Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 103, No. 98, Ed. 1 Sunday, December 8, 1985 Page: 4 of 43
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Letter to the editor
Community support appreciated
To (he editor:
I would like to take the oppor-
tunity to thank the citizens of
Polk County for their support of
the "Tree of Lights.”
A special thanks goes to the
Lions Club for the beautiful tree
they donated.
Our foster children will have a
better Christmas thanks to you!
Rea Kills
Polk County Child Welfare Board
Polk County Courthouse
Livingston
Disastrous
Noise
Once, you could hear the roar of the Colorado
River from deep within the Grand Canyon. You
could yodel and hear the echo. You could hear the
wind blow and feel the silence.
Now, you just hear the airplanes roaring over
America’s natural wonder.
Between 27,000 and 50,000 flights a year are
made over the Grand Canyon. Most of them are
low flights of airplanes and helicopters taking
tourists to gawk over the rim. On an average day,
74 planes fly over.
“My God, I could find more tranquillity at the
midway of the Arizona State Fair,” Arizona Gov.
Bruce Babbit recently said.
He’s right. The Interior Department has
jurisdiction over the area and should protect it
from noise pollution. The secretary of the interior
State Capital Highlights
State facing budget crunch
A huge new class of poor Americans is quietly
developing. It is made up of the most politically
powerless, vulnerable and dependent of the na-
tion’s citizens. And the social and political conse-
quences of the formation of this new impoverished
class can only be imagined. We are talking about
America’s children.
A few statistics from a recent survey by The
New York Times are sufficient to describe this
growing group. Twenty-two percent of those
under 18 -- or about 13.8 million people - live below
the poverty line, which the federal government
now defines as a yearly income of $10,650 for a
family of four. In 1969-1970, that percentage stood
at 14.3 percent. The percentage of black children
living in poverty has grown in that period to 48
from 39.6. (In black female-headed households,
the figure approaches 70 percent!) About 2.5
million children are impoverished despite the fact
that at least one adult in the family holds a full-
time job.
Many factors are contributing > the growth of
the phenomenon. They include the Reagan ad-
ministration’s massive cuts in social welfare
spending, retrenchments that have been made
even sharper by inflation; the rise in the number
of single-parent families; and the startling in-
crease in the birthrate among unwed teenagers.
Moreover, as a percentage of their income, the
amount of money paid in taxes by poor people has
increased.
It is easy to see why the class has developed so
insidiously. Poor children are not usually heads of
households, and thus their plight is concealed
within the larger problem of impoverished
families. Not being voters, they possess no
political power to catch the attention of
lawmakers - as do the elderly who have suc-
cessfully pressured Congress to keep improving
the Social Security benefits that for many are a
hedge against poverty. Hence, little government
effort is being focused on the problem of the grow-
ing number of poor children.
If the problem has grown insidiously, it also
almost certainly will be even more impervious to
efforts to eradicate it. It is far easier for poor
adults to escape poverty than poor children. The
former may well be trainable or have job skills or
work experience. Teenagers are less likely to
have any of these advantages, and if the teenager
also is an unwed mother, the chances of her being
mired in poverty are even greater.
But sooner or later, children are old enough to
vote - or to take to the streets in direct action.
What vision of America will inform their social
and political philosophy? What future will the na-
tion have if millions up»n millions of its children
grow to adulthood mired in poverty - with neither
the tools to escape it nor the hope that will lead
them to try?
These are questions that few in government are
even raising today. Yet unless they are con-
fronted, the counsequences for the American
democracy could easily be disastrous.
(Reprinted by permission of The St. Louis Post-
Dispatch)
By LYNDELL WILLIAMS
Texan Press Association
AUSTIN - Is Texas approaching a
budget crunch worse than the deficit
narrowly avoided last session by the
Legislature?
Deficits seem to be the way of the
world these days; even the Vatican
has a $50 million deficit and wants
the faithful to up their donations.
But Texas taxpayers don’t like the
idea of hiking their dues, and even
though a $456 million windfall from
the feds will help when it finally
reaches state coffers, a continuing
slide in oil and gas revenues may be
the indicator of things to come.
Texas is going to need $2 to $3
billion in new revenue sources to
maintain spending at current levels,
some predict.
