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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 9, 1989)
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Call 845-0569 Paged The Battalion Thursday, November 9, Texas elections Pay-increase supporters puzzled by voter responsi AUSTIN (AP) — Supporters of higher wages for members of the Texas Legislature were scratching their heads Wednesday, trying to figure out how to convince voters to approve a pay hike. “It’s a cause that is so obviously right that it’s hard for me to under stand the opposition to it, but that opposition is traditionally there,” said Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby, who has presided over the Senate since 1973. While Texans approved money for everything from sewers to pris ons in Tuesday’s election, the only statewide propositions to fail in volved more money for legislators. Proposition 1, to triple legislative salaries to $23,300 annually, was de feated by a final margin of 63.4 per cent to 36.6 percent. Proposition 11, to boost lawmak ers’ daily expense allowance from $30 to $81, was rejected 52.8 percent to 47.2 percent. Analysts pointed to several factors as dooming the raises. First, lawmakers sought the pay hike in the same year they accepted $1.86 million in gifts and entertain ment from lobbyists, largesse that in clude ski trips and vacations in Aca pulco. But they didn’t pledge to reform ethics rules. “The defeat of Proposition 1 shows that Texans want reform be fore raises,” said Tom Smith, direc tor of the government watchdog group Public Citizen. Second, in their bid to win voter approval lawmakers proposed to “limit” their pay by linking it to the governor’s salary, which the Legis lature sets. Besides tripling their pay now, it would have removed require ments for future voter approval. “Texans are saying thatwecl want to be tricked,” Lynn chairman of the anti-raise Tq for Financial Responsibility "We don’t want misleading ant ceptive practices, and wearejusl going to stand for it.” Third, there is traditional of; lion to pay hikes, and this ret came on the heels of publico, over a proposed pay raise for gressmen who make $89,000aiv Since 1881, Texas legislator^:, asked voters to approve pay ran times. Only four of those 9 passed, the last in 1975 whenk. rose from $400 a month to $6W g “The pay raise has been or ballot every six or eight yean,: has only passed one of those i (1975),” Hobby said. “So it’salv very tough thing to sell." Business officials celebrate renewal of tax amendment DALLAS (AP) — Texas business officials were celebrating the return of the “freeport” amendment Wednesday, a measure they say is long overdue and a definite bright spot for the struggling Texas econ omy. “The approval of the freeport amendment is more important to the Texas economy than the super collider because it will allow for more jobs,” Alma Faulkner, a spokesman for the Texas Associa tion of Business, said. Voters approved Proposition 5 by a vote of 743,124, 64 percent, to 410,338, 36 percent, on a statewide ballot Tuesday. The proposition gives counties the option of dropping property taxes on goods brought into Texas and stored temporarily for manufac turing or redistribution. “This makes Texas products more competitive in national and interna tional markets,” Glenn E. West, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Austin Ghamber of Commerce, said. “Without question it should help encourage the exportation of Texas- made products to the nation and to the world.” Texas counties will have the op tion of implementing the amend ment before April 15. While some businesses are excited over the pros pect of tax-free production of some exports, others were more skeptical. Ed Miller, corporate tax manager for Dallas-based Texas Instruments, said the struggling economy and the state’s need for tax dollars may keep the amendment from being imple mented locally around the state. “The entire state is pretty much in the same boat,” Miller said. “There is a need for tax dollars for education and other priorities.” Whitmire follows victory with trip to Washington HOUSTON (AP) — Kathy Whit mire, still savoring her re-election as mayor of the nation’s fourth-largest city, took the day off Wednesday be fore leaving for Washington where she’s planning to convince Demo crats to host the 1992 convention here. Whitmire finished in Tuesday’s balloting with 173,285 votes, or 63.2 percent, to 87,836 or 32 percent, for her main challenger and former Mayor Fred Hofheinz. Four other candidates shared the remaining vote, which amounted to less than 5 percent. Whitmire’s election to a fifth two- year term tied a city record for lon gevity. “The campaign is over, tonight we have a victory,” Whitmire said Tues day night as her 2-1 triumph became clear. “We need to move Houston into a great new decade