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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 4, 1998)
'll Friday, September 4, 1998 State The Battalion .j^ush calls for tax cut after wyonton freing budget surplus Breedlm I. Johns s Addict Jve hast I ho ijr Vme 3TIN (AP) — Gov. George W. iroposed a $400 million sales it Thursday on some con- items — including over-the- ?r medications and diapers. UUe ; ; the latest tax cut idea to be !u 1 1 as Texas politicians this Jns,> m year eye a projected $3.7 ne han: state budget surplus, irk on ih: ne lof the • t voarchallenges ‘but CD. ■ next (leg- ■u a 1 e) Isession > hoduk >e to resist mptation to miing t all the c[). ble money el future big intent,” the linu . . ilican gover- id. ntend to be an advocate for . tpayers,” he said. “By giving y back to the taxpayers we . , spending it on more ' iment.” sh’s Democratic opponent, Mauro, accused the governor flopping because he had pro- ! ' a sales tax increase two b ago to help fund a property llback. ii Jets ?h on Thursday proposed re- ard, l a g the sales tax on: over-the- Gramn: ?r medications, annually sav- tvt re msumers an estimated $150 itionar : n; diapers, saving $110 mil- istin . md health aids, saving about ■ illion. BUSH He also called for repealing the $20 million sales tax on Internet access. And he suggested a two-week sales tax holiday on retail clothing and footwear, timed to coincide with back-to-school buying, a savings to consumers estimated at $75 million. Mauro said in 1995, Bush pro posed raising the state sales tax rate from 6 1/4 percent to 6 3/4 percent — about $1.6 billion — as a way to fund part of a $3 billion property tax cut plan. The Legislature eventually re jected Bush’s plan but passed a $1 billion property tax cut. “Once again, Governor Bush is talking out of both sides of his mouth,” Mauro said. “Governor Bush proposed in creasing the sales tax ... on over- the-counter medicines, diapers, clothing, footwear and health aids. This year, only two months before the election. Governor Bush has flip-flopped,” the Democrat said. Mauro launched his campaign with a tax cut call. A key plank in Mauro’s platform is repeal of the state’s 6 1/4 percent sales tax on automobiles, pickup trucks and minivans. He estimates that would save Texans $4 billion a year “on how they get to work.” Bush rejected that idea, saying his sales tax cut would be spread wider and help lower income peo ple and the elderly. Mauro’s motor vehicle tax cut idea, Bush said, “generally affects people one out of every seven years. I believe in affecting people’s lives every year.” Bush’s proposal is the second this week on how to use some of the state’s expected extra cash to cut taxes. On Wednesday, Comptroller John Sharp, the Democratic candi date for lieutenant governor, pro posed a limited state sales tax moratorium. Sharp’s plan calls for all cloth ing under $50 and school supplies to be exempted from the state’s 6.25 percent sales tax for two weeks beginning Aug. 15, 1999. Texans would save an estimated $80.3 million as a result — more if Texas cities agree to waive their 2 percent sales tax for the same peri od, Sharp said. Agriculture Commissioner Rick Perry, Sharp’s Republican oppo nent in November, endorsed the Bush sales tax cut plan, promising to work for its passage if elected to preside over the Texas Senate. Perry also has proposed a tax cut for start-up businesses and eliminating the franchise tax for about 176,000 small businesses with less than $100,000 in annual earnings, Ray Sullivan, his spokesperson, said. [ivironmental officials got ‘illegal >mmunications > on nuke dump STIN (AP) — The state offi- :onsidering whether to issue ise for a proposed nuclear dump in West Texas got il- :ommunications supporting ump, the state’s environ- il agency said Thursday, e Texas Natural Resource ?rvation Commission said 'ee commissioners received onic mail from dump ■rs. am extremely concerned these circumstances and reach of proper legal proce- Geoff Connor, TNRCC’s f al counsel, said, mor said the e-mail sent to |:y Chairman Barry McBee Commissioners John Baker "alph Marquez supported the sed dump, which would be aear Sierra Blanca, about 90 , from El Paso. CheCKe proposed facility, which is ;ed by some West Texas res- O l J T Sefe an d environmental groups, 1 hold radioactive waste gen- jl by nuclear power plants, try, medical labs and _p-cpities. SpaGtJ J i r teen e-mails were traced to employees of Texas Utilities Tc Company, which supports . ^cility and is party to the case considered by the TNRCC lissioners, Connor said. 0 CCGSSOs other five were sent by two )ers of the Advocates for Re- ible Disposal in Texas, a that also supports the but is not a party to the ng case, he said, does not appear that any .acted with malice,” Connor r However, a serious (viola- of ft 1 ! nflaftf tion) remains.” Like judges hearing a court case, TNRCC’s commissioners de ciding a contested case cannot be contacted by one side unless all parties are aware of the commu nication, Connor said. At least one commissioner acci dentally saw the e-mails, he said. All participants in the case were informed and given copies “I am extremely concerned about these circum stances and the breach of proper legal procedure” — Geoff Connor TNBCC’s general counsel of the e-mails, Connor said. He said each side has until Sept. 18 to file a legal response. The 18 e-mails should have been sent to the TNRCC’s chief clerk, who would