Page 10 « Thursday, September 9,1999 N ATION HOWDY '99 A Concert of Praise Featuring... Sam Perry ft Soul's Desire Jami Smith Chris Tomlin Uoices of Praise and Shane ft Shane PROPOSITION NO. 1 ON THE BALLOT HJR 44 - HJR 44 proposes a constitutional amendment that would ensure a clear suc cession in event of vacancies in the offices of Governor and Lieutenant Governor. Spe cifically, the amendment would provide that if after qualifying for the office, the Gover nor is temporarily unable to serve, the Lieu tenant Governor shall act as Governor until the Governor is able to serve; but if the Gov ernor is permanently unable to serve, the Lieutenant Governor shall become the Gov ernor for the remainder of the unexpired term. The amendment would require a Lieutenant Governor who becomes Governor to forfeit the office of Lieutenant Governor. The amendment would also provide similar suc cession procedures when a vacancy occurs in the office of Governor before the newly elected Governor qualifies for office, and when the newly elected Governor is tempo rarily unable to take office. The amendment also would provide that if there is a tempo rary vacancy in the office of Lieutenant Gov ernor, the President pro tempore of the Sen ate will fill the position; but if there is a per manent vacancy in the office of Lieutenant povernor, the President pro tempore of the Senate shall serve as Lieutenant Governor only until such time as the whole senate can convene to elect one of its members to per form the duties of Lieutenant Governor. Fi nally, the amendment would provide that if the Lieutenant Governor, while temporarily exercising the powers of the Governor, be comes temporarily disabled or unable to serve, the President pro tempore of the sen ate shall exercise the powers and authority of the office of the Governor until such time as the Governor or Lieutenant Governor re assumes those powers and duties. The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amend ment to revise the provisions for the filling of a vacancy in the office of governor or lieu tenant governor.” PROPOSITION NO. 2 ON THE BALLOT SJR 12 - SJR 12 proposes a constitutional amendment that would resolve conflicts be tween the Texas Constitution and federal law relating to the definition, rules, and proce dures of reverse mortgages. The amendment would define “reverse mortgage” in part as an extension of credit made against the home stead of a person who is 62 years or older, or whose spouse is 62 years or older. It would expand the list of circumstances under which payment of principal and interest become due and the procedures involved in foreclosure, and would require certain advances to be made according to specific terms in loan documents, including advances by the lender, on behalf of the borrower for payments nec essary to protect the lender’s interest. Finally, the amendment would require the Texas Su preme Court to promulgate rules of civil pro cedure expediting court-ordered foreclosures of reverse mortgage liens. The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amend ment relating to the making of advances un der a reverse mortgage and payment of a re verse mortgage.” PROPOSITION NO. 3 ON THE BALLOT ftjR 62 - HJR 62 proposes a constitutional amendment that would simplify and clarify the language of the Texas Constitution. The amendment would make no substantive changes, but would eliminate duplicative, expired, out-of-date, and ineffective terms. The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amend ment to eliminate duplicative, executed, ob solete, archaic, and ineffective provisions of the Texas Constitution.” PROPOSITION NO. 4 ON THE BALLOT HJR 4 - HJR 4 proposes a constitutional amendment that would broaden the defini tion of charitable organizations. The amend ment would exempt from ad valorem taxa tion the property of any organization engaged primarily in public charitable functions, and it would allow such an organization to con duct additional activities to support its chari table functions. The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amend ment to authorize the legislature to exempt property owned by institutions engaged pri marily in public charitable functions from ad valorem taxation.” PROPOSITION NO. 5 ON THE BALLOT SJR 26 - SJR 26 proposes an amendment that would remove the restriction prohibiting state employees who receive all or part of their compensation from the state from serving as members of a governing body of a school district, city, town, or other local governmen tal district unless the state employee receives no salary for such service. The amendment would allow state employees to receive com pensation from the governing bodies' of which they are members. The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amend ment allowing state employees to receive compensation for serving as a member of a governing body of a school district, city, town, or other local governmental district.” PROPOSITION NO. 6 ON THE BALLOT SJR 22 - SJR 22 proposes a constitutional amendment that would