Press Conference, Thursday, February 19, 1981 --Many of the questions today probably will be directed at Mark White's statement that the prison construction veto of 1979 damaged the state's case. I suggest a strong reply that this is nonsense and a diversion to h'de his own irnt hand]-inn pf 4lig Ruiz case. Attached is a copy of a press release from Jim Estelle today verifying hat the veto was initiated by the TDC staff and that the vetoed funds could not have been spent this biennium. Further , the veto came up during trial of the Ruiz case, was brushed off with no comment by the plaintiffs and was not even mentioned by Justice in his opinion. --You may want to express your support, in anticipation of questions, of President Reagan's recommendations for economic recovery, including the 10 per cent per year income tax cut and budget reductions.. Paul Wrotenbery suggested calling on the Legislature to express its support of the proposals by concurrent resolution. This may just stir up a partisan political squabble that would accomplish nothing. --It's the season for writing stories about airplane use. I suppose this will come up. I suggest you express your support of the pooling concept and your willingness to place the Governor's plane in the pool. You might emphasize also that the State has been reimbursed for non-official use of the Governor's plane. You could oint out the error in the Dallas Times-Herald story which said the Governor 'billed the taxpayers" for the trip to the Republican National Convention. The log which the reporter,Roh Rivard, had access tg,clearly showed the state was reimbursed $3,424.50 for use of the aircraft on the convention trip. 'Ik.m.........N.■—••.uw'"°'ow -- You probably will be asked about whether you will support the bill raising the legal drinking age from 18 to 19. You did submit this as an emergency measure. --Bilingual education is another subject likely to be brought up. I think to need to emphasize your support of tutoring programs for pupils beyond the third grade who are deficient in English. This blunts the third-grade cutoff criticism. --Sen . Grant Jones and Rep. Bill Messer of Belton introduced with fanfare this week a bill to allo est rates to rise to 30 per cent. You may be asked about this. Recommendation --A memorandum from Rick Montoya is attached suggesting a compromise governors' position in regard to saving Title V federal-state partnership funds at a minimum. I can't tell what he is talking about, and T doubt the subject will come up today --Ross Perot is getting some flack from the Civil Liherties Union about failing to register as a lobbyist for the War on Drugrr.777777Tion: a "consi8er the source" answer --You may be asked your position on the bill approved by senate committee to strengthen regulation of low-level nuclear waste. --A teacher union official blasted the Governor yesterday for failing to meet him personally and receive petitions regarding teacher salary increases. FACT: The press release obviously was written before the guy even tried to deliver his petitions here during the noon hour when he knew nobody would be here to take them. He showed up at 12:50 and released his press release at 1 p.m. / 4/644-e-i
