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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