■The Battalion
STATE & LOCAL 3
>wVednesday, August 16,1989
eland widow stands good chance
o succeed husband, observers say
I HOUSTON (AP) — Three city
maJouncilinen with strong ties to
™4ickey Leland are being discussed
s possible successors to tne late con-
ressman, but observers said Mon-
ay his seat could go almost uncon
tested to his widow if she wants it.
I ‘‘In the great Southern tradition,
|’s the wife who would come for-
ard. If Mickey Leland’s wife is in
Eiere, you’re not going to have any-.
e tr rr one running against her,” Rice Uni-
tt Bersity political science professor
vulnera| Robert Stein said when asked about
^fie possibility of a bid for Leland’s
at by Alison Leland.
Leland, a 30-year-old investment
anker with Shearson Lehman, is
yo months pregnant and has a 3-
lear-old son.
I “I would think her first concern is
her health and child,” Stein said.
Local newspapers contained sto
ics Monday speculating that Leland
pd three Houston councilmen with
es to her husband — Rodney Ellis,
Lnthony Hall and Ben Reyes —
ght run for his 18th Congressio-
al District seat.
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Gov. Bill Clements must decide ei
ther to schedule the race for Le
land’s seat during the next regular
election Nov. 7 or declare an emer-
In the great Southern
tradition, it’s the wife who
would come forward. If
Mickey Leland’s wife is in
there, you’re not going to
have anyone running
against her.
— Robert Stein,
Rice political science
professor
gency and call a special election be
fore then.
“Alison is an attractive woman
and would, if she were interested, be
an imposing symbol and a formida
ble opponent to anybody,” said Har
ris County Democratic Chairman
Jack Carter, whose county includes
Houston. “In fact, so many people
know her personally and out of re
spect for Mickey and her, she could
walk in.
“She’s been involved in political
life as wife of a congressman . . . but
I’ve never heard her express any in
terest in running,” Carter added.
“Whether she wants to do that, it’s a
tough thing to do. But Hale Boggs’
wife did it and Alison may consider
it.”
In October 1972, a plane carrying
Boggs, a Louisiana Democrat and
then House majority leader, crashed
in Alaska. His body never was
found. Boggs’ wife, Lindy, was
elected to his seat in 1973 and con
tinues to serve.
Similarly, the widow of Rep.
George Collins, D-I1L, who died in a
1972 plane crash, was elected to his
seat the following year. Cardiss Col
lins still represents the Chicago dis
trict.
After word came that the wreck-
AUSTIN (AP) — Warning that
he workers’ compensation insur-
nce system in Texas is on the
rerge of collapse, the insurance
industry Tuesday called for an
average increase in premiums of
34.9 nt.
Robert Hilton, senior vice pres
ident of the National Council on
Compensation Insurance, said
tingsfc rising workers’ comp insurance
osses have “become intolerable”
md are driving insurers away
"rom Texas.
“If something isn’t done to bal-
nce cost and price, . .s s then the
ystem is going tp collapse,,Insur
ance companies are not going to
write the product,” Hilton, of
Boca Raton, Fla., said.
State lawmakers this year failed
after a 140-day regular legislative
session and 30-day special session
to reform the insurance system
that compensates employees in
jured on-the-job.
Gov. Bill Clements has said he
will call the Legislature into a fall
special session on workers’ comp.
Kay Doughty, public counsel
for the Consumer Protection Di
vision of the State Board of In
surance, said many businesses
would not be able to afford a 34.9
percent increase, on top of in
creases that have averaged 148
percent since 1985.
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“Once again the ratepayers in
the state of Texas are being asked
to take it on the chin and to pay
for a system that is broke,”
Doughty said.
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She said the proposal would
cause more companies to drop
workers’ comp insurance, leaving
injured employees unable to re
cover timely benefits and employ-
COnoitfl ers vulnerable to costly lawsuits
[that could drive them out of busi-
of sll ness -
Both Doughty’s division and
the Insurance Board staff will
later present alternative rate rec
ommendations.
Hance starts campaign
for Texas governor by
emphasizing experience
AUSTIN (AP) — Kent Hance, cit
ing a lengthy resume in state and
federal government, Tuesday
kicked off his second bid for the Re
publican gubernatorial nomination
by promising to try to ban state in
come taxes and increase local control
of schools.
“I am the one candidate who does
not need on-the-job training,” said
Hance, a former state senator, con
gressman and currently chairman of
the Railroad Commission. “As your
governor, I will lead on day one.”
Hance pledged to pursue an anti-
abortion agenda with the Legis
lature, to ban bail for accused drug
dealers and create special “drug
courts” in the state’s larger cities.
