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STATS lilT. RICAL SOCIETY HITT 1 L08RY ST. SERV j0 s j COLUMBIA, BO. 65211 75th Year No. 235 Good Morning! It's Thursday, June 16, 1983 2 Sections 16 Pages 25 Cents Drunken driving bill in under the wire By Dean Kahn State capital bureau JEFFERSON CITY Missouri's five- month- lo- ng legislative session crawled to an end Wednesday night Unlike other sessions when lawmak-ers raced to cut deals on major bills before their midnight adjournment, there were few unsettled issues of importance to smooth out this time. One act of the last- da- y drama was a rerun from last year's closing ses-sion. Again, legislation to toughen penalties against drunken drivers took center stage. Both the House and Senate earlier had approved automatic revocation of a driver's license after a drunken driving arrest. But the two cham-bers disagreed over appeal proce-dures and the blood- alcoh- ol level that would trigger suspension, and reached agreement with eight min-utes to spare. The House version put the blood- alcoh- ol content limit at .10 percent, the level that triggers criminal pe-nalties under current law. The Senate set the limit for sus-pension at .15 percent Supporters of the Senate position argued that with-out a guaranteed court review of the drunken driving case, a higher limit ought to be applied. A House- Senat- e conference com-mittee met several times during the day and evening Wednesday in an ef-fort to reach a compromise on that and other differences. It wasn't until late in the evening they settled on a .13 percent compromise. " It's utterly absurd they're even considering .15 percent," said Marge Charleville, president of the St. Louis chapter of Remove Intoxi-cated Drivers, Inc. " It makes a mockery of everything we've done." Immediately before final legis-lative passage, Ms. Charleville said, " We'd prefer the .10 but " under the circumstance, we're satisfied with the bill." RID led last year's successful campaign for tougher drunken driv-ing penalties. That group, the Kan-sas City chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers and the Missouri Southern Baptist Convention joined forces for even tougher legislation this year. The administrative suspension of a driver's license for drunken driving would not require a court conviction. But criminal convictions for repeat offenders would require a minimum penalty of 48 hours in jail or 40 hours of community service. Other major issues decided on the legislature's last day included: Rights of landlords and tenants. Measures dealing with the subject have been before lawmakers the past 11 years. Under the measure, landlords would gain clear- cu- t pro-cedures for obtaining legal judgments against tenants who leave town or damage residences. Tenants may not be asked to pay more than two months' rent as a se-curity deposit and those deposits must be returned within 45 days af-ter a tenant vacates the premises. v Hospital beds prohibition. A bill prohibiting hospitals and nursing homes from adding new beds to their facilities for the next four years. Proponents argued the bill would stem rising Medicare costs caused in part by the large number of vacant beds in the state. Construction of bed space that is at least 15 percent com-pleted by next month would not be affected. Sales tax Increase. The legis-lature voted to place on the statewide ballot a proposed 110- ce- nt sales tax increase for water and soil conservation projects and state parks. Joint custody of children. The legislature gave approval to a bill to allow courts to award joint custody of children in divorce cases. The measure includes language encour-aging judges to award joint custody when in the best interest of the chil-dren, but does not require it. Missou- - n is the only state lacking a joint custody law. The legislative session began in January with two issues dominating lawmakers' attention the state's dioxin contamination problems and the continuing cash- shorta- ge prob-lem facing state government. Law-makers disposed of both topics al-though with different verdicts well before their last- wee- k rush. Little was done to solve the state's cash shortage although legislative leaders and Gov. Christopher Bond had pushed a number of measures to ease cash- flo- w problems and raise revenues without a tax increase. Those legislative financial issues included: Tax acceleration. The largest fi-nancial measure to be considered by both chambers was a tax- accelerati- on package. It would have raised up to $ 58 million next year by accele-rating the collection of sales tax money and beefing up the revenue department's authority to recoup un paid taxes. Although a late night compromise version sailed through the House, the