O • PRESS CLIPS -1 c Pitts ' 718 WEST 5th ST AUSTIN. TEXAS 78701 .37176';`5, 'fribune-Herald Waco, Texas MAY 6 1982 Clements says property tax sole session item By LAURA LIPPMAN Tribune-Herald Central Texas Writer TEMPLE — Coy. Bill Clements said Wednesday that the special session of the Texas Legislature which meets later this month will deal exclusively with the state property tax, and predicted that legislators will complete their job within a week. Clements, who was in Temple to speak at a fund-rais- ing banquet for Camp Tahuaya, a Bell County Boy Scout camp, held a brief press conference at Draughon- Miller Municipal Airport, answering questions about the special session, upcoming elections and the Boy Scouts. Clements last week called the special session for the week of May 24, arousing speculation that the move may have been politically motivated and that topics other than the state property tax might be discussed. Legislators will be asked during the special session to abolish the state property tax, which was set at a frac- tion of a cent per $100 valuation by the Legislature last year. "We're all in agreement (Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby and House Speaker Bill Clayton) that the legislators want to spend as little time as possible in Austin at this time of year," Clements said. "Every legislator should be out of Austin by noon Friday." Asked if he thought Land Commissioner Bob Arm- strong, who finished third in Saturday's Democratic pri- mary race for governor, would have given him the toughest run in November, Clements said he didn't care which Democrat he faced in the general election. "Sooner or later, the Democratic party will give birth to a candidate, and whoever that candidate is will suit me," he said. Attorney General Mark White and Railroad Commis- sioner Buddy Temple will compete in a June 5 runoff to determine the Democratic nominee for governor. Clements also said he was not worried about voters rejecting the Republican party on a statewide level. Historically, the party of the incumbent president al- most always suffers losses in the midterm congres- sional elections. "I will only remind you that I am the first Republican governor in this state in over 100 years," he said. "I reversed one trend, and I expect I'll reverse another." Although most of the questions centered on politics, Clements said he preferred to talk about the Boy Scouts. Asked to name his greatest accomplishment, he replied, "Winning the Friction by Fire contest at Camp Wisdom." Gov. Bill Clements isn't conceding Republi- cans will lose ground in Texas His greatest accomplishment as governor, he added, was bringing good management to Texas government. When the fiscal year ends Aug. 31, he predicted the state government will see an all-time high in gross product and gross revenues. "When they put the epitaph on my tombstone, they will probably put 'Good Management," Clements said. Asked about Texas AFL-CIO president Harry Hub- bard's recent request that out-of-work Northerners no longer look to Texas for work, Clements said he re- spected Hubbard, but rarely agrees with him. Texas continues to have the strongest economy of any state, Clements said, and Hubbard's remarks may have been somewhat misinterpreted. He said because of the state's right-to-work laws, which prohibits closed shops, union members from northern industrial states may find they "are like fish swimming upstream." As to his political ambitions, Clements said they stop at the governor's mansion, and he will retire to his farm when he is finished with politics. 1,