Casper Star-Tribune from Casper, Wyoming • 4

star Legislature A4 Star-Tribune, Casper, Wyo. Friday, March 16, 1990 iO TT7" TTl -n TTV TITl Tl jbrovemor signs jiMng- Equality ILPay Ml into law should be singled out, noting that many other Americans also fought for civil rights. Indeed, the legislation Sullivan signed into law shortly before 1 p.m. creates "Martin Luther King Jr. Wyoming Equality Day." Before signing the law, the governor urged Wyoming residents to use the occasion to "renew King's ideals and the ideals of the Equality State" and asked that everyone "affirm our commitment to equality through passage, at long last, of this bill." Championing the legislation for the past eight years has been Sen.

Liz Byrd, D-Laramie, who is the Legislature's only black. "It was a real disappointment each year to watch the failure of the Martin Luther King Jr. legislation in the Wyoming Legislature," she admitted to the crowd jamming the rotunda for the signing ceremony. "Those years of trying to get this legislation passed were trying times. But today is a happy day.

Today is a historic day. "What a wonderful centennial gift to be here today and to have this bill," Byrd added, referring to Wyoming's 100th birthday this July 10. The King holiday did not come easily, though. Senate opponents urged the body to reject a holiday in King's name and support one simply commemorating equal rights. Sen.

Kelly Mader, R-Camp-bell-Johnson, said in a moving floor speech earlier in the legislative session that while he welcomed King's ideals and his public life, he was disappointed with the slain civil right's leader private life. Mader wondered why the country hasn't honored Thomas Jefferson or Abraham Lincoln with their own holidays. The House also was uneasy with the holiday in King's name only and added the Wyoming Equality Day provision to the legislation. Byrd didn't mention any of that strife Thursday, however, instead praising Senate and House leadership for making the day possible. She also touched on King's ideals and urged Wyoming residents to embracethem.

"Dr. King had a desire to make a positive difference for those who House approves link deposit bill One amendment added, another fails WIM I II III.UIIUIIHl..l...ll...! II, li wy ii 'L if 9 f) By KURT J. REPANSHEK Associated Press writer CHEYENNE Wyoming became the 47th state to honor Martin Luther King ideals Thursday when Gov. Mike Sullivan Jr signed into law legislation creating jv'a holiday dedicated to equal r-dghts. Although known as the Equality State, it took years for Wyoming to set aside the third Monday in January in King's honor.

Legislative leaders opposed to the holiday questioned whether King Reorganization bill wins OK in House, Senate By PAUL KRZA Star-Tribune capital bureau CHEYENNE The second v. phase of state government that creates five new state sailed through the House Thursday on final reading and with only minor changes. The Senate later concurred with I the House action, including the bill creating the new Department of which the House altered to allow agencies under its banner to operate as they have for one more year. That means the Wyoming Highway Department and the state Aeronautics Commission will not be immediately absorbed into the DOT until after a plan is developed i for the new department. I Other departments that will be Icreated under the approved legislation include family services, health, revenue and administration.

If the are signed by Gov. Mike he would appoint directors to head up the new departments who would put together plans. The only change made in the legislation Thursday was in the of oversight legislative 'committees that would be assigned monitor plan progress in the 'departments. The Senate amended bills to have two committees assigned to each department, but action scaled back the to one each. Action to exempt the Highway Department and Aeronautics Commission from immediate reorganization generated debate in earlier House readings, but there Iwas no attempt to rescind the action Jwhen the bill came up for final approval Thursday.

The DOT legislation was approved on a 46-17 vote, the nar- rowest margin of all the reoganiza-tion bills acted upon by the House. A bill establishing both the Family Services Department and the Health Department were approved The vote on administration was 50-13, and revenue was passed with a 57-6 vote. In the Senate, the votes to concur were 19-1 1 on DOT, 30-0 on Family Services and Health, 28-2 on Administration, and 28-2 on Revenue. Also approved by the House Thursday was the final plan for the already-reorganized Department of Commerce, on a 54-9 vote. The Senate concurrence vote on Commerce was 26-4.

The Legislature approved has approved plans for the Department of Employment and Department of Audit, created by legislation approved in 1989. CarolJo Vlastos in photograph CHEYENNE A photograph of three legislators on page A4 Thursday showed Reps. Lynn Dickey, D-Sheridan, Carol Jo Vlastos, R-Natrona, and Nyla Murphy, R-Natrona. Vlastos was misidentified by the Star-Tribune. Zbigniew BzdakStar-Tribune State Sen.

