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State/Local
The Battalion Friday, Dec. 9 Page 3
Wal-Mart appeals court fine
costing up to $ 1 million daily
FORT WORTH (AP) — Attor
neys for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. asked
an appeals court Thursday to over
turn a lower court’s ruling that the
company pav as much as $ 1 million a
day because billionaire director Sam
Walton did not show up for a depo
sition.
The 2nd Court of Appeals has not
yet ruled on the case, a court official
said.
The sanctions resulted from a
personal injury lawsuit filed by An
drew Carnzales against Wal-Mart
and manager Jerry Rand.
Carrirales claims that while shop
ping at the company's Sulphur
Springs store in 1986 he slipped and
fell on clear oil spilled on the floor.
Carrizales says he suffered mental
anguish and “serious and disabling"
injuries to his arms, legs and back,
the Fort Worth Star- t elegram re
ported.
Wallace Craig, Carrizales’ attor
ney, said Wal-Mart was ordered to
produce Walton for a videotaped
deposition in Bentonville. Ark., at
the company’s main offices on Aug.
However, Walton’s attorney peti
tioned a district J judge in Benton
County, Ark., to overrule the order
of 352nd District Judge John Street
and requested the deposition be
overseen by an Arkansas court.
Craig said he had no objections to
conducting the deposition at the
Wal-Mart offices, but he said he did
not believe the testimony would be
admissible if it were taken by an Ar
kansas court reporter.
Whim pays off big
for Texas bus driver
in California lottery
ROSEBUD (AP) — A Texas
school bus driver’s whim paid off
big when the-$30 worth of Lotto
tickets she bought during a recent
visit to California included a win
ner worth more than $200,000.
Ann L^wis said she was driving
down a road in Reseda, Calif.,
when she “saw a 7-Eleven and
had a strange urge to buy some
lottery tickets.”
The whim made Lewis, a 49-
year-old mother of seven,
$209,625.60 richer after
$52,406.40 was taken out for
taxes. The check arrived this
week.
Her husband, Charles Lewis,
had been working in California,
where the couple lived before
moving to Cedar Springs in Cen
tral Texas in 1982.
“He was doing construction
work because we had a low cash
flow," Lewis said. “I drive school
buses here. Our farm has had two
pretty bad years."
Before the lottery winnings,
Lewis had planned to stay in Cali
fornia through the Christmas
holidays. But now he’s coming
home to stay.
Lewis said she learned of her
good fortune Oct. 29.
“I was kind of shocked, she
said. “1 was stunned a little bit,
but I’m not a very excitable per
son. I get nervous, but I don’t get
excited.”
Officials at the Planters Na
tional Bank in Rosebud told Le
wis her deposit was the largest de
posit of the year for the bank.
The money was put into several
accounts because the Federal De
posit Insurance Corp. insures ac
counts only up to $ 100,000.
Craig also said the case is not un
der the jurisdiction of the Arkansas
court system.
“I wanted to take his deposition
where I was supposed to, and he re
fused,” Craig said.
Street later ordered Wal-Mart to
have Walton at the Fort Worth court
on Nov. 28 for a deposition or
Carrizales for each day he
show up.
or pay
dian't
“Walton . . . has shown an arro
gant disregard for the authority of
this court, the judge’s ruling said.
“As chairman of the board of Wal-
Mart Stores Inc., Sam Walton owed
the duties of obedience and loyal be
havior” to the corporation to appear
for the deposition.
Street also ordered W'al-Mart’s
pleadings in the case stricken,
thereby knocking out the company’s
defenses in the suit, Craig said.
Wal-Mart was ordered by Street to
pay the plaintiff $ 10,000 for the first
day he did not appear; $20,000 for
the second; $40,000 for the third;
$80,000 for the fourth; $160,000 for
the fifth; $320,000 for the sixth;
$640,000 for the seventh; $1.28 mil
lion f6r the eighth: and $1 million a
day for each day afterward.
The appeals court stayed that or
der before Walton was scheduled to
appear in Fort Worth, Wal-Mart at
torney Vic Anderson said.
Craig said the personal injury suit
is scheduled to go to trial Monday.
UT regents intend to back
merger with Pan American
AUSTIN (AP) — University of
Texas System regents Thursday ap
proved a statement of intent backing
a merger with Pan American Uni
versity.
Pan Am officials took similar ac
tion earlier this week.
“The (UT) system board is im
pressed with the rich and unique his
torical, cultural and academic roles
played by the university (Pan Am),”
a statement approved by the UT sys
tem regents said.
