ustxtxb_obs_1969_02_21_50_00009-00000_000.pdf

must be raised.” He said the new procedures set out in the bill were devised with an eye to getting the most money possible to the injured worker and not have funds diverted in administering the comp program. “These benefits are real, not paper,” he asserted. The bill was unanimously voted out of committee and came to the floor of the Senate a week later. Passage was expected in short order but objections raised by Sen. A. M. Aikin, Paris, about a provision permitting the board to promulgate rules and regulations as to pre-hearing conferences delayed final Senate action by a day. Aikin said he favored the bill but has never knowingly voted for a bill that permits a state board to have unilateral say on matters of substance. Despite assurance from the Senate co-sponsor, Sen. Barbara Jordan, Houston \(Sen. Jack Hightower, the provision referred to procedural, not substantive matters, Aikin persisted the first day in his objections. Senator Jordan asked that the Senate stand five minutes in recess so she could confer with Aikin. Aikin, instead, moved for adjournment. Several senators objected, so a voice vote was necessary, that carrying. Proponents of the bill were a bit worried that the day’s delay might impair the measure’s chances of passage, there persisting the possibility of a monkeywrench being thrown in by the state’s defense attorneys, who almost certainly will lose money if the bill is passed, since far fewer court cases are anticipated under the proposed new procedures. THE NEXT day, however, it was clear that things had been worked out with Aikin. Miss Jordan offered an amendment to insert the word “procedural” in the sentence that was worrying Aikin. The amendment was approved, the sentence to read: “The board shall promulgate procedural rules . . . to govern such pre-hearing conferences . .” Miss Jordan was successful in standing off three attempts to raise the maximum benefits to $56, $63, or $70. Sen. Ralph Hall, Rockwall, tried the first figure; Sen. Oscar Mauzy, Dallas, the latter two. “Certainly we would all like to see more money go to the injured workman, but this is a time we have to be realistic, feasible, and practical,” she said, referring to the delicate agreement achieved by the three lobby organizations. If successful, the amendments would have increased substantially the premiums to be paid by Texas employers, by about $57 million if the maximum were $56 weekly and by about $75 million if $70 weekly. Mauzy’s two amendments were beaten by 26-5; voting with him both times were Mike McKool of Dallas, William Patman of Ganado, A. R. Schwartz of Galveston, and Hall. Hall’s amendment was defeated by 24-7, the dissidents being joined this time by Charles Herring of Austin and J. P. Word of Meridian. Schwartz and Mauzy appeared in floor debate to be expressing their resentment of February 21, 1969 9 ATHENA MONTESSORI SCHOOL Leo Nitch, Director RED RIVER AT 41ST Opposite Hancock Center Phone 454-4239 Nicholas Johnson, a member of the Federal Communications -Commission, writes in the February Harper’s: “Many communities have the blessing of community-sponsored noncommercial stations. The Pacifica Foundation operates radio stations WBAI in New York, KPFA in Berkeley and KPFK in Los Angeles. If your town doesn’t have such a station, you might want to investigate starting one.” In Houston, a working group of citizens from all walks of life have investigated starting such a station . . . Pacifica’s fourth. It is to go on the air a few months from now, its microphones dedicated to a single, simple idea: total freedom in broadcasting. This means that Houstonians will be hearing every shade of political opinion, along with intelligent news, documentaries, plays and concerts. Pacifica stations have worked for twenty-one years because of the thousands of people who subscribe to their programming and the hundreds who work as production volunteers. In Houston Pacifica needs you now, as a subscriber and a volunteer. To learn more about the project and how to help, write or phone today. pacifica Adventurous Public Broadcasting 1200 Bissonnet, Houston 77005 713 / 524-3573