gio White scolds Clements 45-(g for property tax delay By MARY ANN KREPS Tribune-Herald Staff Writer Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mark White, making his final campaign swing Wednesday through Waco prior to Saturday's primary election, chastized Republican Gov. Bill Clements for fail- ing to iron out the state's property tax situation three years ago "when I warned him of the problem." Flanked by about 15 local Democrats during a press conference at the W. R. Poage Legislative Library Center at Baylor University, the attorney general accused Clements of playing politics by calling a special session of the Legisla- ture next month to abolish the state ad valorem tax. "The governor should have provided leadership in 1979 when I warned him of the problem," White said. "I told him there would probably be litigation aris- ing out of this." Earlier this week, Clements called for a special session beginning May 24 to abolish the state's miniscule property tax, now set at .0001 cents per $100 valua- tion. By abolishing the tax, Clements hopes to make moot a lawsuit filed by Mid- western University and 16 other schools which formerly benefited from state property tax revenues. In the suit, the schools allege the Legislature in 1979 tried to change the state constitution by statute. "fie (Clements) has had two special sessions and two regular sessions, and he's done nothing about it. lie's been kept well-advised about the course of litigation," White added. White predicted Saturday's race be- tween himself and major Democratic opponents Bob Armstrong and Buddy Temple "will be close" but added that recent polls show he is increasing his lead. lie said he has gathered more than $800,000 in contributions, more than all his opponents combined. Reports indicating that Clements al- ready has gathered $4 million for his re- election campaign prove the governor "is a big free spender," White said. "I'm running against two very wealthy people now. I've been outspent before and Mark White won." Reiterating his stands on education and the state prison system, White warned that a crisis is brewing in the Texas educational system "because of a failure to pay teachers adequate sal- aries." "Texas is one of the few states gaining in student population and losing teach- ers," he said, adding that Texas lost 3,000 teachers last year. White said the state has the ability and resources to correct salary inequi- ties and promised to do so if elected gov- ernor. The attorney general also said he would sponsor a bill requiring that every independent school district in Texas adopt a "strict code of conduct." White linked the high number of young people in Texas prisons to a lack of discipline in public schools. "Almost half the people in our prisons are under the age of 25," he said. With stronger discipline in Texas schools, "there is a greater likelihood that young people, upon graduation, would be prone to obey the laws of soci- ety," he added. PRESS CLIPS 718 WEST 5th ST AUSTIN TEXAS 18701 Tribune-Herald Waco, Texas 1PR 297982 0 P-,