Session half gone but most top bills are still to come By Z. JOE THORNTON Star-Telegram Austin Bureau . AUSTIN — With more than half of the 66th Legislature's regular session over. the bulk of the work is yet to come. The first half of the session, which end- ed last Monday, has been slow, plodding, sometimes almost lethargic — marked by factionalism in the House, a near fist fight in the Senate. And it has provided a look at what the first Republican governor in this century is doing and what he will be able to get accomplished. At week's end, the House has passed 51 bills, only one of which could be consid- ered important to most of the state's resi- dents. During the same period, more than 200 Senate bills have passed, again most of which have little statewide application. The House and Senate have passed 21 of the same bills although some of them are in conference committees and may be changed. 66th Legislature "WE'VE BEEN MOVING pretty slow. much slower than usual," said State Rep. W.N. Hall Jr.,, a Laredo Democrat. "The first few weeks are always slow. what with getting the committees orga- nized and all, but then the work usually picks up. It's just now reaching that process." Hall, a member of the House Appropri- ations Committee, said work is almost completed on that proposed legislation "and we should have it before the House in about two weeks." State Rep. Dave Allred, D-Wichita Falls, agreed with his colleague that this session's work seems slower than in pre- vious sessions. "But the press writes that every ( leg- islative ) year about this time because we are doing most of the work in commit- tees, not on the House floor. Most of the press don't want to bother with the com- mittee stuff because it's sometimes pret- ty boring," added Allred, who was a re- porter for several years. * * * "I DO THINK THAT (House Speaker ) Billy Clayton doesn't have things under as much control as he thinks he does. That may come up to make it pretty in- teresting later on." State Sen. Chet Brooks, D-Pasadena, predicted the "major confrontations are yet to come. They haven't gotten here yet, but it won't be long." Little or no action has been taken on most of the major and controversial leg- islation that has been proposed. For example, there has been no floor action in either the House or Senate on the bill sponsored by Rep. Bill Meier, D- Euless, to raise from 10 to 12 percent the interest allowed on home mortgages. Nor has the Senate even held hearings on implementing the tax relief amend- ment that was overwhelmingly adopted last fall by voters seeking a change in the state's constitution. * * • THAT'S THE ONE major measure that has come out of the House, HB 1060, which among other things allows the tax- ation of agricultural and timber land owned by family farmers or large corpo- r r rations to be based on productivity ana not market value; exempts intangible, personal property, household goods and two automobiles from taxation. It provides a $5,000 market value homestead exemption for all homeown- ers and a $10,000 homestead exemption for the elderly and disabled. The Senate has held hearings, but tak- en no final action, on several other con- troversial bills. Among them is one that opponents say would "gut" the state's product liability laws and consumer protection laws. Oth- ers call for presidential preferential pri- maries next spring and give people the right of initiative and referendum. It is the initiative and referendum is- sue that Gov. Bill Clements feels is one of the most important, maintaining it would give people a voice in their taxation if they felt lawmakers were not listening to them. * * * THAT IS AN ISSUE Lt. Gov. Bill Hob- by has vowed to defeat. He was criticized recently when he urged 100 of the state's most powerful lobbyists to help defeat it. The issue, like abortion and the Equal Rights Amendment. is one filled with ar- guments that are more emotional than factual. Clements has said he may call a spe- cial session devoted to initiative and re- ferendum if the measure fails to pass this session — and its failure seems likely. Passage would give citizens a more di- rect role in making and approving laws. While Hobby is vehemently opposed to it, Clayton is a little more open to it, provided it is limited. • Clements has said he wants the issue left to questions of taxation and that be- fore a vote could be called. 20 percent of the number of persons who voted in the last gubernatorial election would have to sign petitions. * * * ANOTHER ISSUE on which Hobby and Clayton are liable to disagree con- cerns whether a one- or a two-year ap- propriations bill should be enacted. Hobby and Clements favor the one year bill while Clayton opposes it. Pres- ently the legislature adopts a two-year budget. Under the Hobby-Clements proposal, the spending bill would be drawn for the 1980 fiscal year, which begins Sept. 1, and would then return next year for a special session to produce a budget for the fol- lowing fiscal year. The major argument against it, say conservatives like Clayton, is that it might be the first step to annual legisla- tive sessions, something they strongly oppose. Clements has signed several bills that provide additional funding for some state agencies and has put his pen to a mea- sure that allocates $2.5 million for fur- ther work on the deep aea port in the Gulf of Mexico off Freeport. • * * THE SENATE HAS PASSED legisla- tion that would keep intact, for the most part, the State Bar of Texas, the Texas Real Estate Commission and the State Board of Morticians, all groups whose terms came up for review under the Sun- set Law enacted two years ago. House members have not acted on those yet. FORT WORTH STAR TELEGRAM Senators also have adopted a proposed bill, sponsored by State Sen. Ike Harris, R-Dallas, that raises from 10 to 18 per- cent the interest that can be charged on loans of more than $175,000. And the House passed a measure to reduce penalties for persons or firms found guilty of charging usurious inter- est rates. The presidential preference primary bills are also driving a wedge between Clements and the Democratic leadership in the Legislature. Hobby and Clayton would like to see the presidential preference election held separately from the Democratic and Re- publican primary elections, a move that Clements opposes. Under the Democratic proposal — one that is endorsed by some Republicans — voters from either party could partici- pate in the preferential election. They would not be bound then to vote in the same party's primary later in the year. * * * COMMITTEE HEARINGS on the bill have been held in the House and Senate though there has not been any floor action. This is the second piece of legislation on which Hobby has asked the lobby for assistance. This time he wants their sup- port in gsetting it passed. As in every session of the Legislature, the special interest groups have been out in sufficient numbers to give this meet- ing the dubious title of "session of the lobbyists." Many of the legislators agree that they are being lobbied more than in past ses- sions. "The business interests, like the sav- ings and loans and the retailers and the professional associations, are really gaining in power," said State Rep. Gib Lewis, dean of the Tarrant County dele- gation. Consumers' groups, however, are also making the rounds of the offices — and bars — around the Capitol complex where the lobbying is done. • * * STILL ANOTHER MEASURE which pits consumers against retailers, the repeal of the so-called Blue, or Sunday Closing Law, has to be decided by both houses. It's been estimated that nearly 4,000 bills will have been introduced by the May 28 deadline. Less than 10 percent will end up as laws. "It's going about the way we expected it," said Jim Kaster, a Democrat and former representative from El Paso who heads the legislative liaison for Clements' office. "We're, of course, glad to have gotten FIB 1060 (the tax relief implementation act) out of the House. We weren't sure it would be this soon. "But from having watched this for years, it's going to be Gunga Din at the end. It's that way every session." •