have made copies and sent them to all parties in the case, Connor said. “It’s unfortunate that some people don’t know what the law is,” said Lee Mathews, general counsel for the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Au thority, which is seeking the permit. Mathews said while the poten tially illegal communications are serious, no harm was done. “I don’t think there are any basis for dismissal” of the case, he said. The president of Advocates for Responsible Disposal, Eddie Selig, said the group did not intend to send the e-mails directly to com missioners. “It was a mistake and unintentional on our part,” he said. Selig said the group assumed sending e-mails would be similar to a letter-writing campaign, where communication is screened. “Sending an e-mail ap parently is different because com missioners read the messages” di rectly, he said. Eric Schmitt, spokesman for Texas Utilities Electric Company said the company did encourage employees to send letters of sup port of the site, but did not realize the potential ramifications. “It was an innocent mistake,” he said. Officials with the Sierra Blanca Legal Defense Fund, which op poses the site, were critical. “I think the e-mails reflect the industry’s belief that they have a cozy relationship with the TNR CC,” said David Frederick, a lawyer for the fund. The commissioners must de cide whether to accept or over turn a recommendation of two state hearings examiners who concluded in July that the TNRCC should not license the dump. The examiners said disposal of ficials failed to adequately study a geological fault beneath the pro posed site and to adequately ad dress the dump’s potential nega tive socioeconomic impacts. >W ime $ii 5 rounds up legal immigrants with DWI convictions g {LI .AS (AP) — Hundreds of legal immigrants are 9 ng deportation in detention centers across Texas as $2«- a federal initiative aimed at immigrants with three 41 |]re drunken driving convictions. Harlingen, El Paso, San Antonio, Houston and districts of the Immigration and Naturalization Ser- 1 have taken part in the secretive initiative dubbed tion Last Call. jcials scheduled news conferences for today to ce the arrests. as INS spokesman Lynn Ligon said about 150 im- 'its are being detained here, and estimated that each other four Texas districts had arrested about the ial Student ft* 1 3ther 150 p e0 p le are st jjj being sought in the eee Station, area. ‘, 4 . .nt^nxw bl#e have made a concerted effort the past month to • nttp.//uu these folks up,” Ligon said. (jfne of the detainees could be deported within a i-Thurs: “ a ''( while others may remain here longer, Ligon said. >.m., Sat: , vast majority of immigrants targeted in the pro- ire permanent, legal residents of the United States. 5 Iffests were made possible by 1996 immigration is and a ruling earlier this year by the federal Board ligration Appeals that anyone with three DWI con victions may be classified as an aggravated felon. Any one classified as such may be deported. “Our posture is, living in this country — if you’re not a citizen — is a privilege,” Ligon said. “It is not a right.” Some of the immigrants now being detained will get hearings, but they have little chance of avoiding depor tation now that they are classified as aggravated felons, Ligon said. Word of the roundup sparked immediate outrage among immigrants and their advocates across the state. “This is tearing up families, tearing up communities, tearing up the lives of women and children, making them dependent on what’s left of the welfare system,” Rogelio Nunez, executive director of the immigration rights group Proyecto Libertad, told the (Harlingen) Valley Morning Star. The advocates also questioned the civil rights impli cations of the initiative. “First they went after illegal immigrants; now they’re going after legal residents,” Benigo Pena of the South Texas Immigration Council told the newspaper. “What is this — ethnic cleansing?” Ligon said INS officials anticipated criticism from im migrant groups but are merely trying to uphold the nation’s laws. Host a company Mays College of Business Spring Career Fair Sept. 21-24 Informational Meeting You must attend one of the two meetings: Tuesday, Sept. 8 Wednesday, Sept. 9 8:00-8:30 p.m. 8:00-8:30 p.m. Wehner 118 Wehner 159 Career Fair Website: http:!Iwehner.tamu.edulbsc Season subscriptions start at $129 • Season packages start at $64 An Epic 26 ^paenn sjBLjsB SnJSp Smokey Joe's Cafe September 23-24 St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra October 15 Bully, An Adventure with Teddy Roosevelt starring John Davidson October 17-18 House of Blues Highway 61 October 21 Always...Patsy Cline November 10-11 Nigel Kennedy November 15 Fiddler on the Roof January 20-21 NYC Opera National Co. Madama Butterfly January 26-27 Tango Buenos Aires January 30-31 big - THE MUSICAL February 10-11 Russian National Ballet The Sleeping Beauty February 19-21 Les Miserables March 23-28 bEIBS FOR THE YOUNG AT ART! Ramona Quimby October 11 Steve Love’s New York ^ Express Roller Dance Co. ! November 21 Billy B. The Natural Science Song & Dance Man February 14 Charlotte Blake Alston, Storyteller February 28 The Island of the Skog April 10 Order your tickets now, call 845-1234. Join us at First Baptist Bryan this Sunday! On Campus Bus Pick Up 9:15 a.m. Quad • Commons Fish Pond Special Guest Speaker Dr. Ben Welch Texas Avenue at 28th Street Just 4 Miles North of University Drive www.fbcb.com