Liz Byrd, D-Laramie, talks with Sen. Gail Zimmerman, R-Natrona, on the Senate floor. Discussion By PAUL KRZA Star-Tribune capital bureau CHEYENNE -The House Thursday voted 51-12 to give final approval to the link deposit loan bill after approving, an amendment requiring the state treasurer to develop standards to document that the loans create or maintain jobs. But House members rejected another attempt to lower a proposed $50 million expansion of the program, which offers low-interest, state-subsidized loans to small businesses. Under the bill authorized funding will rise from $175 million to $225 million.

They also deleted a "sunset" clause attached to the bill on second reading Wednesday that would have called a halt to the loans in 1995. Supporters of the move to require more documentation of jobs loan applicants said the standards requirement would mesh with an audit that the House amended onto the bill Thursday. "How can you audit a program without standards?" asked Rep. Pat Hacker, D-Laramie. Amendment sponsor Rep.

Lynn Dickey, D-Sheridan, picked up support from Rep. Mike Enzi, R-Campbell, who said he would not have joined Dickey if he thought it would endanger link deposits. "We need some way of evaluating loans on the front end," Enzi said. The standards would provide "measurable criteria," and still leave the loan decisions "in the handsof bankers," headded. But Rep.

Rory Cross, R-Converse, said the requirement was simply "red tape" that would "slow the program down. Banks that issue the loans are already aware pf the link law provision that says the loans can be given only to applicants that create or retain jobs, Rep. Terry Guice, R-Albany, said. "Leave the responsibility to the banks," Guice said. The amendment was approved with 36 House members voting in favor.

On a close vote, the House turned down another amendment that would add only $15 million to the $175 million already authorized under the loan program. Bill sponsors proposed a $50 million expansion instead. Rep. Cynthia Lummis, R-Laramie, said she suggested the amendment as a "compromise" that would keep the bill out of a conference committee. were forgotten, for those who were set aside, for those who were trapped in fear, for those who were stripped of the opportunity to achieve," said the senator.

"He reached out to help those who could not help themselves "He took us on a journey toward equality, but he never returned. It was the end of the line," said Byrd. "As a nation, we can return home. We can return to the promise of peace All I ask of you today, is recognize the dream, know the dream, keep the dream alive and let freedom ring." PAT HACKER Supports standards requirement The amendment lost on a 29-33 vote. House members also reversed action that on Thursday attached a sunset provision to the link deposit loan program.

Rep. Scott Ratliff, D-Fremont, succeeded with the sunset amendment, but Rep. William Tibbs, R-Converse, said many legislators were off the floor when the vote was taken. An amendment offered by Tibbs to repeal the sunset was approved with a voice vote. Among those who voted on the link deposit bill was Rep.

Pat O'Toole, D-Carbon, who said he holds a link deposit loan. When the Senate voted on the bill, Sens. Robert Grieve, R-Carbon, and John Vinich, D-Fremont, declared conflicts, saying they had link loans. O'Toole said he secured his loan before entering the Legislature. He said he did not consider he had a conflict for that reason, and also voted because he felt he needed to represent his constituents on the issue.

Carbon County has a considerable number of link loans, O'Toole said. Rep. Lauris Tysdal, R-Weston, said he had a link loan for six months, but no longer was involved in the program because his bank stopped its participation in link deposit loans. Rep. Dan Budd, R-Sublette, said he was on the board of a bank that issued link deposit loans but did not have one himself.

Budd said his was only an "advisory capacity," and he saw no conflict in voting on the link loan bill. All three voted in favor of the legislation. But opponents said beauty was not enough of a good reason for putting state money in the. project, especially when many other worthy projects were not funded this year for lack of funds. "I don't think the state needs more land," Rep.

Eric Alden, R-Platte, said. "Does the state need another park?" Rep. Les Bowron, R-Natrona, agreed, saying that he was opposed to purchasing land "that doesn't generate revenue." Rep. Terry Guice, R-Albany, said the state already had parks it couldn't operate properly due to the lack of funds, and shouldn't be acquiring even more land. Washakie County should buy and operate it instead, he said.

But Rep. Jim Perkins, D.Sheridan, noted that girl scout facilities on the land were unique in that all offered handicapped access. If for no other reason, that should justify the purchase since "few" state or public facilities in Wyoming offer such access, he said. 1 jJfflt'1 i JAC eyes 'credibility problem' 'Piecemeal' approach to reviewing budgets to blame way to be better prepared," said Sen. JimGeringer, R-Platte.

Geringer said the credibility problem may also be due to a perception that the Appropriations Committee already had done most of the budget work. Legislators, "with a compelling interest to show something to folks back home" during an election year spent more time instead on non-budget bills that fund projects of particular interest to constituent projects. Sen. Win Hickey, D-Laramie, said the way revenue estimates are developed aggravates the problem. Before the session, the estimates' "are so bleak you want to give up," but the numbers continually "improve and improve." "You can't say there isn't money," she said.