that is only two months away. Our high priority in the 1990s is to make sure the eco nomic recovery benefits all of Hous ton.” “You have given me such a high honor,” she told supporters. “I am so proud. You have placed your trust in me. My goal is to live up to that trust and to make sure our com munity is the greatest city anywhere in the world.” The mayor stayed at her victory party at the AstroVillage Hotel until past 2 a.m. Wednesday, her spokes man Lorie Arnett said. The loss for Hofheinz, 51, an at torney, snuffed his bid for a political comeback. The son of Roy Hofh einz, the Harris County judge whose legacy is the Houston Astrodome, served as mayor twice in the 1970s. Experts: Issut barely passesj confuses votei LUBBOCK (AP) — Prop! tion 18 was barely approved { voters on Election Day, but ^ because it was a controversii sue. Experts on the constitutic amendment believe that if void knew the bonds would contiimi loan program that has essentia, replenished the Ogallala Aqui: and improved water consere tion, it would have been $ proved by a much larger marr With 576,109 votes cast,Pn* osition 18 was approved b\ d votes. A recount of the votes cani requested by at least 25 registers voters or a campaign treasurer; a special-purpose group that.: involved in the election. The amendment extends ik November 1989 deadline forta state to issue $200 million inagir cultural water conservation bom approved in 1985. So what does that meaniflj Texas I>&baVtment' of Agrio: ture, the TV^las Water Com® sion and the Texas Water Dot opment Board couldn’t ansvj that. However Ken Kramer, dintj tor of the Lone Star Sierra Ck chapter, remembered why H bonds were approved in them place. His and a range of other a® ist organizations lobbied fiertf in 1985 for passage of the bout in an effort to stop thecontin©’ decline of state groundwater 1ft els and water waste. The bonds were part of a to provide financial assistance farmers buying more efficient? rigation systems and slow the cline of the state’s groundwaie levels which greatly exceed nat ral recharge rates. “When the bonds were firs;* thorized in 1985, there wasaffij eat that there was first a pilot loan progr whether this would workinprs tice,” Kramer said. But during the time the gram was being tested, the stall] water agencies were reorgania and the program was delayed, said. re wasacafl it goingtoffi^ ram to sf ; , ^ Harris County approves bond to enlarge Houston ship channel HOUSTON (AP) — Aside from re-electing Mayor Kathy Whitmire to a fifth term, voters in the nation’s fourth-largest city also overwhelm ingly approved a $130 million Har ris County bond issue to enlarge the Houston Ship Channel. But oppo nents say the project ultimately will be defeated. Sixty-three percent of the voters Tuesday favored the bonds, which Port of Houston officials have said would require a tax increase of 60 cents a month for the average home- would ultimately be defeated. “People will wake up and realize how important their habitat is, how important their world is, and not some promise to create thousands of jobs,” Morrison said. Even with approval of the bonds, the battle will go on. The S130|| lion is only the local share'of fofijjgl to deepen the channel from 40 feet and widen it from 400 to| feet. Both sides saw Tuesday's elew as a crucial opportunity to voiced sentiment to Congress. The debate featured a complex swirl of competing claims involving the massive dredging project’s po tential to boost Houston’s economy, kill or contaminate marine life in Galveston Bay and enhance naviga tion safety. Texas voter turnout exceeded expectations Jim Pugh, port executive director, said the vote indicates county voters are willing to “invest in the future” and “aren’t going to be dissuaded by some irrational alarmism and will try to understand an issue and get the facts as clearly as they can.” But Dick Morrison, a leader of project opponents, said port offi cials’ “misrepresentations will come back to haunt them,” and the project AUSTIN (AP) — Turnout for Tuesday’s elections was 14.2 per cent of the state’s 8.2 million reg istered voters, the biggest consti tutional amendment vote in more than a decade, the secretary of state’s office said Wednesday. A total of 1,159,856 Texans cast ballots in the statewide consti tutional amendment election, Mark Toohey, spokesman for Secretary of State George Bayoud said. That exceeded the projection of 12 percent, or 985,000, made last week. “We’re thrilled,” Toohey saiill “We’re happy. It was betterM expected.” Except for 1987, whenarefffj endum on legalizing horse raw gambling was on the constii 11 ! tional amendment ballot, Tuq day’s turnout exceeded evft amendment election since 191'] Toohey said. Toohey said Harris Counl where Houston voters elected 1 ■ mayor, accounted for about 2' I percent of the statewide votei? 1 tal.