Wednesday, August 27, 1986AThe Battalion/Page 3
State and Local
Banking legislation gets
preliminary OK in House
Congressman Claude Pepper, D-Fla., called for
the preservation of funds for higher education
and such senior citizen services as Medicaid, Medi
care, and Social Security before a group of senior
Photo by Anthony S. Casper
citizens at a press conference at Easterwood Air
port. Pepper was campaigning for Pete Geren, a
Fort Worth Democrat seeking to unseat U.S. Rep.
Joe Barton of the 6th district.
AUSTIN (AP) — The House en
dorsed a bill Tuesday that would al
low out-of-state banks to purchase
Texas banks for the first time in the
state’s history.
Rejecting arguments that such ac
tion could leave decisions on Texas’
future in the hands of outsiders, law
makers gave the bill preliminary ap
proval on a 116-24 vote.
Similar legislation has passed the
Senate.
Rep. Bruce Gibson, D-Cleburne,
the bill’s sponsor, said the legislation
is needed to bring in outside money
that could help lift Texas out of its
economic doldrums.
“I think it’s one of the best things
we could do to get this economy out
of a recession,” said Gibson, chair
man of the House Committee on Fi
nancial Institutions.
Gibson said allowing out-of-state
banks to purchase Texas bank hold
ing companies and institutions
would provide a needed shot of new
capital.
“That means more loans,” he said.
“That means more jobs.”
Opponents said the bill was being
hurried through the special session
without proper attention to the long
term consequences.
Rep. A1 Price, D-Beaumont,said,
“The people of Texas have consis
tently expressed a will that we
should be on the guard against let
ting the out-of-staters control our
money and our destiny.”
Rep. Pete Patterson, D-
Brookston, said that allowing out
side firms to enter Texas and take
over banks would reward bankers
who have been bad businessmen.
The bill, Patterson said, “is a very
special-interest piece of legislation to
bail out some people that have done
a dad-gum poor job of handling
their affairs.”
Under current Texas law, banks
and bank holding companies —
firms which own several individual
banks — that are based outside of
Texas may not acquire banks within
the state. Thirty-eight other states
now allow some form of interstate
banking, however.
The bill endorsed Tuesday would
prohibit an out-of-state bank com
pany from controlling more than 25
percent of the state’s total deposits.
Out-of-state banks seeking to buy
a Texas bank would be required to
file an agreement with tne state
banking commissioner that a major
ity of the directors of the acquired
bank would be Texas residents.
Backers said new sources of
money are needed to help finance
the state’s economic diversification
to offset hard times that have hit the
oil, agriculture and real estate indus
tries.
Supporters of the measure also
said deregulation of banking nation
wide has broken down old, geo
graphic barriers in financial mar
kets, so money market funds sold
Senate cuts $417 million from budget
AUSTIN (AP) — Texas senators
Ipassed an appropriations bill Tues-
Iday cutting 1987 state spending by
|$417 million and then challenged
[the House to make up the difference
I with a tax bill.
But the Senate measure was im-
I mediately rejected by the House,
■ which originally proposed to cut
11987 spending by S739 million, and
■ compromise talks were requested.
I A 10-member conference com-
Imittee from the House and Senate
will try to write a final version before
the end of the special session on
Sept. 4.
Speaker Gib Lewis, who has op
posed any tax bill, said there would
be no tax bill in this special session
“by any indicators I have seen.”
Sen. Carl Parker, D-Port Arthur,
said shortly before the Senate bill
passed 28-0, “The House is trying to
sell us on a Band-Aid that will get us
past the voters in November. The
House knows its bill won’t balance
the budget and we know this bill
won’t balance the budget.”
Sen. John Montford, D-Lubbock,
said, “If we procrastinate until Jan
uary, then we might have a tax bill
by May. That will be too late.”
Sen. John Traeger, D-Seguin,
added, “If we don’t deal with this cri
sis now, the treasurer tells me that
state checks, and that includes our
checks, could start bouncing by De
cember.”
Sen. Carlos Truan, D-Corpus
Christi, pointed out the House bill
end the jobs of about 5,800 state em
ployees while the Senate version
would cut about 1,460jobs.
One of the biggest differences in
House and Senate cuts was in higher
education. The House bill makes a
14.4 percent cut for state colleges
and universities, while the Senate cut
is about 7 pecent.
i a single*
the po®
nokertM 1
table. See
f nothing
irette ad'tf
/ay
advertisui
the media 1 '
)k at the I*
claim thef
verted,^
ilthieU 01
is, in esa £i
iy cancer
-the sa^
ost Writee
non
inference
at Board
■ditor
•age Editor
Iditor
Editor
.ditor
aff
....JensK 0 ^
sanne Is^ij
oydBnnJ
: C £W
supporMS*
l0 TeK* sM
ion 3r£
thos (
lay ‘ hro ilcr
■ster,
il subscnpffi
to! y ear , 1
on request
College S,a
; Station
State executes 3rd death row inmate in week
HUNTSVILLE (AP) — A con
victed sex offender who abducted a
woman, tried to rape her and then
buried her alive on a beach became
the third Texas inmate to be exe
cuted within a week when he was put
to death early Tuesday.
