Gov. Clements' dilemma: By RON CALHOUN Editorial Writer IN A TIMES HERALD Editorial Board conference, Gov. William P. Cements Jr. predicted that the state legislature would pass his "back- to-the-basics" educational package which includes mandatory competen- cy testing. He also predicted that the legisla- ture, after a "bitter battle," would pass his measure to allow Department of Public Safety agents to tap tele- phones in drug casia investigations. But the governor admitted that after much study he is in a quandary over how to accomplish one of his most cherished goals — returning $1 billion in surplus revenues to the state's taxpayers. Clements said he had'discussed the matter with ex-Govs. Allan Shivers, Price Daniel, John Connally, Preston Smith and Dolph Briscoe, and all agree he has a problem. Only one — Preston Smith — advocated reduc- ing the state sales tax to solve it. However, As Clements sees it, the main "gripe" of Texas taxpayers is not the sales tax or any other state tax. It is the property tax levied by local governmental entities that infu- riates them most. The question, he said, is how can the state government equitably dis- perse $1 billion or more in state mon- ey to ease the burden of a tax which the state itself no longer levies, but which its creatures — the cities, counties, school and other special dis- tricts — depend on heavily and in most cases, exclusively. Here are exerpts from Cements' comments on that and other issues: "Now, Preston (Smith) declared that he would favor reducing the sales tax by a half a cent or even a penny. He uses the theory that the sales tax is the broadest-based tax we have, that it affects everybody, so you are giving something to everybody. I can't argue with that except the something you are giving is some- thing they (the taxpayers) are not missing in the first place, and you will never get credit for having given any- thing back to them. "The truth of the matter is that whether, as some people say, the sales tax is repressive, whatever that means, it is the best-accepted, least- griped-about tax in the state. Yet it is a powerful vehicle so far as state in- come is concern. There are a lot of people, and I would include ,myself, who say it is the fairest tax. The problem is not with the sales tax. The problem is with the property tax. "Yet in talking with Dolph, or Shivers, or Connally, or Price, or Preston, I find out they don't have any good way of getting that refund, or property tax relief back to that property owner, because they (local governmental entities) will flamboozle them every time. Now you see it, and now you dont How you get that money in the hands or the pockets of the taxpayer and make it stick — everyone of them say, it will never happen. "I'm in a dilemma. I want to be honest about this. There is a billion dollars available down there for tax relief. It is there and I'm going to fight like a cornerd bear for it. rm damned if that legislature is going to willy nilly spend it." Q — Are you still going to try to get a two-cent increase in the gasoline tax? A — "No. I asked everybody what they thought about it, and I could get no support from anybody. We're do- ing a stupid thing. We are taxing at five cents a gallon, which is the same tax it was 30 years ago and it's the lowest in the United States. Last ses- sion, we had to take $300 million out of general revenue to pick up the tab in the highway program that was in deficit." Q — Have you got a figure in mind for increasing state college tuition? A — "No, I haven't, but it's going to go up and it's going to go up sig- nificantly. We have two recommenda- tions at this time. We have one from the Hobby committee, and one out of the (higher education) coordinating board. They are both for significant increases and I am in favor of a sig- nificant increase. But I have not come down at this point on a number or saying which one of these (recom- mendations) I might agree with. "I am going to appoint a study corn- mitte on higher education that. would be similar to the Tate committee on elementary-secondary education and we're going to dig down and find out why we have opened the (enroll- ment) flood gates without require- ment to all these people, why we've got grade creep, why some of our schools have turned into nothing more than diploma factories and so forth. "If I had to single out a particular area of state government where there is the most waste of the taxpayers' money, the most ineffective dollar spent, it is in higher education." Q — What do you think should be done about U.S. Dist. Judge William Wayne Justice's decision on the state prison system? Do you agree with Legislative Budget Board's proposals on upgrading prison spending, or do you think we have to do more? A — "We may have to do more. I have talked to both (Lt. Gov. Bill) Hobby and (House Speaker Bill) Clayton at considerable length about this, and (Department of Corrections director) Jim Estelle, and what we are going for is two more prisons. That is two more than the one down there in Grimes County, so that would be a total of three new prisons. I hope that that will take care of our needs for the next 15 years, but it may not. "The ruling of Judge Justice can be very, very comprehensive. A lot de- pends on how he ultimately rules. He hasn't made that ruling yet. He has written a position paper and has asked the state to answer. And then from our answer refuting what he says, and/or offer suggestions to what he says, then he will make his ruling. So there is some flexibility in this. It could be better than anticipated and it could be a lot worse. "I have publicly said that one of the most significant things he brings up is that he considers putting three inmates in a cell is wrong. I agree on that. We in the state have been dere- lict in not building sufficient prisons to take care of the anticipated growth we have had in our prison population. We have 29,000 inmates. This is a direct result of our state's growth. "You can't possibly have the kind of growth we have had over the last 10 years and expect to have over the next 20 years — I'm saying 50 per cent — which means we're going to have seven million more poeple in this state by the year 2000. So we have got to have more prisons, and we have been negligent in not doing this before now. I don't want any misunderstandings. I think we have an excellent prison system. It could be better." Q — Some have blamed you for the overcrowding problem, saying there should be a higher rate of paroles. A — "The profile of those inmates has changed. When Allan Shiver was governor, the average sentence was six years. The average sentence now is 14 years. The per cent of capital crime is up by a factor of three over 20 years ago. These are much harder Oa As •Thpies AteRAtib Dec )4 (00