bill was killed by a midnight fil-ibuster in the Senate in retaliation for the House's failure to pass a pay increase for top state officials, in-cluding legislators. Earlier in the evening, a deal had been in the works to trade Senate ap proval of the tax package in return for House approval of the pay bill. which had been stalled in the House Budget Committee. But committee Chairman Marvin Proffer. D- Jack- s-on, refused to call a committee meeting to approve the pay increase and send it to the full House. Short- ter- m borrowing. The ad-ministration's short- ter- m borrowing proposal quickly was dubbed a " def-icit spending" device for the gover-nor to avoid budget cuts or tax in-creases. In a major legislative defeat for Bond, it was defeated by See LEGISLATIVE, Page 8A K. G. Dickson Economist Alfred Kahn discussed various monetary systems during his speech Wednesday Economist says deregulation is working By Howard Hoffman Mlssourlan staff writer A former economic adviser to President Carter says deregulation so far has been successful. Alfred Kahn, who also served as chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board during the Carter ad-ministration, says that to evaluate the effects of deregulation it is important to determine the de-gree to which a less controlled industry better serves the public. Kahn, an economics professor at Cornell Uni-versity, spoke Wednesday to about 100 people at the University School of Journalism as the final speaker in a series of " Private Enterprise and the Media" lectures. The purpose of regulation is to protect the pub-lic, Kahn said. When the public is better served and still protected, deregulation is a success. Kahn said deregulation frequently is considered only in terms of its cost. People should not ask what it costs, he said. They should ask how dereg-ulation will benefit them. " Nobody really believes in getting the govern ment off our backs entirely," he said. " We need government intervention to take care of public health and safety." When the public safety is at issue or when com-petition is inefficient or impossible, Kahn said, regulation is necessary and important. Some-times, however, regulation does not protect the public; it protects business profits. The regulatory agency, he said, is responsible for the financial well- bein- g of the industry it regu-lates. Agency regulations allow profits but re-strict competition, and without competition the in-dustry has few incentives for improving service or reducing costs. Consequently, the consumer pays for a sometimes inefficient service, he said. It is important to understand who or what regu-lations are designed to protect when deciding to deregulate, Kahn said. Most of the regulatory legislation was written 45 years ago to help the country survive the Depres-sion. Since then, there has been a radical change in American attitudes, he said. People now are less concerned with depression than inflation, stagflation and recession. The recent deregulation of the airline industry has been 90 percent successful, Kahn said. " The introduction of competition and the free-dom to plan your routes as you pleased has great-ly increased efficiency," he said. Most markets are more competitive, which makes fares lower without restricting service. Kahn said, however, that the media have not been as successful in reporting the success of de-regulation. The media concentrated on the most dramatic issues of airline deregulation, he said. Although the effect on the major airlines and the rate wars were covered well, he said, the most important is-sues the effects on the industry generally and on consumers mostly were ignored. " We've got to be more discriminating and stop pretending the world is made up only of good guys and bad guys," Kahn said. Deregulation is impor-tant to more than business or the government, and the media should spend more time examining how deregulation effects the quality of service, he said. Both sides declare victory in ruling on Missouri's law From our wire services Officials on both sides of the Mis-souri abortion law claimed at least a partial victory in Wednesday's U. S. Supreme Court decision upholding three of four portions of the state's regulations. In three decisions Wednesday, the court reaffirmed a woman's consti-tutional right to obtain an abortion and struck down an array of local legislative restrictions on access to abortions. In the most sweeping of the deci-sions, the court, by a 6-- 3 vote, de-clared unconstitutional an Akron, Ohio, ordinance that placed a num-ber of obstacles in the path of access to abortion. In the second decision, while invalidating Missouri's second-- trimester hospitalization re-quirement by the same 6-- 3 vote, the court