increase the maxi mum size of an urban homestead, which is a homestead in a city, town, or village, from one acre to ten acres and require the urban homestead to be composed of either a single lot or several lots that are adjacent to one an other. The amendment also would provide that the urban homestead must be used as a home or as both a home and place of busi ness, whereas current law does not require that an urban homestead that is used as a place of business be used also as a home. Current law further allows a person to se cure a home equity loan on their homestead, provided that the loan does not overburden the homestead. That is, the principal amount of the home equity loan, when added to the total of the outstanding principal balances of all other indebtedness secured against the homestead, does not exceed 80 percent of the fair market value of the homestead on the date the extension of credit is made. The proposed amendment would clarify current law by specifically allowing home equity loans on all or part of urban homesteads of up to ten acres and subject such loans to the same requirement that the refinanced or new loan not overburden the homestead. The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amend ment increasing the maximum size of an ur ban homestead to 10 acres, prescribing per missible uses of urban homesteads, and pre venting the overburdening of a homestead.” PROPOSITION NO. 7 ON THE BALLOT HJR 16 - HJR 16 proposes a constitutional amendment that would provide that if an em ployee is delinquent in paying court-ordered spousal maintenance, a portion of that employee’s wages may be withheld to pay the spousal maintenance. Current law allows such withholding, or garnishment, only for payment of delinquent court-ordered child support. The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amend ment authorizing garnishment of wages for the enforcement of court-ordered spousal maintenance.” PROPOSITION NO. 8 ON THE BALLOT HJR 95 - HJR 95 proposes a constitutional amendment that would provide that the ad jutant general, who is appointed by the Gov ernor and who serves as the governing of ficer of the state military forces, serves as long as the Governor wishes the appointed person to serve in that capacity rather than serving a specific two-year term set by the legislature. The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amend ment to provide that the adjutant general serves at the pleasure of the governor.” PROPOSITION NO. 9 ON THE BALLOT SJR 10 - SJR 10 proposes a constitutional amendment that would authorize the legisla ture to create a judicial compensation com mittee to make recommendations for salaries for the justices and judges of the Supreme Court, the Court of Criminal Appeals, the Courts of Appeals, and the District Courts. The amendment would mandate that the rec ommendations become law if neither the Senate nor the House of Representatives re jects them by majority vote. The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amend ment authorizing the legislature to create a judicial compensation commission.” PROPOSITION NO. 10 ON THE BALLOT HJR 74 - HJR 74 proposes a constitutional amendment that would provide that the com missioner of health and human services, who is appointed by the Governor, serves as long as the Governor wishes the appointed per son to serve in that capacity rather than serv ing a specific two-year term set by the legis lature. The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amend ment to provide that the commissioner of health and human services serves at the plea sure of the governor.” PROPOSITION NO. 11 ON THE BALLOT HJR 69 - HJR 69 proposes a constitutional amendment that would authorize a county, city, town, or other political subdivision to Wasted at work Battalion Report says 7 of 10 drug users hold full-tinu lie WASHINGTON (AP) — Seven in 10 people who used illegal drugs in 1997 had full-time jobs, the U.S. gov ernment reports. Officials hope the data will dispel notions that most drug users are burned out and dis connected from the mainstream. “The typical drug user is not poor and unemployed,” Barry McCaffrey, the White House drug policy director, said. “He or she can be a co-worker, a husband or wife, a parent.” About 6.3 million full-time workers, ages 18 to 49 — or 7.7 percent — admitted in 1997 using illegal drugs in the preceding month, according to the report is sued every few years by the De partment of Health and Human Services (HHS). The proportion has been steady since 1992. Workers in restaurants, bars, construction and transportation were more likely than others to use drugs, the report said. HHS officials were using the report’s findings to encourage businesses to establish treatment programs. Increasingly, drug users are working in medium sized companies, which have the resources to establish these pro grams, they said. Still, 44 percent of drug users were working for small businesses — those with fewer than 25 em ployees, down from 57 percent in 1994 but still the largest category. “Whether