Chester Lee Wicker, who would
have turned 38 on Thursday, re
ceived lethal injection for the 1980
slaying of Suzanne C. Knuth, 22, of
Beaumont.
Wicker, whose final-day appeals
were rejected by the Supreme Court,
made no final statement.
His only words, spoken just as the
drugs started flowing through nee
dles inserted into his arms, were: “I
love you.” They were directed to his
lone personal witness in the death
chamber, Judith Lamblion, identi
fied as a friend and spiritual adviser
from Salt Lake City.
He took a couple of deep breaths
before he became still. He was pro
nounced dead at 12:20 a.m., 10 min
utes after the lethal injection began.
Mattox, who was present as
Wicker was strapped to the death
chamber gurney, told reporteis that
the inmate said he was going to
make the best of it.
Wicker’s death followed the exe
cution last Wednesday of Randy
Woolls, convicted of killing a drive-
in movie cashier, and Friday’s execu
tion of Larry Smith, who was put to
death for killing a Dallas conve
nience store worker.
Woman kills
Austin mall
security guard
AUSTIN (AP) — A woman be
ing detained for shoplifting at a
shopping mall Tuesday whipped
her rented truck into at least six
vehicles and running down and
killing a security guard, police
said.
A second guard at the south
west Austin mall and two other
people were injured . The woman
abandoned the U-Haul truck and
limped away, police Sgt. Tony
Lamme said.
He said two security guards
caught the woman shoplifting at a
J.C. Penney store in the mall.
When they tried to detain her, he
said, she ran into the parking lot,
jumped into the truck and drove
wildly through the 200-acre lot.
“She was just wild,” Lamme
said.
nationally are attracting deposits
that used to go to local banks.
Gibson said out-of-state banks
coming into Texas would be looking
for places to loan money rather than
for deposits.
“We’re the third largest market in
this country, Gibson said. “Other
banks want to be a part of that.
They’re going to come in here to
make loans, not suck out deposits.”
Opponents argued that once the
traditional barriers were gone, there
would be no way to protect the state
in the future.
Rep. Bill Haley, D-Center, said,
“We’ve been told the attitude of the
Northeast — ‘to hell with Texas.’ ”
Out-of-state bankers also wouldn’t
necessarily have the state’s best inter
ests at heart, and they might drain
Texas banks to make loans else
where, opponents said.
Ruling says
judge may
preside over
man’s trial
HOUSTON (AP) — State District
Judge Bob Burdette may preside
over the trial of a man accused of so
liciting a 1980 shooting on a Hous
ton street that left a model crippled,
even though he was a prosecutor at
the time of the crime, another judge
has ruled.
State District Judge C.V. Milburn
made the ruling Monday.
The ruling followed a hearing in
which attorneys for Robert Jess An
derson, 51, sought to have Burdette
replaced as the judge for the trial.
Prosecutor Marie Munier argued
that Burdette had no participation
in the case.
Barbra Piotrowski, who now lives
in Ohio under another name, was
shot and wounded outside a Hous
ton doughnut shop in the 1980
shooting.
Amderson is in the Harris County
Jail facing three federal conspiracy
indictments.
He also faces state charges accus
ing him of delivering marijuana and
soliciting Piotrowski’s capital killing.
The solicitation charge says he
hired two California men to shoot
Piotrowski.
The man he tried to hire did not
carry out the plan and was not
charged, prosecutors said.
W—Wft
TEXAS A6fM UNIVERSITY
SYMPHONIC BAND
— meet September 2nd, at 12:30 PM for
information and tryout exercise.
— instrumentation set for 75-80
— activities include concerts and a spring trip
— rehearsals twice a week - open to all students
— renew acquaintances from AH-State, Area,
Region and District Bands
— write for sample programs
, The Symphonic Band offers students at Texas A&M
University the opportunity to play their instruments with
others from across Texas and the nation. Rehearsing twice
weekly Tuesday and Thursday, from 12:30-1:45 p.m., the
band allows students to play in a group while concentrating
on their major field of study. If you would tike to audition,
build your class schedule around the two weekly rehearsals.
Later attend our organizational meeting the first Tuesday of
the fall semester and receive the tryout exercise. Auditions
played the following week.
For additional information write or call:
Bill J. Dean
Director Symphonic Band
E. V Adams Band Bldg.
College Station, Texas 77843
Band Hall
(409) 845-3529