voted 5-- 4 to uphold three other sections of that law. In the third de-cision, the court affirmed the crimi-nal conviction of a Virginia obstetri-cian for performing a second- trimest- er abortion in a clinic that was not licensed for that purpose. The decisions Wednesday were hailed as major victories by all the principal organizations advocating free choice on abortion. In its decision on Missouri's law, the court upheld portions of the law requiring: v The presence of a second physi- - See ABORTION. Page 8A UMC deans prepare for cots op to 57o By Major Garrett Mlssourlan statt writer University Chancellor Barbara Uehling Wednesday told campus deans to anticipate budget cuts of as much as 5 percent for the 1983- 8- 4 school year. Citing a deficit of more than $ 1 million, Dr. Uehling said during a meeting that reallocations were in-evitable but some schools and col-leges might be spared from the bud-get ax. Dr. Uehling was unavailable for comment afterthe meeting. Duane Stucky, vice chancellor for administrative services and chief budget officer, said the reallocations are a result of a $ 3.5 million increase in the costs of staff benefits, fuel bills and curator scholarships. " These inflationary costs have to be covered," he said. " Today's meeting was to determine their ( the deans') flexibility, and how we might go about reallocation." Not all the schools and colleges will face a 5 percent cut, Stucky said. Reallocation precentages will vary among colleges and schools. Five percent was mentioned as the maximum for any one college or school, he said. Stucky said Provost Ronald Bunn will determine which schools and colleges will face budget tightening. But deans will do the actual budget cutting. Stucky said he must submit plans for budget reductions to a University central administration budget staff today and will largely base his re-port on Wednesday's discussions. A proposed 5 percent tuition bur- char- ge will not save the deans, he said. President James Olson pro-posed the surcharge last week, but even if the University Board of Cura-tors approve it, reallocation still would be sought, Stucky said. " The surcharge ( if approved) would give us a slight cushion," he said. " But we would opt for program reallocation as a hedge against pos-sible state withholding." Because of state tax revenue defi-ciencies, the University system has endured withholdings totaling al-most $ 25 million in the last three years. Approximately $ 12 million was cut from the University budget. Olson has not yet decided whether to ask the curators to approve the surcharge at their meeting next week in Kansas City, said Guy Hor- to- n, director of University relations. The General Assembly's decision last week to tack an additional $ 1 million onto the system's budget bringing the total to $ 167 million means more budget deliberations are necessary if the proposal can be included in the budget proposal Ol-son must submit to the curators, Horton said. John Applequist, president of the Missouri Students Association, said Wednesday he will form a coalition of student leaders from all system campuses to combat the proposal. 3 lawmakers pleased with first House session By Diane Solov State capital bureau Boone County's freshman representa-tives have held their own during their first trek through the legislative labyrinth of Missouri's General Assembly. But none of the three Jim Pauley, Ken Jacob and Chris Kelly has taken the House by storm; none of the bills sponsored by the three representatives made it to the end of the maze to become law. For freshman legislators to whom the adage most commonly applied is that they should be seen and not heard, falling short of unabashed success is not unusual. And with one notable exception, Boone County's representatives have not strayed far from this tradition. Democrat Chris Kelly is that exception. i Besides landing some clout- carryin- g com-mittee assignments and having occasional successes at tacking on amendments to oth-er legislators' bills, Kelly has become a vis-ible and frequent speaker on the chamber floor. Says Kelly at the end of his first year : " I've enjoyed it very much. It's been pro-ductive and frustrating at the same time.' ' The measure that perhaps gained the most attention for Kelly was the " Pac Man" bill, which called for the establish-ment of a sales tax on video games. Though this measure died in committee, its intent was in line with some of Kelly's major ob-jectives as a legislator tax changes. One of Kelly's clear successes appears to be a bill that provides help for Ellis Fischel State Cancer Hospital. The House bill he sponsored did not make it into law, but a similar Senate version was sent to the gov-ernor. But Kelly prefers to gauge