Comptroller Bob Bullock warns
the only realistic way to raise large
amounts of new revenues is a state
income tax, and don't mistake that
to mean he supports one. He does
not.
Look for new taxes to be a fun-
damental campaign ‘86 issue, along
with the governor's credibility on
tax standsd.
Money squabbles
The money’s not even in Texas
banks yet, and already top officials
are privately squabbling over how to
spend it.
Some argue it constitutionally
belongs in the Permanent School
Fund, while others say the
Legislature should spend as it sees
fit. The governor wants all of it to go
to education, as well he might since
his tax reforms are pushing up the
cost of public education and adding
to the expected deficit, but how?
Bullock who has the job of
depositing the money when it ar-
rives, has asked Attorney General
Jim Mattox to rule where it belongs.
No-pass, no-play
The class-action trial to determine
whether the controversial no-pass,
no-play reform is kosher was
postponed last week to let a special
master gather statewide stats on its
effect.
Meanwhile, a recent statewide
poll indicated Texans overwhelm-
ingly support the reform by 70 per-
cent. However, a similar question-
ing found that only about 35 percent
approve of Gov. Mark White's per-
formance, even though he cham-
pioned the reform. That discrepancy
is liable to be picked apart and
studied by politicos for months to
come.
Veterans saved
When the Reagan Administration
unveiled its plan to scrap the Texas
Veterans Loan Program next year,
Land Commissioner Garry Maura
called on the Texas delegation for
support.
*f**'mt
Hey budd^^n^s ^but^se^ousl y now.
Last week he thanked them, par-
ticularly U.S. Rep. Jake Pickle, for
probably saving the program by
writing it into the House version of
the tax bill.
The Texas veterans program is
the only one in the nation, a modern
version of the Texas tradition of
rewarding its veterans with land.
The state now provides loans, not
land, and the program will likely be
continued.
GOP switch
The victory couldn’t have come at
a better time for Pickle, who learned
the day before that popular former
Austin mayor Carole Keeton
Rylander switched to the GOP, pro-
bably to run against him.
Rylander was appointed last year
to the State Board of Insurance by
Gov. White, who tried last week to
talk her out of defecting. She will
have to resign if she runs.
Word has it that several more top
White personnel will leave his ser-
vice in the coming months. Last
week his head of the Texas Depart-
ment of Community Affairs, Rafael
Quintinilla announced he will quit in
January for private law practice.
Short takes
An interesting historical footnote
came to light on JFK's assassination
date: San Antonio Congressman
Henry B. Gonzalez revealed he took
photos of the dead president as he
lay alone in a Dallas hospital. The
camera with is unprocessed film
Was stolen from his car when he
returned to San Antonio, and the
record was lost.
The federal census bureau in-
dicated last week that the Midland-
Odessa area leads the state with a
37.5 and 25.2 percent growth rate the
first part of the ‘80s.
Other Texas cities: Bryan, 25.4
percent; Austin, 20.1 percent;
Laredo, 19.1 percent; McAllen, 19.0
percent; and Houston, 15.0 percent.
U.S, House Majority Leader Jim
WrigMfV'ho s^w-he has enough
votes to become speaker in 1987,
raised over $1 million atJ\yo^ort
Worth fundraiser evenfs." *
Comptroller Bob Bullock has urg-
ed Attorney General Jim Mattox to
appeal a Lubbock court ruling
declaring unconstitutional part of
the increased court fees approved
during the last legislative session.
Compromises needed to win approval
By SKN. ROY BLAKE
Senate District 3
AUSTIN --. Many bills come before
(he Texas Legislature each session
that are so amended in committees
(hat (hey hardly resemble the bills
that were originally introduced.
Many of them are amended even
more when they reach the floor for
debate.
Quite often authors of bills (hat
have failed try to “piggyback” their
bills that did not pass on other bills
in the form of amendments.
The bill which repealed the Blue
Laws was floundering around in
heavy seas because of heavy objec-
tions from the powerful Texas
Automobile Dealers Association.
The Association did not want
automobile dealers to be allowed to
remain open on consecutive Satur-
days and Sundays and was a strong
enough lobby group to hold the bill in
limbo until they were exempted
from provisions of the Blue Law
Repeal Bill.
