Casper Star-Tribune from Casper, Wyoming • 12

Sunday, January 26, 1992 Budget Continued from Al millions of jobs, including his own. With deadly outbreaks of tuberculosis reported in many states, Bush seeks $66 million for control of the disease in 1993, up from $32 million this year, the documents show. The boat tax proposal will be presented as part of Bush's campaign to promote economic growth and create jobs. The tax, enacted in 1990, was originally seen by people felt this is a way to get the rich guys," Bush said in August while on vacation in Maine. "What they forgot is, there's a lot of not-so-rich guys that build these boats." Bush said then he feared that he might be criticized if he came out "in favor of relief for boats." But he insisted: "I'm talking jobs.

I'm thinking of the people who are, thrown out of work in these amount over $100,000. For a $300,000 boat, for example, the tax is $20,000. The desirability of repealing the tax is one of the few economic questions on which Bush agrees with Sen. George Mitchell, the Democratic leader from Maine, a big boat-building state with a long coastline. The boat tax could be seen as a parable of trickle-down economics.

It "was slapped on there because Democrats as a way for the government to extract revenue from people wealthy enough to buy boats costing more than $100,000. But it adversely affected many craftsmen and artisans who lost jobs when boat sales slumped and boat builders went out of business. The 1990 law requires anyone who buys a new or imported boat with a retail price exceeding 1 00,000 to fay a 10 percent tax, formally nown as a luxury tax, on the A1 2 Star-Tribune, Casper, Wyo. Candidates Continued from Al for leaving "a great legacy of caring and compassion" compared to the "legacy of despair" of President Bush and former President Reagan. While praising all the candidates' performances before his National Rainbow Coalition, Jackson withheld any personal endorsement, and suggested he may remain uncommitted until the fiarty's national convention in Ju-y- The coalition's meeting was expected to test Arkansas Gov.

Bill Clinton, whose appeals to the "forgotten middle class" have been viewed by some of Jackson's followers as new code words for racial politics. But with accusations of sexual infidelity threatening to derail Clinton's campaign, Jackson came to the defense of the governor, with whom he has frequently feuded. "The press is obsessed with private lives and style, but we're concerned about people," he said. "We need to get the critical issues on the table." Jackson also sought to end the controversy over Clinton's "middle class" appeal, contending that it is not intended to appeal to white voters in the way that President Bush used "quotas." "All this talk about middle class is a pollster's positioning," Jackson said. "Working and poor people in America share a com- Graves mon agenda.

Call it a New Deal, call it vanilla sundae, dress it however you want, as long as the commitment is to a common ground agenda, we know you are coming our way." Clinton himself disavowed any racial motives, saying "middle class" is "not just an income designation" but also a reference to such values as "support for family, reward for work, the willingness to change what isn't working." He won loud applause at the close of his remarks when he said that as a southerner he knew racial politics all too well and would not allow Bush or other Republicans to exploit racial divisions. "There is no 'them' in this country, there is only 'us' and we want our government back and our country back," Clinton said. "If they try race-bashing on me, I will jam it to them and bring this country together." All the Democratic rivals pro- Eosed cutting defense spending to elp the jobless and to finance public works programs, environmental cleanup and reforms in health and education. But they parted company over the issue of capital punishment, which Brown injected into the discussion by asking the coalition members to stand in silence for Rickey Ray Rector, who was executed in Arkansas Friday night for the 1981 murder of a police officer. player in the Wyoming Democratic Party regardless of the outcome this year.

Don Sullivan, who sent a dozen roses last year to National Public Radio reporter Nina Totenberg after her public clash with Wyoming GOP Sen. Alan Simpson, said "the only powerful public office I'm interested in" is U.S. ambassador to Ireland. Sullivan said he doubts he will win the ambassador's job, however, because to qualify "you need a boyhood friend who gets elected President." Sutherland, the embattled Natrona County assessor, said he was amazed that Graves had mentioned him as a possible candidate. "Oh, shit," he said.