his successes in terms other than those of the success of the bills he sponsors. Besides gaining ground on such issues as an open container law that would make it il--' legal to have an alcoholic beverage con-tainer open while driving and '' making some good progress" on funding for the University, Kelly says he has learned some lessons more basic to the legislative proc-ess. " One important thing to learn is whether you win or lose, you have to let it go," he says. " Sometimes they're disagreeing with you for reasons that are just as good as yours." Although Democrat Ken Jacob has main-tained a low profile in the House, he says that he, too, has learned a lot this year. " I feel like I'm becoming a little more street-wise." Though the one bill that Jacob sponsored a measure that would have required cer-tain drug offenders to enroll in drug educa-tion programs died early in the session, he thinks he has made significant contribu-tions to issues of importance to himself and the community. For starters, he cites his committee work on the elementary and secondary education and the higher education budget, his efforts on a bill that would give a voluntary contri-bution option on tax forms for children's services, and his work on a measure that would encourage joint child custody set-tlements in divorces. Jacob also cites his efforts to oppose the delayed- scho- ol bill that now is being consid-ered by the governor. He says he sees the measure as contrary to the interests of Co-lumbia. But Jacob says he thinks his greatest ac-complishment has been the development of relationships with his colleagues. " I've made a lot of good friends and I don't think I've made any enemies. It could be argued that Democrat Jim Pauley of Ashland perhaps has the best leg-islative record of the three he did not sponsor any bills so he had none to be de-feated or die slow deaths. But then, Pauley says he never promised his constituents that he would sponsor any-thing anyway.
Object Description
Title | Columbia Missourian Newspaper 1983-06-16 |
Description | Vol. 75th Year, No. 235 |
Subject |
Columbia (Mo.) -- Newspapers Boone County (Mo.) -- Newspapers |
Coverage | United States -- Missouri -- Boone County -- Columbia |
Language | English |
Date.Search | 1983-06-16 |
Type | Newspaper |
Format | |
Collection Name | Columbia Missourian Newspaper Collection |
Publisher.Digital | The Office of Library Systems of the University of Missouri |
Contributing Institution |
State Historical Society of Missouri University of Missouri School of Journalism |
Copy Request | Contact the State Historical Society of Missouri at: (800) 747-6366 or (573) 882-7083 or email contact@shsmo.org. Some fees apply:http://shsmo.org/research/researchfees |
Description
Title | Full Page |
Date.Search | 1983-06-16 |
Type | page |
Item.Transcript | STATS lilT. RICAL SOCIETY HITT 1 L08RY ST. SERV j0 s j COLUMBIA, BO. 65211 75th Year No. 235 Good Morning! It's Thursday, June 16, 1983 2 Sections 16 Pages 25 Cents Drunken driving bill in under the wire By Dean Kahn State capital bureau JEFFERSON CITY Missouri's five- month- lo- ng legislative session crawled to an end Wednesday night Unlike other sessions when lawmak-ers raced to cut deals on major bills before their midnight adjournment, there were few unsettled issues of importance to smooth out this time. One act of the last- da- y drama was a rerun from last year's closing ses-sion. Again, legislation to toughen penalties against drunken drivers took center stage. Both the House and Senate earlier had approved automatic revocation of a driver's license after a drunken driving arrest. But the two cham-bers disagreed over appeal proce-dures and the blood- alcoh- ol level that would trigger suspension, and reached agreement with eight min-utes to spare. The House version put the blood- alcoh- ol content limit at .10 percent, the level that triggers criminal pe-nalties under current law. The Senate set the limit for sus-pension at .15 percent Supporters of the Senate position argued that with-out a guaranteed court review of the drunken driving case, a higher limit ought to be applied. A House- Senat- e conference com-mittee met several times during the day and evening Wednesday in an ef-fort to reach a compromise on that and other differences. It wasn't until late in the evening they settled on a .13 percent compromise. " It's utterly absurd they're even considering .15 percent," said Marge Charleville, president of the St. Louis chapter of Remove Intoxi-cated Drivers, Inc. " It makes a mockery of everything we've done." Immediately before final legis-lative passage, Ms. Charleville said, " We'd prefer the .10 but " under the circumstance, we're satisfied with the bill." RID led last year's