"So everybody gets on the bandwagon spending more." Rep. Mel ZumBrunnen, R-Niobrara, said the multiple budget bills means some, usually the first ones presented, are heavily amended before the rest of the biennium package is considered. The Legislature "needs to look at the total picture" before amending parts of the package, he said. A co-chairman of the Ap-propriatons Committee, Rep. Dick Wallis, R-Campbell, said House votes 33-31 to buy land in Washakie County By PAUL KRZA Star-Tribune capital bureau CHEYENNE Members of the Joint Appropriations Committee Thursday said something needs to be done to address the committee's "credibility problem" in the Legislature.

The problem stems from the Legislature's "piecemeal" ap proach to reviewing budgets, along with legislators spending too much time on non-budget bills, they said. Joint Appropriations Committee members, meeting to plan interim studies, said that during this year's session legislators tended to focus on separate budget bills rather than viewing the overall budget before making cuts. At the same time, the committee members said they sometimes found it difficult to explain the justification for their budget actions during pre-session deliberations. "There were times on the floor when we couldn't explain what the hell we did," Rep. Rick Tempest, R-Natrona, said.

"Maybe we should figure out a going into the individual accounts. The basis for the governor's executive order was an opinion by Attorney General Joe Meyer. The pooled interest diversion yields $30 million a year, most of it from the water accounts, for general government operations. Sullivan said in January the main reason for the improved state fiscal profile was the executive order diverting the pooled interest. A bill sponsored by Reps.

Dan Budd, R-Sublette, H. L. Jensen, D-Teton, and Patrick O'Toole, D-Carbon, would have ended the diversion and returned the money to the water accounts. It failed introduction in the House. But the water development proponents succeeded in attaching the legislators also need to become more acquainted with the budget as developed by JAC.

The committee holds a two-day budget school before the session begins, "but they don't come to it," he said. Several JAC members said limiting the number of non-budget bills would give legislators more time to concentrate on the budget. "Something needs to be done," said Steve Sommers of the Legislative Service Office. Wallis agreed, and asked the committee to approve a letter to the Legislature leadership "to do something about the morass of bills." Sen. Kelly Mader, R-Camp-bell-Johnson, said perhaps a restriction on the bills, like two per legislator, would be the right approach.

The committee members also put together a list of proposed interim studies that still must be approved by the Legislative Management Council. They include a study of how state investments are managed, developing a new budget format, tracking federal money flow into the state and determining what proportion of government services should be done in the private sector. extended it through the full biennium. But Sullivan said the uncertainty over whether the Legislature would extend the diversion was the reason for the structure of his budget. Sullivan presented $69 million in priority items, including pay raises, and a list of sources of the money to pay for them.

Republican legislators were quick to point out Sullivan hadn't budgeted money for the estimated $38.7 million shortfall for the school foundation program for fiscal year 1992. The size of the school shortfall declined later with brighter federal mineral royalty projections "The nicest thing would be in two years we wouldn't have to worry about it," the governor said. Sullivan uphappy with pooled interest action By PAUL KRZA Star-Tribune capital bureau CHEYENNE The House Thursday by a two-vote margin approved a plan to use state money to purchase about 14,200 acres of land in Washakie County. The 33-31 vote came after opponents made a last-ditch effort to kill the bill by arguing that the state should not be buying more land at a time when money is short. The bill calls for a $1 million state appropriation, a $500,000 loan to be paid off from a one-cent optional county sales tax, and another $316,000 in state funds to operate and maintain a proposed "Natural Resource Education Center" on the land.

Supporters of the purchase plan said it was an opportunity to acquire valuable and scenic land near Tensleep which is now occupied by the National Girl Scout Camp. Rep. Dave Dunham, R. Washakie, noted that Legislature had often wrestled with how to to deal with public access to lands, which he said was an advantage the land purchase offered. By JOAN BARRON Star-Tribune capita bureau CHEYENNE The loss of nearly $20 million a year in pooled interest from state water accounts could cause a critical problem if revenues fail to improve, Gov.

Mike Sullivan said Thursday. "It's somethine I will have tn address when we look at the bills," Sullivan said. He said his preference would have been to re-direct the pooled interest back into the water accounts when the state is in aj satisfactory fiscal situation. Sullivan last year issued an executive order directing that interest income on state water accounts and other state accounts be placed into the state's General Fund instead of pooled interest amendment to a bill authorizing a long list of water projects. Because the amendment doesn't go into effect until June 30, 1992, the fiscal impact is postponed.

But Sullivan said in an interview it would have been more logical for the Legislature to wait and look at the state's fiscal situation instead of putting the governor in a position of preparing a budget with $40 million less money two years hence. The state's chief executive in 1992 also may have an additional $29 million budget headache when the diversion of permanent mineral trust fund money expires again. The Legislature last year the diversion for only the first year of the biennium and this year.