State & Local
Page 2
The Battalion
Monday, May 3,1993
Mond
St.
Contim
School finance rejection
Lawmakers must beat deadline to keep state funding
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — State leaders, who
hoped to be in the homestretch of
the school funding crisis by now,
instead found themselves back in
the starting gate Sunday after vot
ers rejected all three school ballot
proposals.
''We're really racing the clock
now,” said Senate Education
Committee Chairman Bill Ratliff,
R-Mount Pleasant, a sponsor of
the share-the-wealth Proposition
1.
"If the Legislature is unable to
come up with a solution, then our
greatest fears are realized," Gov.
Ann Richards said.
Texas faces a court-ordered
cutoff of state aid to schools if
lawmakers don't devise a consti
tutional plan to equalize school
funding by June 1.
Schools rely mainly on state aid
and local property taxes.
Richards had pushed the ballot
measures defeated Saturday, in
cluding Proposition 1.
Top state leaders had consid
ered that proposal for limited
property tax redistribution the
most practical way to address
court-ordered school finance re
form.
Related ballot proposals would
have provided for bonds to help
with school construction, and ex
empted school districts from fu
ture state mandates that aren't
funded.
Leaders immediately began
polishing up alternative plans to
Proposition 1.
Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock discussed
the funding issue with senators
and also planned to meet Sunday
with Richards and House Speaker
Pete Laney, a spokeswoman said.
The Supreme Court repeatedly
has told lawmakers to come up
with a constitutional way of mak
ing similar money available to
school districts that tax locally at
similar rates.
Differing property wealth his
torically has created large dispari
ties in how much money school
districts can raise.
Proposition 1 would have au
thorized the redistribution of
some property tax money among
school districts statewide and re
gionally.
Regional tax-sharing currently
takes place under a 1991 effort by
lawmakers to meet the court's or
der for equalized school funding.
But the Supreme Court said
last year that system violated the
constitution because it created a
state property tax and lacked vot
er approval.
Among remaining alternatives,
state leaders have said, are school
consolidation or local elections to
authorize the continued regional
redistribution of some property
tax money.
Under a version of the latter
plan by Ratliff, school districts
that don't approve the regional
tax-and-share system would face
spending caps.
Long night for Richards, GOP says
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Annie Change, bass guitar player for the band
Crossbone Butterfly, plays during Aggiepalooza at
the Grove on Sunday. The event was a way for
DARRIN HILL/The Battalion
local bands to get exposure in the area. This is the
second semester for Aggiepalooza to be held on
campus.
AUSTIN — Although she dis
putes the notion, it must have
been a long election night for Ann
Richards.
The popular Democratic gover
nor, who faces re-election next
year, saw voters reject all three of
the school funding proposals she
had pushed.
Her handpicked U.S. senator.
Bob Krueger, finished second to a
surprisingly strong Republican
contender.
The three leading Republican
Senate candidates, who spent
much of the campaign criticizing
one another, combined for about
57 percent of the vote. The top
three Democrats received only 40
percent.
Republicans were quick to
crow.
"It's a very, very bad night for
Gov. Richards," said Texas GOP
Chairman Fred Meyer. "The citi
zens of this state clearly turned
down her candidate for senator
and turned down her school tax
increase.
"This was a referendum on
Bob Krueger and 70 percent of the
people of Texas said no," said the
state's senior senator. Republican
Phil Gramm.
Democrats saw the results dif
ferently, yioting that Kay Bailey
Hutchison's margin was a less-
than-staggering 497 votes.
"This election was really about
which Republican was going to
end up in a runoff against Bob
Krueger," said state Democratic
Chairman Bob Slagle, whose par
ty had endorsed the appointee.
"It wasn't a Richards referen
dum," said Ed Martin, the party's
executive director. "Gov. Richards
doesn't run until 1994, and heav
en knows what political water's
going to run under the bridge be
tween now and then."
The governor campaigned
hard for the lead school measure,
share-the-wealth Proposition 1,
and loaned staff to the Save Our
Schools campaign.
Proposition 1 failed 37 percent
to 63 percent.
The governor spent weeks
looking for a replacement for
Bentsen, finally settling on
Krueger, then a Railroad Commis
sion member.
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END OF SCHOOL
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