successful campaign for tougher drunken driv-ing penalties. That group, the Kan-sas City chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers and the Missouri Southern Baptist Convention joined forces for even tougher legislation this year. The administrative suspension of a driver's license for drunken driving would not require a court conviction. But criminal convictions for repeat offenders would require a minimum penalty of 48 hours in jail or 40 hours of community service. Other major issues decided on the legislature's last day included: Rights of landlords and tenants. Measures dealing with the subject have been before lawmakers the past 11 years. Under the measure, landlords would gain clear- cu- t pro-cedures for obtaining legal judgments against tenants who leave town or damage residences. Tenants may not be asked to pay more than two months' rent as a se-curity deposit and those deposits must be returned within 45 days af-ter a tenant vacates the premises. v Hospital beds prohibition. A bill prohibiting hospitals and nursing homes from adding new beds to their facilities for the next four years. Proponents argued the bill would stem rising Medicare costs caused in part by the large number of vacant beds in the state. Construction of bed space that is at least 15 percent com-pleted by next month would not be affected. Sales tax Increase. The legis-lature voted to place on the statewide ballot a proposed 110- ce- nt sales tax increase for water and soil conservation projects and state parks. Joint custody of children. The legislature gave approval to a bill to allow courts to award joint custody of children in divorce cases. The measure includes language encour-aging judges to award joint custody when in the best interest of the chil-dren, but does not require it. Missou- - n is the only state lacking a joint custody law. The legislative session began in January with two issues dominating lawmakers' attention the state's dioxin contamination problems and the continuing cash- shorta- ge prob-lem facing state government. Law-makers disposed of both topics al-though with different verdicts well before their last- wee- k rush. Little was done to solve the state's cash shortage although legislative leaders and Gov. Christopher Bond had pushed a number of measures to ease cash- flo- w problems and raise revenues without a tax increase. Those legislative financial issues included: Tax acceleration. The largest fi-nancial measure to be considered by both chambers was a tax- accelerati- on package. It would have raised up to $ 58 million next year by accele-rating the collection of sales tax money and beefing up the revenue department's authority to recoup un paid taxes. Although a late night compromise version sailed through the House, the bill was killed by a midnight fil-ibuster in the Senate in retaliation for the House's failure to pass a pay increase for top state officials, in-cluding legislators. Earlier in the evening, a deal had been in the works to trade Senate ap proval of the tax package in return for House approval of the pay bill. which had been stalled in the House Budget Committee. But committee Chairman Marvin Proffer. D- Jack- s-on, refused to call a committee meeting to approve the pay increase and send it to the full House. Short- ter- m borrowing. The ad-ministration's short- ter- m borrowing proposal quickly was dubbed a " def-icit spending" device for the gover-nor to avoid budget cuts or tax in-creases. In a major legislative defeat for Bond, it was defeated by See LEGISLATIVE, Page 8A K. G. Dickson Economist Alfred Kahn discussed various monetary systems during his speech Wednesday Economist says deregulation is working By Howard Hoffman Mlssourlan staff writer A former economic adviser to President Carter says deregulation so far has been successful. Alfred Kahn, who also served as chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board during the Carter ad-ministration, says that to evaluate the effects of deregulation it is important to determine the de-gree to which a less controlled industry better serves the public. Kahn, an economics professor at Cornell Uni-versity, spoke Wednesday to about 100 people at the University School of Journalism as the final speaker in a series of " Private Enterprise and the Media" lectures. The purpose of regulation is to protect the pub-lic, Kahn said. When the public is better served and still protected, deregulation is a success. Kahn said deregulation frequently is considered only in terms of its cost. People should not ask what it costs, he said. They should ask how dereg-ulation will benefit them. " Nobody really believes in getting the govern ment off our backs entirely," he said. " We need government