any home
buyer does now -- by
demonstrating that he
can meet the monthly
payment.
Following its expect-
ed approval by the Leg-
islature, the bill pro-
vides for the proposed
constitutional amend-
ment to be submitted to
the voters. Upon adop-
tion, Texas veterans will
then be able to apply for
a loan from the Housing
Assistance Program.
This loan can be used as
a down payment in con-
junction with their other
mortgage from a pri-
vate lending institu-
tion. The existing Vet-
erans Land Program,
which incidentally has
provided some 80,000
Texas veterans with low-
interest loans, will re-
main unchanged.
We have 525,000
Vietnam veterans in
Texas and more than one
million other veterans
who can benefit from
this program. By creat-
ing the Veterans Hous-
ing Assistance Pro-
gram, we will have a fine
compliment to the Vet-
erans Land Program to
meet the needs of Tex-
as veterans today. In
my opinion, this new
housing bill reinforces
a very simple, but very
true idea: We don't
need to do the veterans
a favor...just repay one.
i V v
m
A
si
mm
m.
I encourage you to
express your views on
this and other issues that
interest you by writing
to me at the Capitol in
Austin. The address is
Rep. Larry Don Shaw,
P.O. Box 2910, Austin,
Texas 78769.
Wm
wk
ft
mm
mfi
liiMi
Alvin Smith
Exxon Service
200 2nd St. Phone 884-3455
ATLAS TIRES, BATTERIES
AND ACCESSORIES
Tire Repair, Wash and Grease, Oil Change
WILL PICK UP AND DELIVER
Thanks For Coming By!
m
M
aim
-V
mmm A MEMBER 1983
1 rA Bio ^fkr Wilkai
TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION
Letter to the editor
To the Editor:
We as a county would like to express our apprecia-
tion to the Big Lake Volunteer Fire Department for
their quick action at the recent fire in the elevator
shaft at the courthouse. The commissioners court was
in session at the* time of the fire and was able to ob-
serve on a first hand basis the professional manner in
which our county maintained equipment is used and
the professional and disciplined way the firemen con-
ducted their operations. Our county has a volunteer
unit second to none and we intend to see that it stays
second to none for the benefit of Reagan County citi-
zens and property owners.
Sincerely,
Reagan County
Commisioners Court
There are 132 rooms in the White House.
®b t Bis £akr Wlkai
MEMBER OF TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION
AND THE WEST TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION
Established in 1925
Published Every Thursday in Big Lake, The County
Seat of Reagan County, Texas 76932
Entered as second-class matter January 2, 1926,
at the post office at Big Lake, Texas under the Actt
of Congress of March 3, 1879. SUBSCRIPTION
RATES $10.50 Per Year in Big Lake, $12.50 Per
Year elsewhere. Subscriptions are Payable In
advance.
Change of Address Notice should be mailed to
The Big Lake Wildcat, P.O. Box 946, Big Lake,
Texas 76932.
David Werst ....................................... Editor
J.L. Werst.Jr.............................. Publisher
Ph. 915/884-2215
Publisher is not responsible for copy omissions,
typographical errors or any other unintentional er-
rors that may occur further than to make correction
in next issue after it is brought to his attention.
r
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Werst, David. The Big Lake Wildcat (Big Lake, Tex.), Vol. 58, No. 11, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 17, 1983, newspaper, March 17, 1983; Big Lake, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth660024/m1/2/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Reagan County Library.