The UT regents said they had
concluded that the merger is is “emi
nently feasible."
“It will enhance the state, national
and international roles played by the
system and further benefit the qual
ity of higher education throughout
the state," they said.
The UT regents said there were
“numerous and substantial" advan
tages to a merger, including
strengthening the academic and re
search programs at Pan Am.
The Legislature will make the ulti
mate decision on merging the two
schools. Two Rio Grande Valley law
makers already have filed a merger
bill for the 1989 session, and additio
nal bills are expected before the Leg
islature convenes Jan. 10.
The UT regents voted to support
legislation needed to achieve a
merger, »s did the Pan Am regents
earlier.
UT Chancellor Hans Mark acti
vely has sought to take in Pan Amer
ican. Mark said recently that UT
stands to gain from the Valley’s rap
idly growing population and the eco
nomic potential in its location near
Mexico.
If the legislature approves. Pan
Am, with campuses in Eainburg and
Brownsville, would become the 15th
school in the UT system.
The Legislature last year ordered
UT and Texas A&M University sys
tems to explore the higher education
needs of South Texas.
Texas A&M regents last month
voterf to support a merger with the
University System of South Texas.
Texas income tax
possible in future
AUSTIN (AP) — A personal
income tax isn’t yet needed in
Texas, but it deserves “thought
ful consideration,” the Select
Committee on Tax Equity said
Thursday.
Approving recommendations
to the Legislature for changes in
the state tax system, the commit
tee said, "The day likely will come
when the state will need to se
riously consider an income tax
among its tax options.
“It is critical that the issue not
be ignored. If it is, the state may
find itself enacting an income tax
at the 1 Ith hour of a future legis
lative session, without the full ed
ucation and understanding of the
public.’’
Committee members rejected
stronger statements on an income
tax, including one proposal call
ing adoption of an income tax in
evitable and "the right thing to
do," and a statement by Comp
troller Bob Bullock saying consid-
eration of the income tax “is sim
ply not necessary.”
“The Texas tax system today
-r- more by default than design —
is more responsive to the state
economy than ever before," Bul
lock said in his statement, pre
sented by aide John Moore.
“In short, the current tax sys
tem provides an adequate frame
work for future revenue needs,”
said the statement, which was
supported by Rep. Stan
Schlueter. D-Killeen; Robert Da
vis of Dallas; and Forrest Smith of
Dallas.
Davis and Moore were the only
people to vote against the report
to the Legislature. Schlueter
wasn't present for the vote, and
10 members voted for the report.
Moore said he was registering
Bullock's opposition to the in
come tax part of the report, and
that the comptroller supported
the rest of the report.
Davis said he voted against it
because it recommends “some
substantial shifts" in the tax bur
den to individuals and small busi
nesses.
“It is time to rethink old meth
ods of doing business, to modern
ize them if appropriate and to re
place them if necessary,” the
report said. “The people of Texas
deserve a state and local tax sys
tem that is fair, stable and de
pendable.”
Among other recommenda
tions in the report:
• Keeping the sales tax as the
“comerstone" of the state fiscal
system in the next decade, but ap
proach with care future increases
in the tax.
^*If possible, tlve state should
avoid rate increases and should
pursue a policy of expanding the
lax base to additional services." it
said. “Indeed, the committee fa
vors reducing current rates
through base expansion if the fis
cal situation allows."
• Diversifying local tax sys
tems in Texas over the next 10
years.
• Not imposing a corporate in
come tax at this time.
• Instituting “fundamental re
form” of the state's general busi
ness tax policy. The report out
lines an alternative tax combining
a net worth tax, like the current
franchise tax, with a component
sensitive to a business' current ac
tivity in Texas.
Schlueter, chairman of the tax
writing House Ways and Means
(kimmittee, and Rep. Dan Mo
rales, D-San Antonio, who is vice
chairman of that panel, said they
don’t expect a tax overhaul in the
upcoming legislative session.
Changes in the franchise tax
are possible, they said.
11 new revenue is needed —
for example, to address an ap
peals court decision on a state
judge's ruling against the school
finance system — Schlueter said
the “first place" he would turn
would be the sales tax. But he said
lawmakers would be reluctant to
vote on a tax bill, after voting on
three in the past four years.
“Prospects are good for mean
ingful structural reformation of
our state’s general sales tax in or
der to develop a mechanism to
find some way to provide the
service sector of our economy
with an opportunity to participate
in the funding of state programs
and services,” Schlueter saicL
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111
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