intervention to take care of public health and safety." When the public safety is at issue or when com-petition is inefficient or impossible, Kahn said, regulation is necessary and important. Some-times, however, regulation does not protect the public; it protects business profits. The regulatory agency, he said, is responsible for the financial well- bein- g of the industry it regu-lates. Agency regulations allow profits but re-strict competition, and without competition the in-dustry has few incentives for improving service or reducing costs. Consequently, the consumer pays for a sometimes inefficient service, he said. It is important to understand who or what regu-lations are designed to protect when deciding to deregulate, Kahn said. Most of the regulatory legislation was written 45 years ago to help the country survive the Depres-sion. Since then, there has been a radical change in American attitudes, he said. People now are less concerned with depression than inflation, stagflation and recession. The recent deregulation of the airline industry has been 90 percent successful, Kahn said. " The introduction of competition and the free-dom to plan your routes as you pleased has great-ly increased efficiency," he said. Most markets are more competitive, which makes fares lower without restricting service. Kahn said, however, that the media have not been as successful in reporting the success of de-regulation. The media concentrated on the most dramatic issues of airline deregulation, he said. Although the effect on the major airlines and the rate wars were covered well, he said, the most important is-sues the effects on the industry generally and on consumers mostly were ignored. " We've got to be more discriminating and stop pretending the world is made up only of good guys and bad guys," Kahn said. Deregulation is impor-tant to more than business or the government, and the media should spend more time examining how deregulation effects the quality of service, he said. Both sides declare victory in ruling on Missouri's law From our wire services Officials on both sides of the Mis-souri abortion law claimed at least a partial victory in Wednesday's U. S. Supreme Court decision upholding three of four portions of the state's regulations. In three decisions Wednesday, the court reaffirmed a woman's consti-tutional right to obtain an abortion and struck down an array of local legislative restrictions on access to abortions. In the most sweeping of the deci-sions, the court, by a 6-- 3 vote, de-clared unconstitutional an Akron, Ohio, ordinance that placed a num-ber of obstacles in the path of access to abortion. In the second decision, while invalidating Missouri's second-- trimester hospitalization re-quirement by the same 6-- 3 vote, the court voted 5-- 4 to uphold three other sections of that law. In the third de-cision, the court affirmed the crimi-nal conviction of a Virginia obstetri-cian for performing a second- trimest- er abortion in a clinic that was not licensed for that purpose. The decisions Wednesday were hailed as major victories by all the principal organizations advocating free choice on abortion. In its decision on Missouri's law, the court upheld portions of the law requiring: v The presence of a second physi- - See ABORTION. Page 8A UMC deans prepare for cots op to 57o By Major Garrett Mlssourlan statt writer University Chancellor Barbara Uehling Wednesday told campus deans to anticipate budget cuts of as much as 5 percent for the 1983- 8- 4 school year. Citing a deficit of more than $ 1 million, Dr. Uehling said during a meeting that reallocations were in-evitable but some schools and col-leges might be spared from the bud-get ax. Dr. Uehling was unavailable for comment afterthe meeting. Duane Stucky, vice chancellor for administrative services and chief budget officer, said the reallocations are a result of a $ 3.5 million increase in the costs of staff benefits, fuel bills and curator scholarships. " These inflationary costs have to be covered," he said. " Today's meeting was to determine their ( the deans') flexibility, and how we might go about reallocation." Not all the schools and colleges will face a 5 percent cut, Stucky said. Reallocation precentages will vary among colleges and schools. Five percent was mentioned as the maximum for any one college or school, he said. Stucky said Provost Ronald Bunn will determine which schools and colleges will face budget tightening. But deans will do the actual budget cutting. Stucky said he must submit plans for budget reductions to a University central administration budget staff today and will largely base his re-port on Wednesday's discussions. A proposed 5 percent tuition bur- char- ge will not save the deans, he