The Sunset Bill which extended
the life of the Department of Health
was not finally passed until the wan-
ing hours of the last Legislative Ses-
sion. An anti-abortion bill had not
received enough voles to get out of
committee in either House and ap-
peared to be effectively dead,
Although the abortion amendment
that was added to the Department of
Health Sunset Bill was not the same
as the anti-abortion bill, its sup-
porters had enough voles to hold in
suspense the passage of the Health
Department Sunset Bill until the
amendment was accepted.
It did require licensing of abortion
clinics and reports to be fildd with
the Department. This is an example
of “piggybacking.”
The controversial seat belt law is
another that was significantly
amended before it was finally pass-
ed. In its original form it exempted
all trucks from coverage, because
its author felt this would diminish
opposition to the bill. The original
bill contained, and still does, a provi-
sion which put the Texas Seat Bell
Law out of compliance with the U.S.
Department of Transportation air
bag mandate. The provision states
that the use or non-use of a seat belt
is inadmissible as evidence in a civil
action This provision increased the
support of the bill from many in the
legal profession.
The Texas Automobile Dealers
Association lobbied hard and heavy
for the bill, because they did not
want expensive air bags, but they
were not able to keep the pickup
truck exemption. The author ex-
pected to gain support from rural
Legislators because of the exemp-
tion, but it was more than countered
by opposition from urban
Legislators.
As a result the so-called "Bubba
Amendment” was added in Commit-
tee which exempted trucks with
more than 1,000 pounds carrying
capacity. When the bill reached the
floor, the “Son of Bubba Amend-
ment” was passed that exempted
trucks with more than 1,500 pounds
hauling capacity. You know how 1
fool about seat belts, but if you are
required by law to wear them, one
would have good cause to wonder
why everyone is not required to
wear them.
The preceding arc examples of
compromises that are often
necessary to gel bills through to
final passage.
POLK COUNTY
ENTERPRISE
ALVIN HOLLEY, PUBLISHER
Telephone Number 327-4357
USPS 437-340
Entered as Second-Class Matter at the Poet Office at Livingston, Texas
77351 under the Act of Congress of March 3,1887.
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT
Barbara White, Editor
Beatrice Hall, Special Correspondent
Van Thomas, Sports Editor
Greg Peak, Area News Editor
Greg Densmore, Area Feature Editor
Don Hendrix, Special Sections Editor
Sherry Peterson, Living Section Editor
Mike Waters, Darkroom Technician
PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT
Pressroom Personnel
Adrian Dunn, Paul Halley, Beamon Goodwin,
Thomas Autry, Mario Fiscal, Roger Holder
Composition Personnel
Dorothy WOscu, Composition Supervisor
Valerie Lenox, Assistant Supervisor
Martha O’Bannon, Delores Adams, Stephanie Bandin
CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT
Fettcta Fiscal, Circulation Supervisor
Benito Torres, Emma Robbies, Alma Guajardo
ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT
Linda HoOey, Ad Manager
Mary Jo Watson, Susan Lanting
Do you have an opinion?
Patty Hankerd
BOOKKEEPING DEPARTMENT
G*®** Bailey, Manager
Diane Holley, Diana Fiscal,
Allse Weghont, Barbara Wilson
The Polk County Enterprise en-
courages readers to submit let-
ters voicing tlieir views or opi-
nions.
The letters will be publislicd in
llie Enterprise’s Letter to the
Editor column in Thursday’s or
Sunday’s paper.
The letter may be written on
any subject or issue of interest.
Letters which are submitted
be accompanied by a name
normal editing such as grammar,
punctuation and spelling. Tlie let-
ters must be written within the
confines of good taste.
The letters will also be subject
to editing for libelous or
slanderous statements or com-
mercialism.
To submit tetters, mail them to
“letters to tire Editor.” Polk
C-itinly Enterprise, P
«78, Livingston, Texas
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White, Barbara. Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 103, No. 98, Ed. 1 Sunday, December 8, 1985, newspaper, December 8, 1985; Livingston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth781658/m1/4/?q=technical+manual: accessed June 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Livingston Municipal Library.