ustxtxb_obs_1975_05_23_50_00001-00000_000.pdf

013 S ERVER A Journal of Free Voices A Window to the South May 23, 1975 500 Mr. Clayton marshals his troops Austin We asked Harry Hubbard, president of the AFL-CIO and a man of ordinarily grave, even melancholy mien, what he thought of the performance of the Texas House of Representatives with three weeks left to go in the session. Hubbard began chuckling. If we didn’t know him better, we might have said he was giggling. “They’re delaying,” he finally responded, and set himself off again. We asked Rep. Carlos Truan of Corpus, a man of ordinarily temperate temperament, what he thought of the 64th session thus far. “This is the most special-interest oriented Legislature I have ever served in, and this is my fourth session. Legislation that is truly people-oriented is being held up in committees. Hearings are not being held or are being held too late in the session to do any good. This House ought to go down as the least productive in legislative history.” We asked Rep. Mickey Leland of Houston, a man who is seldom temperate, his opinion. “You mix molasses, peanut butter, and tar, and you got the progress of this session,” said Leland. BUT THE SECOND floor of the west wing of the capitol is not all drear and gloom. Speaker Billy Clayton, who cheerfully described himself as a professional optimist, said he considered this end-of-session logjam no worse than the normal end-of-session logjam. During an interview painfully reminiscent of those with Price Daniel, Jr., in the waning days of the late constitutional convention, Clayton said, “We’ve got school finance and utilities regulation scheduled for next week. After that, we’ll get onto appropriations: that should take two days, three at the outside. And we’ll sandwich the superport in there somewhere.” Considering that the House managed to piddle away the third-to-last week of the session with a couple of measly special interest bills, an hour and a half debate on smoking in public places, and four hours on a vexatious question as to how much of a special tax break farmers should get, Clayton’s optimism appears astigmatic, not to mention cock-eyed. The House, did, however, approve on May 8 the selection of two poets laureate for the forthcoming biennium \(and the thanks of a Speaker Billy Clayton Lon Cooper