you are corporate CEO or a small-business owner, you need to know that simple, low-burden, effective steps can in crease workplace safety and pro ductivity and lower substance abuse and its human and econom ic effects," said Nelba Chavez, ad ministrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Ad ministration, the HHS agency that produced the report. Drug use Other report fir: • Young adults, me-. and those with less .': ^ ^ school education ?TltOl / likely to use drugs hi- workers. artitlQ • Nineteen percer < - preparation workers B/JASO waitresses and barte': •he B illegal drugs. For cor- worker occas * c transportationandma:: w * ing workers, it was 10^ '• u ' m h'-'" imering on 11 • Workers whoused(tyheii rh.nu't.' more likely to have ,ve to be mo three or more emptee desi dreams, left a job in the past;- size, ex peri < have skipped a oav :y n|imber of f work in the pastmcr' can be misc .I i Laui i “Lucy ” yet The set .,M Yollevbn 11 FCC bolsters candidates’ air tii t tackup until jen it did, sh lily to shov uld do. WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal regulators acted yesterday to give political candidates greater flexi bility in the blocks of air time they can purchase from broadcasters. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruled broadcasters must sell presidential and con gressional candidates air time in increments other than the 30-second or 1-minute spots typically sold to commercial advertisers. Consumer groups had petitioned the FCC to change a rule that let broadcasters refuse air time to political candidates if it was not the same length purchased by other advertisers. The groups argued that political candidates might spend public funds or extend credit to pur chase nonassessable property or casualty in surance from a mutual insurance company authorized to do business in Texas. Under current law, a political subdivision is gener ally prohibited from spending public funds or extending credit to become a stockholder in a corporation but is permitted to purchase nonassessable life, health or accident insur ance policies from a mutual insurance com pany authorized to do business in Texas. This amendment would authorize a political sub division to also obtain non-assessable prop erty and casualty insurance from such a com pany. members. PROPOSITION NO. 15 ON THE BALLOT The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amend ment permitting a political subdivision to pur chase nonassessable property and casualty in surance from an authorized mutual insurance company in the same manner that the politi cal subdivision purchases life, health, and ac cident insurance.” HJR 36 - HJR 36 proposes a constitutional amendment that would allow spouses, by an agreement in writing, to convert all or part of their separate property into community property. Separate property is primarily the property owned or claimed by the spouse before marriage and the property acquired by the spouse during the marriage by gift or in heritance. Community property consists of the property, other than separate property, acquired by either spouse during marriage. want a non-standard formal - like a 5 Leahy now I to go into further detail on an issue or r, ddle blockei biography over the air to voters e leads the to In a 4-1 ruling, the FCC agreed can: : ivej love for have this kind of flexibility and that its ten«;e desire t unduly burdensome for broadcasters loa: “Hicy has a c different formats. at it* peak \ “It seems to me there is no solid teas: e has more u ket rejection of political spots thatareofatybab conch l., length," FCC Chair Bill Kennard said. That style of Broadcasters said thev were disappoinyrdangorous w FCC decision, which undoes a ruling the es.|She does ly sought. By statute, stations arenequiredicrofilo oi a stn didates “to purchase reasonable amount- , yet site is a iat can delivei Detroit teacl anti effective However, it to return to It Leahv’s role DETROIT (APi-Detrc^f clean teachers voted overwhe' That t,me terday to return towotkiri 11 " 011 ^ 1 , l 10 mg, ending an extended cation for 180.000stoA Wh , irter ^ loveci into the sion of theftwSl^ nnmgof N The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amend ment permitting spouses to agree to convert separate property to community property." PROPOSITION NO. 12 ON THE BALLOT PROPOSITION NO. 16 ON THE BALLOT SJR 21 - SJR 21 proposes a constitutional amendment that would exempt from ad va lorem taxation a leased motor vehicle that is not used by the lessee primarily to produce income. The amendment would provide that the legislature also may limit the ability of a political subdivision to subject such a vehicle to taxation. The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amend ment to authorize the legislature to exempt from ad valorem taxation leased motor ve hicles not held by the lessee primarily to pro duce income.” HJR 71 - HJR 71 proposes a constitutional amendment that would allow a county with a population of 50,000 or more, rather than 30,000 or more, to be divided into four to eight justice of the peace and constable pre cincts. The amendment also would allow a county with a population between 18,000 and 50,000 to have two to eight justice of the peace and constable precincts, rather than the current maximum of five precincts. Further more, the amendment would limit Randall County to not less than two and not more than six precincts. Finally, the amendment would set a minimum of four precincts for any county that as of November 2. 