.-LUBBOCK AVALANCHE-JOURNAL-Thursday Morning, October 14, 1982 * Clements Claims Edge By BOB CAMPBELL Avalanche-Journal Staff Gov. Bill Clements said here today that his latest poll indicated he is 14 percentage points ahead of his Demo- cratic rival Mark White and that his edge is improving each day. In Lubbock for a speech and ques- tion-and-answer session with students at Lubbock Christian College, Texas' first Republican governor in more than 100 years said he got the figures on the percentage gap today from Houston pollster Lance Tarrance, who has been doing daily "tracking" in the race. "I'm going up and he's guirig down," Clements said at a news confer- ence following his LCC appearance. "The gap is getting wider each day." The governor said West Texas "is very, very important." in his re-elec- tion plans. and he predicted that he will carry the region by a bigger margin than when lw was first elected four years ago. Clements said the economy passed its low point in June, and he said the statewide economy should be in a full recovery trend by next March. Clements said he has been particu- larly encouraged over the outlook for easing the plight of West Texas farm- ers by the recent drop in prime interest rates and by the decline in rates from 21 percent to 12 percent in the past two years. Noting that both his father and grandfather were farmers, Clements said, "They just can't survive at 20 and 18 percent interest rates." He noted that Texas retail sales are up 12 percent and sales tax receipts are up about 15 percent over a year ago. Ile said the state can continue to count on large biennial budget surplus- es at least through the 1980s. He labeled recent criticism leveled by White supporters at Clements' re- cent trip to Washington to see the Sec- retary of Agriculture as "political dem- agoguery." Clements said he was accompanied on the trip by a dozen prominent lead- ers in agriculture, including former American Agriculture Movement chairman Marvin Meek of Plainview and Texas Farm Bureau president Car- roll Chaloupka of Dalhart, and that the trip may help bring about "billions in loans" from the Farmers Home Ad- ministration. Earlier, Clements said water con- servation technology already devel- oped at Texas Tech University and Texas A&N1 could reduce West Texas water usage by half with no loss in agri- cultural production and should be put into immediate use. The governor said in an Avalanche- Journal editorial board meeting this morning that, as chairman of the five- state High Plains Study Council. he is 'I'I •-g -4 = (I) rt, ic a ("' g (.7,- - 0 (1) CD 'e•-, ."-: .• CI) •.!: CD. D) • .-.. e' •-•" 't-t) 1"j•-1 " c;5 C 2'' . e , ( D 0. ; P, D ' 5 1 . r'- ...4 •--- CD -‹ PC) CA rD n I" f4 .4 o• = -: n -; o er, fp '1 0 0 .1 a• 13"1 cr, 4., cf.. fa ..r.), M Cl. tn 3 F. CD ''''. il '-' M C) • cn C) C) f2 CD • .-- : =. c4 tl.g1' CD p) 4)* " En n) 0 .(. CD COZ-.!1)" l'a "e: " '-• Ai - e....,z, ca. •-• (1, 2 N-... 5 rt. .., (TO (I) ;1;... .-2 ci ; . 9 F o g -. •-- ri 0 -.. o - 0 (13 .1 Pir P ..i. .-1 --. (1).._ co ci) .< 14' m.o. - a.. En _ ,,., 'O. n z .-I ...-1 mcr fl. m• - • T-') Pi :.1. g- 2 RJ. 3 ver hite In "as strong an advocate for water as there is." He said the council's conclusion that water importation to West Texas can- not be accomplished before the year 2000 makes increasingly sophisticated and more widely used conservation. methods a necessity for the next two decades. "Tech and A&N.1 have the technolo- gy," he said, "and it's not all that ex- perimental. It's been proved effective, and we need to get it in place on West Texas farms." The governor stopped by his 2424 34th St. campaign headquarters this morning and also spoke to students at Lubbock Christian College. In his re-election battle, Clements said, his water advocacy is less impor- atest I tant than other accomplishments he listed on behalf of agriculture. Ile said he has also has strong sup- port in West Texas because of laws pro- tecting farmers against "urban creep," changing agricultural taxes to be based on productivity rather than acreage and other measures. "They understand where I'm com- ing from on agriculture," he said. "Wa- ter should be .an assumed gimmee. These other things, I had to bring about." Clements said the next legislative session will provide substantial funding for state universities outside the Per- manent University Fund, which bene- fits only the University of Texas and Texas A&N1 systems. His recommendation, the governor • ›, 0 0) 0 - c13 " 0 C., CU • , •••-•• 7.7.4 0 0 •-• " 0 4.) • - CD CDCD '1:71 .„:, 0 1Z)I ..0 C a a vac .4) CI L. Ey p) " ‘..." _92. 0 said. will be for the Coordinating Board, Texas Colleges and Universi- ties, to recommend appropriations to. the schools on a case-by-case basis. "If the Legislature wants a dedi- cated fund, that would be all right." Clements said. Although a governor's task force on higher education has proposed desig- nating the University of Texas and Tex- as A&M as "flagship" schools in the state, Clements said he does not like the idea and that it has no chance of • being enacted. "A task force is uninhibited and they have their own ideas," he said. don't support the flagship idea." • Clements predicted that the PUF will grow from its current $2 billion to around $8 billion by 1990. V 5' 1; :! • !::: -::::: !D: '1'] ..... ' "'" •••.• •••••0 • ••-• ,3 CV 0 ci., = ,..... CD e , C)<'3 C ril '.7 ......° Iruw° 1)c "4 "c; --f.• v) o ,- -0 v) • -,3 -0 n) Vc, C -C- -ii; a , In 6.14 -,-.',3 co c..) 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