“The other party will offer the
worn-out, liberal view of big govern
ment and higher taxes,” he said.
“We will offer the conservative view
that creates jobs and promotes op
portunity.”
Hance, a former Democrat, was
elected to the state Senate from Lub
bock in 1974. He beat George W.
Bush in 1978 for a seat in Congress
and became a “Boll Weevil” Demo
crat who backed Republican Presi
dent Reagan’s income tax cut.
After losing the 1984 Democratic
nomination for U.S. Senate, Hance
switched parties. He lost the 1986
GOP gubernatorial primary to Gov.
Bill Clements, who in 1987 ap
pointed him to the Railroad Com
mission. Hance became the first Re
publican elected to that panel by
winning the seat in 1988.
Topping what he called his “new
vision” for Texas was Hance’s prom
ise to seek a state constitutional ban
on income taxes and a constitutional
requirement that two-thirds of the
House and Senate approve any tax
increase.
Borrowing a campaign line from
President Bush, Hance said, “To the
liberal, special interests of this state
— read my lips, no state income tax
in Texas.”
Hance also called for more local
control over schools and for making
the state education commissioner’s
job an elected one.
He proposed allowing the 1,100
local school districts to select text
books, rather than state education
officials, and he called for an educa
tion task force to study elimination
of “as many of the rules and regula
tions as possible.”
“I want to return to the basics. I
want to see a return to strict disci
pline in our classrooms,” he said.
Hance joined two other declared
Republican gubernatorial candi
dates — Clayton Williams and Jack
Rains, both Texas A&M former stu
dents—- in calling for tougher action
against drug dealers.
He proposed creating around-
the-clock “drug courts” in Dallas,
Houston, San Antonio, Austin and
El Paso to hasten processing of drug
cases and urged a constitutional
amendment to prohibit bail for ac
cused drug dealers.
“There must be no mercy for
them,” he said. “We must get tough,
stay tough and be relentless in our
prosecution of drug dealers.”
Hance described himself as anti
abortion, saying he hopes the Legis
lature will require parental consent
for women under 18 and “protect
ing the taxpayers who feel that their
money should not be spent on abor
tions.”
He predicted lawmakers would
pass such laws, adding, “My personal
belief certainly is to be able to go fur
ther. I would sign a bill that would
go further. My position is I am op
posed to abortion. . . . The only ex
ception would be the life of the
mother.”
age of Leland’s plane had been
found Sunday in Ethiopia, Secret
Service agents summoned to the
family’s home here escorted Alison
Leland to an undisclosed location.
She could not be reached for com
ment Monday.
“She is a very strong young
woman, but she has been badly sha
ken,” said the Rev. William Lawson,
a family friend. “All in all, she has
been extremely courageous and she
has taken it extremely well.”
If Clements sets the election for
Nov. 7 to coincide with the Houston
city election, the three council mem
bers legally could not appear on the
ballot as candidates for both the
council and Congress.
Ellis, a former top Leland aide,
friend and political ally was viewed
as the strongest candidate, according
to Stein.
Asked for comment, the coun
cilman’s office coordinator, Rhonda
Belt, said Ellis would not be in the
office all week. She said he has not
discussed running for Leland’s seat
with her.
Reyes, another Leland friend,
could not be reached because he had
gone to Ethiopia to be close to the
search for the congressman.
Hall, an old Leland friend who
lost a 1978 runoff against the con
gressman, said he did not feel it was
appropriate to comment on the pos
sibility he might run for the seat.
“Mickey Leland was a dear and
personal friend, and it is my hope I
can exercise appropriate dignity un
til we get him home and buried,”
Hall said.
Grand jury indicts
man for poisoning
historic Treaty Oak
AUSTIN (AP) — Paul Sted-
man Cullen, in jail since his arrest
in late June, was indicted Tues
day by a Travis County grand
jury in the poisoning of the 500-
year-old Treaty Oak.
The indictment charged Cul
len, 45, of Elroy, with felony
criminal mischief, causing dam
age in excess of $20,000. The
charge is a second-degree felony
carrying a maximum penalty of
two to 20 years in prison and a
$10,000 fine.
According to a statement is
sued by the Travis County district
attorney’s office, Cullen was con
victed of burglary in 1986. That
could increase the criminal mis
chief charge to a first-degrfee fel
ony, punishable by up to life in
prison, the district attorney’s of
fice said.
Cullen has been in jail in lieu of
$20,000 bail. A grand jury indict
ment allows a defendant to be
held until trial, officials said.
