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Ledbetter named analyst
Hill vows to
United Press International
AUSTIN — Attorney General
John Hill, saying Texans want to be
assured state money is not being
wasted, announced Tuesday he has
hired unsuccessful treasurer candi
date Harry Ledbetter as a budget
analyst for his campaign staff.
Hill, the Democratic nominee for
governor, said Ledbetter’s position
is part of a major program to search
out waste in state agency spending
in preparation for presentation of a
proposed budget to the 1979 Legis
lature if Hill is elected in
November.
“What the people want to be as
sured of is that we re making the
best use of our dollars and we re not
cut spending
wasting any dollars,” Hill told a
news conference. My campaign
travels made it clear to me that the
people consider inflation their
number one concern, and they be
lieve government is a major con
tributor to that problem. I want to
help Texas set an example for the
nation in assuring that tax dollars are
spent carefully and effectively.”
No governor of Texas ever began
preparing to this extent, this far in
advance of taking office, to arm him
self to become a full partner with
the Legislature in the budget writ
ing process,” Hill said.
Hill, who faces Republican Bill
Clements in the general election,
said he hopes his work on budget
matters will build credibility for his
proposals in the Legislature.
T do not intend to submit a
budget and then sit idly by,” Hill
said. “I intend to pursue it, and I
believe it will be based on a solid
foundation. I will not hesitate to go
to the public on my budget recom
mendations if necessary.”
Clements has proposed to elimi
nate 25,000 state jobs if he is elected
governor, but Hill said he has no
such goal in his budget studies. He
said a budget analysis could result in
a reduction of personnel for some
agencies, and increases in personnel
for others.
Heavy rainfall saves some
farmers, dooms others
THE BATTALION
WEDNESDAY, MAY 31, 1978
Page 3
Sketchy voter turnout
expected for election
United Press International
The Railroad Commission race
between John Poerner and Jerry
Sadler apparently has failed to stir
voter interest in most parts of Texas,
but half a dozen heated congres
sional races may produce heavy
turnouts in isolated areas for Satur
day’s runoff election.
The battle between Poerner and
Sadler is the only statewide contest
on the ballot in the Democratic
primary. There are no statewide
Republican runoffs, and only one
GOP congressional race — a contest
between George Bush of Midland
and former Odessa Mayor Jim
Reese for the party’s nomination for
the congressional seat being vacated
by the retirement of Rep. George
Mahon of Lubbock.
The featured congressional race
on the Democratic ballot will be the
bid of state Rep. Joe Wyatt of
Victoria to oust veteran Rep. John
Young of Corpus Christi.
In other runoffs on the Demo
cratic ballot, Ron Godbey and Phil
Gramm are competing for the
Democratic nomination to the place
being vacated by retirement of Rep.
Olin Teague; Lane Denton of Waco
and Marvin Leath of Marlin are
battling to succeed retiring Rep.
W.R. Poage, A.L. Rhodes of
Abilene and Charles Stenholm of
Stamford are competing for the
party nomination in the district now
represented by Rep. Omar Burle
son, and state Reps. Anthony Hall
and Mickey Leland are seeking the
seat being vacated by Rep. Barbara
Jordan.
Battalion photo by Lee Roy Leschper Jr.
Attorney General John Hill talks with Brazos Valley supporters at
a local press conference and reception held before the Democratic
primary.
PIPES — CUSTOM BLENDED TOBACCO
CIGARS — DOMESTIC & IMPORTED
United Press International
CANYON, Texas — To some
farmers, the heavy rains and hail
that pounded the parched Panhan
dle flatlands were devasting. To
others, it was a “million dollar rain”
that drenched drought-stricken
crops.
“I believe this is the worst I’ve
ever seen it at one time, said Bill
Hicks, who has farmed 40 years in
Umbarger, Tex. “I had wheat and I
had the sugar beets in, and they (the
storms) just wiped them all out.”
The usually arid region received
more than five inches of rain Friday
and Saturday, producing a flash
flood that swept down the Prairie
Dog Town Fork of the Red River,
demolishing homes and stranding
campers in Palo Duro Canyon State
Park.
Hicks, 64, estimated he lost
nearly $50,000 in the violent
weather, which dumped hail 6
inches deep on his farm.
Weve had hail loss before, but
not this bad. We just don’t have
anything left. I m not going to get
up and leave. I’m going to stay here
and farm. It’s one of those things
that once in your life you’ve got to
put up with,” he said.
The worst farm damage was suf
fered in an 8-mile area west of town
that the storm hovered over, said
County Agent Bob Robinson. He
said some growers may reduce the
loss of wheat, corn and sugar beet
crops by planting grain sorghum.
Predictions of wheat yield in the
county were already down because
of lack of moisture.
“If you’re talking about Randall
County as a whole, the benefits (of
the rain) will certainly outweigh the
losses. It would have been great if it
came in a slower manner where the
soil could have absorbed it. This
certainly isn’t all (the moisture)
we re going to need. We ll still be
paying the orice for the drought like
School districts not easing
tax burden on taxpayers
conditions we’ve experienced in the
last two years,” said Robinson.
“As a county as a whole, it was a
million-dollar rain. In particular
areas, it was a devasting rain,” he
said.
Robert O’Donald, 47, who farms
320 acres six and a half miles west of
town, lost his wheat crop.
“They say that in this area, one
extreme of the climate follows
another,” he said. “We’ve had ex
treme drought. I guess we can ex
pect the other extreme. We were
just unlucky.”
Livestock losses were expected to
run high, but Robinson said at least
half the animals thought dead are
being found alive.
“Most of them were just lost, ” he
said. “We expect to recover most of
the livestock that were missing.
Livestock are instinctive beings.
They know for the most part to get
out of trouble if there’s a way they
can get out,” he said.
But the 10 head of cattle belong
ing to Hicks were found dead. He
had an autopsy performed.
“The cattle didn’t drown,” he
said. “The only thing I can figure
out is that they were all in one
bunch and a bolt of lightning hit
them.”
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United Press International
ACSTT/V — Texas schools spent
nearly twice as much as the Legisla
ture provided in increased state aid
this year and forced local property
owners to pay the difference, the
Texas Research League reported
Tuesday.
The Research League’s annual
I report on school expenditures indw
cates only one in seven districts
used the additional state aid to re
duce tax burdens on local property
owners — one of legislators’ main
goals in appropriating nearly $1 bil
lion in additional state funds for
education
School tax bills went up for nearly
90 percent of the taxable property in
the state.
Despite a letter from the speaker
of the Texas House of Representa
tives to each school board president
urging reductions in local school dis
tricts from local property taxes, the
total levy was increased by $148 mil
lion, the privately-funded research
group reported. “Only 158 of the
1,080 districts actually reduced
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their levies in any amount. ”
And the districts which did lower
taxes did not necessarily reduce
levies as much as legislators con
templated, the report indicates.
Tax levies were increased in 916
districts; tax levies did not change in
a handful of districts.
“During the current 1977-78
school year, the Texas Legislature
increased state aid to local schools
by $446 million, or 28.4 percent,”
the league reported. “The 1,080
local school districts responded by
increasing school budgets by $836
million, of which $470 million went
for higher current operating ex
penses.”
The Research League said the
additional aid only slightly slowed
the increased taxes property owners
are required to pay to support
schools.
“School property taxes were in
creased by $148 million (during
1977-78) or 9.1 percent as compared
to the $185.6 miWiou increase (12.9
percent) in 1976-77,” the record
analyzers reported.
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