Thursday, May 2, 1985TThe Battalion/Page 9 ctatih A«vr\ i %j) JL Jtmk JL JLmI Jim i jiJU^ ' w Texas senators approve ; $36.8 billion budget bill 1 uesdayap- I f recently I vering sales I Texas, i law" was | n amended . the nine- 'hide Com- to enforce settle com- “w-car own- svecl by the hided bills irtment of ra inial fee of ff ■v of permit B cipal solid B livings and ■ (I Corp. to B of fered by H .oan Insur- B ir the tesli- ||, ■ars-old or K sable under m ons in the If vent family 81 ecjiiirement f of available K would also B iter author- || family vio- R vees to be p if of a semi- H Associated Press AUSTIN — The Senate’s $36.8 billion version of a 1986-87 state spending bill was approved Wednes day with the warning it can be fi nanced only if lawmakers also ap prove about $700 million in so-called “non-tax” revenue raising bills. Sen. Grant Jones, D-Abilene, Sen ate Finance Committee chairman, said he would seek debate next week on the measure, which is a rewrite of the $36.4 billion bill passed by the House. The Texas State Employees Union immediately served notice it would oppose the Senate bill because it does not contain a state employee pay raise that was in the House bill. The House proposed a 3-percent-a- year pay increase, provided the pen ding revenue-raising bills pass. Members of Senate committee said it would be up to the 10-mem- ber conference committee, which will settle Senate-House differences, to see if there is a pay raise. “This bill can be afforded without new taxes only if we pass these other bills,” said Sen. Ray Farabee, D-Wi- chita Falls. “Otherwise the money is just not there.” The major revenue-raising mea sures, none of them finally passed, include: • At least $275 million the next two years from state college tuition increases. • More than $220 million from increased state fees, permits and court costs, including a hefty in crease in oil and gas regulation charges. • A net revenue increase of $72.5 million by decreasing the state’s con tribution to the retirement funds of state employees and teachers. The Senate’s proposed appropria tions from all sources is 4.35 percent above 1984-85 spending and would require $26.2 billion from state gen eral revenue funds, an increase of $1.37 billion or 5.5 percent above current spending. The Senate committee also unani mously approved Wednesday a package of increased fees, permits and court costs that would raise more than $220 million. Child abuse Proposed bills protect parents' rights lly occur in 1 invn’s econ-1 ) city and | school dis-1 jrs in these : said. ‘But with profit, revenue to ally absorbs \gricultural these esti- - a nominal ; travel tintf he tits exas for each oom t our Sir «> and i s Associated Press AUSTIN — Rep. Bill Blackwood, R-Mesquite, has two legislative pro posals he says will protect parents ac cused of abusing their children after being “outragecl by cases of parents’ rights being violated in suspected child abuse cases.” "Child abuse is indeed a shocking crime,” Blackwood said Tuesday. “But equally disturbing is the fact that innocent parents have been ha rassed and even had their children taken away without knowledge of who took them and why. "Taking a child from his or her parent without notifying the parent who took the child or why is a clear and blatant violation of the parent’s right,” Blackwood said. The bill proposes requiring the agency to present written notice to the parents explaining why the child was taken, who reported the case, who to contact in the agency for in formation and a summary of the parents rights. The second bill would hold peo ple who make a false report of child abuse liable for damage to the child and any other person affected by the report. It also allows false reports made by a parent involved in a custody suit to be introduced as evidence against the reporting parent. “Persons wno report child abuse are presently immune from both civil and criminal liability unless the report is made with malice or in bad fatth,” Blackwood said.“Nowhere is false reporting more prevalent than in cases involving a custody suit.” Agencies would be allowed to in vestigate the child abuse reports made by one parent against the other and could terminate the inves tigation if the complaining parent refused to sign a statement of liabil ity if the reports are false. Lawmakers OK bill to entice Navy Associated Press AUSTIN — The Legislature ap proved Tuesday a $25 million pack- ! age aimed at enticing the Navy into picking Corpus Christi or the Hous- i ton-Galveston area as the home port | for the battleship Wisconsin. Senators, in a 23-1 vote, approved | an amended version of a House-ap- proved, home port bill. Later Tues day, the House voted 121 -9 to accept the Senate version. The Navy is expected to pick the home port for the battleship by the middle of this month. The Senate version of the bill makes $17 million available from the water assistance fund in fiscal 1986. Another $8 million would go to the home port trust fund the following year. That money would come from the 1-cent-a-pack cigarette tax that is now dedicated to the state local parks fund, which receives about #18.5 million a year. The House had proposed taking $15 million from the state’s water as sistance fund, $5.4 million from the state leasing program and $600,000 from the operator and chauffeur’s license fund for a total of $21 mil lion. Sen. J.E. “Buster” Brown, R-Lake Jackson, said he believed the House could live with the Senate proposal. House members approved the Sen ate changes with no debate. Brown said the state funding was contingent upon whether the Navy selects a Texas site. MOSES HALL 84-85 ALL UNIVERSITY CHAMPIONS - HoW D