The poisoning of the landmark
tree occurred when the herbicide
Velpar was poured on the soil
around the centuries-old live oak.
In struggling to survive the chem
ical, the oak has dropped several
sets of leaves.
Richard C. Jenkins of Dallas,
Cullen’s attorney, has said he
would consider asking for a
change of venue in the case from
Travis County because of public
ity surrounding the case.
“The folks in Travis County
are very fair-minded,” he said,
but he added, “The real trial’s al
ready been held in the press.”
Jenkins scoffed at allegations
by authorities that the Velpar
may have been poured around
the tree during some sort of rit
ual. He said the amount of Cul
len’s bond usually is reserved for
a kidnapper or murderer.
“By golly, we’ve got our own
Salem witchcraft trial in Austin,
Texas,” he said.
There was an outpouring of
public support for the tree after
the poisoning was discovered.
An $11,000 reward was of
fered for information leading to
the conviction of the poisoner,
with $10,000 being put up by Du
Pont, which manufactures Vel
par. The Texas Forestry Associa
tion put up the other $ 1,000.
Dallas billionaire H. Ross Perot
pledged funds, and experts gave
advice in the fight to save the
tree. Visitors to the oak have left
get-well messages, flowers, cans
of chicken soup and rock crystals,
which some believe have healing
powers.
Legend has it that Stephen F.
Austin, the father of Texas,
signed a treaty with the Indians
under the oak’s branches. How
ever, the Handbook of Texas says
there is little foundation for the
tale.
Four-fifths of jobless Texans
didn’t collect unemployment
WASHINGTON (AP) — Less
than one-fifth of jobless Texans col
lected unemployment benefits last
year, according to a study Tuesday
that found nearly half a million peo
ple did without unemployment in
surance.
The Center on Budget and Policy
Priorities said only 19.4 percent of
jobless Texans collected unemploy
ment benefits in an average month
last year, while 488,100 Texans were
without. Nationally, 31.5 percent of
jobless workers were covered by un
employment insurance.
The liberal non-profit organiza
tion also found unemployment cov
erage most limited among jobless
Hispanics, with just one in seven re
ceiving benefits last year. Only one
in five jobless black workers was paid
jobless benefits.
Although Texas had the most
people not receiving benefits, it
ranked 47th out of the 50 states and
the District of Columbia in the per
centage of people not covered by un
employment insurance.
Only New Hampshire, Virginia,
Oklahoma and Florida had a smaller
One factor is the growing number
of two-income families, he said.
When one, >vage eayner is laid off,
the jobless person may not apply for
unemployment benefits because
there is still another income coming
in.
Another factor is the state’s strong
work ethic, and that the unemployed
may simply seek another job rather
than file for jobless benefits.
Also, the state does not have as
many unions making sure unem
ployed workers know how to apply
for jobless benefits, compared with
states with a strong union oase.
Grossenbacher said the state’s
fast-growing service economy also
appears to be able to absorb laid off
workers much more quickly than
highly specialized workers such as
highly skilled tool and die makers.
That means many unemployed may
not file for benefits because they
know they can get another job.
Teachers rate impact
of educational reforms
at Austin-area schools
percentage of unemployed workers
Hance joined a growing field of receiving benefits.
Republican candidates that includes
Midland oilman Williams and Rains,
a Houston lawyer and former secre
tary of state.
Amarillo oilman and corporate
raider T. Boone Pickens this week
said he would decide by month’s end
whether he will seek the GOP nomi
nation.
William Grossenbacher, adminis
trator of the Texas Employment
Commission, said a number of fac
tors contribute to the state’s low per
centage of covered workers. He did
not dispute the center’s findings,
which were based on U.S. Labor De-
E artment figures and its own calcu-
itions.
AUSTIN (AP) — Five years after
passage of school reform legislation,
Austin and four other area school
districts are among 60 throughout
the state that will be graded by teach
ers to measure educational progress.
Other Austin-area districts to be
graded include Bastrop, Lake Tra
vis, Pflugerville and Round Rock,
according to the Texas Federation
of Teachers.
During the 1989-90 school year,
the federation said it would solicit
opinions from teachers on the im
pact of House Bill 72, which was en
acted by the Legislature in 1984.
The report card, which was devel
oped by the federation, will allow
teachers to give grades “A” through
“F” for each of the following sub
jects: class size; minimum skills test;
pre-kindergarten and kindergarten
programs; career ladders; teacher
autonomy; essential elements; no
pass, no play; teacher salaries; tea
cher evaluation system; and paper
work reduction.
The final grades for all 60 districts
will be released in the fall of 1990.
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