PRESS CLIPS PRESS CLIPS NI MIT 55 II WV. IRAS 11/01 4;7M News Port Arthur, Texas AUG 2 1 1986 "trim payroll, forget taxes, Clements says By HELEN SOHLINGER Staff Writer BEAUMONT — Texas legislators should trim the state, bureaucracy, not raise taxes, to solve the budget crunch, former cisiy.. AUL c1pnwits,c2iilurechiesday. Talking to reporters after a speech to the Beaumont, Rotary Club, Clements said Gov. Mark White increased state. personnel by 6,000 people his first year in office. The governor's budget has gone up 40 percent and the Public Utility Commission's by 50 percent, Clements said. In the three years since he left office, Clements said, state tax collections have gone up by 38 percent. -1 have traveled the state ok,er," Clements said, "and 1r didn't find any Texan anywhere saying 'Please increase my taxes.' •' Clements, who served as governor from 1979 to 1983, is pinning on the Republican ticket against Democratic incum.- bent White. Clements said he would not favor cutting allocations to education, which now gets 51 percent of the state budget. -I have taken the strong position that education is indeed the building block of our future in the state of Texas." Clements said. The Legislature has asked Lamar University to reduce budget by 13 percent, then by 34 percent, Clements said. -This is unacceptable to me," he said. And. Clements said, the Texas prison system and the Department of Public Safety budgets should be increased, not cut. "We must build more prisons and stop this early release of prisoners." Clements said. About 240 other agencies should be prioritized, with low- priority agencies being cut back, consolidated or eliminated, Clements said. The 52.2 billion budget shortfall can be "cured with no increased taxes whatsoever," he said. Clements earlier told Rotarians he would try to abide by their rules and keep his speech as non-political as possible. But, he told them, this Is the "silly season" and he couldn't promise to be "pure in this respect." The upcoming gubernatorial election, he said in his speech, is the most important since World War 11 "because of the economic downturn and the economic crisis that we're in Clements said all five of Texas' economic "building blocks" are having problems: petroleum, agriculture, bank- ing, high-tech and real estate. Dallas, for instance, currently has 38 million square feet of vacant office space, Clements said. "You must remember, I am a drilling contractor, and you have never known a pessimistic drilling contractor," Clements said. Before Clements' speech, Jefferson County Democratic Party Chairman Linda Robinson gave reporters a press release challenging Clements to reveal his "secret plan" to solve the state budget problems. "Bill Clements has offered only political rhetoric," wrote' Robinson, who attended the luncheon meeting as the guest of a Rotarian, "and as long as he offers nothing but press releases and no plan, he has no room to criticize our Democratic state leaders." PRESS CLIPS co" ratss SSOC151-V3 'Ill *EST 55 SI ACShri. T88,88 7870147rig5 *4ioolay Son geiown. 'V exam AUG 2 4 1986 s pato 715 550 5* ST 41/5115, TEXAS 75701 87787., Pioneer Fort Stockton, Texas AUG 2 4 1986 Where's The Secret Plan, Bill? ToThe Today dr asking the citizens oTtecos tounty to help us locate the "secret plan" that Bill Clements once so proudly boasted would solve our state budget problems. Today, Texas faces a serious fmanicial crisis that was caused by OPEC and the Republican national energy policies, not Governor -h.tar. It affects all Texans, DemoL-..-.tq. Republicans, and independents alike, and requires serious, sound solutions. Instead, we've got Bill Clements running around Texas saying he never said he had a secret plan and playing politics with a serious issue that affects the lives of all of us. Let's look at the facts. On May 6 Clemed by the Del as Times Herald as saying, "If he'll (White) call a special session, I'll tell him how to cure it ...I will help him to that extent because this is a Texas problem." On May 28, Clements met with seven people at the Abilene Reporter News and Clements told them that he had a plan and would reveal it if Governor White called a special session. On July 9, the Stephenville- Empire-Tribune said Clements responded to a man asking if he had a plan by stating, "Yes, I do and if you will shut up for a minute, I will tell you all about it.. the Governor should call a special session, and if he will, I will tell him what to do." The former Republican governor is out of step with the people here in Pecos County Vitt:Le rest of Texas. Governor IA. Gov. Hobby and Speaker Lewis may disagree on the details, but they have all come forth with plans to solve our budget er9blems and are , WHERE'S THE SECRET PLAN BILL I/ working long ours to come up with a solid solution. By contrast, Bill Clements has offered only a political rhetoric, and as long as he offers nothing but asinine comments and no plan, he has no room to criticize our Democratic state leaders. The Pecos County Democratic party is selling these "WHERE'S THE SECRET PLAN, BILL?" buttons and contributing the proceeds to the State Treasury. This will probably be Bill Clements only positive con- tribution to solving the state budget problem. Further, several Democratic legislators and the Democratic Party are offering a $1,000 reward for this much publicized secret plan. In fact, the "Secret Plan Bandit" looks a lot like the "oid" Bill Clements, and not the "new" Clements who said credibility was the key issue in this campaign. At this point, Clements is the candidate ci Clements changes tune Well, Sol Bill Cements has finally awakened. Just last week he was saying things like, "the fiscal crisis is really a spending crisis and a tax increase is s necessary as a hole in the head." Monda how to cmninun_____wrist in a mit t ed that a $3.5 billion deficit, brought about by the oil debacle is too much to chin by firing people. Clements now says he still opposes new taxes but has abandoned his pledge to veto any new tax bills submitted to him if he becomes governor. He failed to reveal the secret plan he has promised if White would call a special session. Now White has and he won't. So, the battle continues, ebbs and flows. The last word on new taxes certainly hasn't been spoken but many will be on who will have to foot the bill for them. A new element in the struggle came to sur- face this week when it was revealed that Clements has large oil investments in Libya, prompting a hot exchange between supporters of the candidates. whose credibility is in question. For the sake of Texas, the Pecos County Democrats hoped Clements was serious this time. We hoped a "new" Clements might emerge and join a serious bipartisan state budget effort. Instead, the same "old" Bill Clements had returned, the cynical politician who in the 1978 campaign said he had "secret plan" to cut the budget and never produced it; who promised $1 billion dollars in tax relief and never produced it, although he now says his tax "relief" came in the "Peveto Bill." In short, Bill Clements, if you have a secret plan, show us. If you have no pain, Bill, tell us NOW. Bill Clements can either be a part of the problem or part of the solution. The choice is his. If Bill Clements wants to be a part of the solution, he should go to Austin and give the citizens of Texas his ideas. If he wants to be a part of the problem, he should just keep on making campaign promises that he'll never raise taxes, but won't cut aid to education, law enforcement, highways, and mental health. Texans know how to add and subtract — and the campaign promises of Bill Clements and the real budget numbers just don't add up. If Bill Clements wants to be Governor, he owes it to Texas to tell us specifically how he'd solve the problems. Otherwise, he has no business running. Sincerely, Stephen W. Spurgin Pecos County Democratic Party Stephen W. Spurgin County Chairman