1999, is di vided into four or more precincts. hold a ratificatton wleOj mail new agreement reached Wo tween the school feM i 11,500-member teachers u The teachers went on stii 30. one day before classes^ begin, in a walkoutMt one of the nation's mosta attempts to overhaul ati ban school district. Among other things,! ers objected to board's proposals forn and a longer school! mately, the school boardi both reform proposals,] time being at least. sou lwobI PROPOSITION NO. 13 ON THE BALLOT The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amend ment to provide that certain counties shall be divided into a specific number of pre cincts." SJR 16 - SJR 16 proposes a constitutional amendment that would authorize the legisla ture to allow the Texas Higher Education Co ordinating Board to issue and sell general ob ligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $400 million in order to finance educational loans to students. The amendment also would authorize the Legislature to limit the amount of interest the bonds can bear and establish procedures for the investment of the bond proceeds. The proposed amendment would specify the method of repaying the bonds. PROPOSITION NO. 17 ON THE BALLOT Contra D/ '7 , Kzditio4uxl Tim 'pol/e, “VotM The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amend ment providing for the issuance of $400 mil lion in general obligation bonds to finance educational loans to students.” PROPOSITION NO. 14 ON THE BALLOT HJR 29 - HJR 29 proposes a constitutional amendment which would authorize the Leg islature to require the board of regents of the state university and boards of trustees or managers of the educational, charitable, and penal institutions of the state, whose mem bers serve six year terms, to be composed of an odd number of three or more board mem bers (for example, 5, 7, or 9 members). The proposed amendment would allow approxi mately one-third of members of boards whose membership is not evenly divisible by three to be elected or appointed every two years. The amendment also would allow the Legislature to set the composition of consti tutionally required boards, whose members serve for a term of six years, to a number divisible by three so that exactly one-third of the board members may be elected or ap pointed every two years. HJR 58 - HJR 58 proposes a constitutional amendment which would require the board of regents of the University of Texas System to manage investments of the permanent uni versity fund (PUF) according to the standards of a prudent investor. Generally, earnings from the PUF are distributed to the available university fund (AUF) and then ultimately distributed to the public university systems of Texas. Under the amendment, the amount distributed to the AUF would consist of dis tributions, as detennined by the University of Texas System board of regents, from the total return on all investment assets of the PUF, instead of consisting only of the divi dends, interest, and other income of the PUF minus administrative expenses. The amend ment also would provide guidelines for mini mum and maximum amounts to be distrib uted to the AUF, and require that the board of regents manage distributions to the AUF in a manner that will provide the AUF with a stable and predictable stream of annual dis tributions and maintain the purchasing power of the PUF investments and annual distribu tions to the AUF. Saturday, Sept 11,3toi| Live Music, All Dances I 1 No Partner Necessary ! Durango Dance Stuit| 3141 Briarcrest Dr. Ei Vi mile East of theBylj Questions?? Call8464 Late Shows ' on Thursda Nights only $ 4.00 r I N E M Al The Best Scot l f HOLLYWOOD USJ| ALL SHOWS BEFORE G 00PM AND AFIEbI AFTER 6:00PM ADULTS $6.00 CHILDB0H STEREO SURROUND SOUND IN AU> BOX OFFICE OPENS DAILY AT CALL FOR SHOWTIMES The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amend ment relating to the investment of the per manent university fund and the distribution from the permanent university fund to the available university fund.” The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amend ment authorizing the legislature to provide that a state board, commission, or other agency shall be governed by a board com posed of an odd number of three or more Estos son los informes explanatorios sobre las enmiendas propuestas a la contitutibn que apareceran en la boleta el 2 de noviembre de 1999. Si usted no ha recibido una copia de los informes in enpanol, podra obtener una gratis por llama al 1/800/252/8683 or por escribir al Secretario de Estado, P.O. Box 12060, Austin, Tx 78711. INSPECTOR' THE ASTI# 11:35 2:tS