ustxtxb_obs_1984_05_18_50_00012-00000_000.pdf

the legendary RAW DEAL Steaks, Chops, Chicken open lunch and evenings 605 Sabine, Austin No Reservations creases two percentage points \(for and veterans programs would not have been affected by the proposal, and the cut in Medicare would have been limited to $4 billion over three years. The amendment was defeated by the House, 338-59, with these six Texans voting with the 59: Bill Archer, R-Houston; Steve Bartlett, R-Dallas; Sam Hall, DMarshall; Jack Hightower, D-Vernon; Marvin Leath, D-Marlin; and Charles Stenholm, D-Stamford. Kent Hance, DLubbock, Phil Gramm, R-College Station, and Ron Paul, R-Houston, did not vote. The next day Paul complained, in a statement he introduced into the appendix of the Congressional Record, that participation in the Social Security system is mandatory. President Reagan has argued from time to time that it should be voluntary. “It is sad,’.’ Paul said, that one of his colleagues, whom he did not name, “embraces the concept of coercion and force when it comes to the retirement programs of our senior citizens. What is so objectionable about giving American citizens the free choice when it comes to retirement planning? Only through free choice in retirement can the hostages of government pro grams be truly secure when they are older.” “To those who are concerned about the [proposed] entitlement [cuts],” Stenholm told his colleagues, “those grandfathers and grandmothers that will be affected . . . are just as concerned about their grandchildren as they are about the short-term problems associated with this particular item of our budget.” ri According to a Washington Post story, Housing and Urban Development believes Hispanics live in crowded White’s Final Exam GOVERNOR MARK WHITE is in real trouble with his education pro posal. At a packed May 11 press conference he announced his support for an education package similar to that being proposed by state Rep. Bill Haley, D-Center. The plan includes an increase in base teacher salary from $11,000 to $15,200, a statewide career ladder, and an equalization funding increase. The Haley plan has the backing of the State Board of Education and the Texas State Teachers Association. Contrary to expectations, White did not announce a legislative special session. Two days prior to the press conference, members of White’s staff had indicated the announcement would come on May 11. White was unable, however, to come up with the number of votes necessary to pass a tax package to fund the education reforms and highway budgetary requests. Faced with opposition to his tax plans by House Ways and Means Chairman Stan Schleuter, D-Killeen, and by state Comptroller Bob Bullock, White put off making the call for a special session. A few hours later, one hundred members of Communities OrganSan Antonio and its allied community organizations from around the state met in Austin with H. Ross Perot to remind the Governor of his commitment to education equalization reform. These community activists were concerned by the fact that White was embracing a plan that called for equalization funding increases but not the new and more equitable formula devised by Bullock working with Perot’s State Committee on Public Education. COPS President Sonia Hernandez told the gathering, “We are concerned because what we’ve been hearing is, serious, meaningful reform is being put on the back burner. . . . Anything less than full reform is unacceptable.” San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros warned: “There is the tendency in this country to blame people outside the economic mainstream for their problems. . . . The easiest thing [for the legislature] to let go by the wayside, if not for constituent pressure, is the need for equalization.” Beatrice Cortes of the San Antonio Archdiocese Office of Parish Development called upon this constituent pressure: “At our [COPS] last convention, the Governor said 1984 would not pass before we move on the issue of education equalization. We’re here to say the same thing we’ll not let 1984 pass. . . . We’re saying we’re fed up. We’re willing to pay for something excellent in education for our children. We don’t want something special. We don’t want the KMart special. We want the real thing. . . If we get anything less, then we’ll go back with a return message of our own.” Then Perot rose to deliver in his Texas twang an impassioned appeal to his unlikely allies: “We’re about to get into a good stiff fight a fight we cannot compromise .. . You’re going to see people try to water down equalization. If you see money move around [in the education budget], it’s a bad sign. . . . There is no point in trying to reform the school system without equalization. The education establishment will try to water this down. . . . You have a problem right across the street [in the Capitol] not with the grassroots or the business community. I will see that the business community backs a tax increase for a reform system that includes equalization. If we get real reform, we’ll be willing to fund it and raise taxes. But if we don’t get reform, then we keep working for reform. “Millions for reform, but not one penny for the status quo.” Perot said, shouting the theme of his education campaign. “Let’s go to the wall to get it this summer. . . . Let’s get it right for the children.” So Mark White finds himself with Haley, the State Board of Education, and the teachers on one side and Perot, COPS, and Bullock on the other. The leaders in the House grouse about taxes, while Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby lies low, waiting to strike the compromise. It is Mark White’s move. 0 12 MAY 18, 1984