said. President James Olson pro-posed the surcharge last week, but even if the University Board of Cura-tors approve it, reallocation still would be sought, Stucky said. " The surcharge ( if approved) would give us a slight cushion," he said. " But we would opt for program reallocation as a hedge against pos-sible state withholding." Because of state tax revenue defi-ciencies, the University system has endured withholdings totaling al-most $ 25 million in the last three years. Approximately $ 12 million was cut from the University budget. Olson has not yet decided whether to ask the curators to approve the surcharge at their meeting next week in Kansas City, said Guy Hor- to- n, director of University relations. The General Assembly's decision last week to tack an additional $ 1 million onto the system's budget bringing the total to $ 167 million means more budget deliberations are necessary if the proposal can be included in the budget proposal Ol-son must submit to the curators, Horton said. John Applequist, president of the Missouri Students Association, said Wednesday he will form a coalition of student leaders from all system campuses to combat the proposal. 3 lawmakers pleased with first House session By Diane Solov State capital bureau Boone County's freshman representa-tives have held their own during their first trek through the legislative labyrinth of Missouri's General Assembly. But none of the three Jim Pauley, Ken Jacob and Chris Kelly has taken the House by storm; none of the bills sponsored by the three representatives made it to the end of the maze to become law. For freshman legislators to whom the adage most commonly applied is that they should be seen and not heard, falling short of unabashed success is not unusual. And with one notable exception, Boone County's representatives have not strayed far from this tradition. Democrat Chris Kelly is that exception. i Besides landing some clout- carryin- g com-mittee assignments and having occasional successes at tacking on amendments to oth-er legislators' bills, Kelly has become a vis-ible and frequent speaker on the chamber floor. Says Kelly at the end of his first year : " I've enjoyed it very much. It's been pro-ductive and frustrating at the same time.' ' The measure that perhaps gained the most attention for Kelly was the " Pac Man" bill, which called for the establish-ment of a sales tax on video games. Though this measure died in committee, its intent was in line with some of Kelly's major ob-jectives as a legislator tax changes. One of Kelly's clear successes appears to be a bill that provides help for Ellis Fischel State Cancer Hospital. The House bill he sponsored did not make it into law, but a similar Senate version was sent to the gov-ernor. But Kelly prefers to gauge his successes in terms other than those of the success of the bills he sponsors. Besides gaining ground on such issues as an open container law that would make it il--' legal to have an alcoholic beverage con-tainer open while driving and '' making some good progress" on funding for the University, Kelly says he has learned some lessons more basic to the legislative proc-ess. " One important thing to learn is whether you win or lose, you have to let it go," he says. " Sometimes they're disagreeing with you for reasons that are just as good as yours." Although Democrat Ken Jacob has main-tained a low profile in the House, he says that he, too, has learned a lot this year. " I feel like I'm becoming a little more street-wise." Though the one bill that Jacob sponsored a measure that would have required cer-tain drug offenders to enroll in drug educa-tion programs died early in the session, he thinks he has made significant contribu-tions to issues of importance to himself and the community. For starters, he cites his committee work on the elementary and secondary education and the higher education budget, his efforts on a bill that would give a voluntary contri-bution option on tax forms for children's services, and his work on a measure that would encourage joint child custody set-tlements in divorces. Jacob also cites his efforts to oppose the delayed- scho- ol bill that now is being consid-ered by the governor. He says he sees the measure as contrary to the interests of Co-lumbia. But Jacob says he thinks his greatest ac-complishment has been the development of relationships with his colleagues. " I've made a lot of good friends and I don't think I've made any enemies. It could be argued that Democrat Jim Pauley of Ashland perhaps has the best leg-islative record of the three he did not sponsor any bills so he had none to be de-feated or die slow deaths. But then, Pauley says he never promised his constituents that he would sponsor any-thing anyway. |