"The only thing I should run for is the border." Reeves, who expressed interest in public service, said 1992 will not be his year to run for Congress, barring "an extraordinary change of circumstances." Downes, who sought his party's nomination to run in the special election against Thomas in 1989 after Dick Cheney resigned to become the U.S. Secretary of Defense, also ruled himself out as a candidate this year. "It's an arduous task in Wyoming for a Democrat to unseat a Republican, given the fact that limited resources will be fun-neled into the presidential campaign," he said. "It's easy to see how a Democratic candidate could get lost in the shuffle." Downes said he would advise any Democratic challenger to run a homegrown campaign and decline assistance from the national Thomas also said he is not concerned about President Bush's eroding popularity affecting his own chances for re-election in November because he wasn't elected on Bush's coattails in the first place. Lorraine Quarberg, chairman of the Wyoming Republican Party, said she certainly does not expect Thomas to run unopposed in 1992 and that the party considers "any challenge is a serious challenge." Quarberg said Secretary of State Kathy Karpan and Governor Mike Sullivan are considered the most formidable Democrats in the state this year.

Quarberg said Graves is misinterpreting Wyoming voters if he believes that most of them think of Thomas as shallow. No one disputes Thomas' dedication to the job, she said, and his success in assembling a competent, professional staff "points to his excellent leadership and management skills." PERSONAL SHOlM'fcK for Elderly Homebound Persons Recuperating Patients Working Persons New Mothers CALL NOW 472-5947 Continued from Al steps forward who is better and brighter, that person can beat Thomas." Graves also said he thinks the state's voters are re-evaluating whether they want to go on being represented by an all-GOP congressional delegation, which he said has no inside influence on key issues with majority leaders on Capitol Hill. Few eager candidates Though no Wyoming Democrat has stepped forward to challenge Thomas, Graves listed several potential candidates. Not many of them welcomed the idea of a campaign against Thomas, however. Graves' list included: Secretary of State Kathy Karpan; State Rep.

Don Sullivan, D-Laramie; Casper attorney Bill Downes; Cheyenne investment broker Doug Reeves; Natrona County Assessor Tom Sutherland; and state representatives Keith Goodenough, Bill Vasey and Eli Bebout. Karpan, who Graves said could beat Thomas "if the election were held tomorrow," said she enjoys her work on state issues and absolutely will not run against Thomas this year. Karpan said she thinks Thomas can be beaten but that anyone considering a challenge has to feel daunted by the incumbent's contributions from political action committees and his ability to exploit the state's congressional seat in his own favor. Karpan predicted that her party's 1992 congressional candidate will be someone who stands a chance of winning but also wants to establish himself or herself as a Thomas i Continued from Al As for himself and voters' per- Cntion of him Thomas cm'H ho available to state agencies, the DEQ says it will be "lucky" if all the sites are cleaned up within 25 years. "The more you start doing this kind of work, you begin to realize there's more to it and it costs more," Feusner said.

"It's a high demand technology. We're doing everything we can to keep costs down, but it's a supply and demand thing. The more demand you have, the higher the costs will be." The leaking underground storage tank (LUST) law passed in 1989 by the Legislature requires the state to pay for all cleanup costs associated with the leaks. At the same time, it gave a general amnesty to the owners of contaminated sites who registered with the state program, stopping the state from suing them to recover any of those costs. But the mechanisms provided in the law for funding the state program the one-cent tax and a $200 registration fee paid by tank owners will only earn 1 87 million over the next 20 years, according to DEQ estimates.

Some of that money must also be applied to a financial responsibility fund set up by the state. The LUST law provides that the state assume $1 million in third-party liability for all registered tank sites, insuring owners against suits brought by individuals and property affected by contamination. President of the Wyoming Senate Diemer True, R-Natrona, who tried two years ago to double the uw Continued from Al Joint Appropriations Committee UW needed to add "at least" $5 million to Gov. Mike Sullivan's 1993-94 UW budget recommendations if the university is to maintain its services at current levels. Sullivan's total $238.9 million UW budget recommendation actually represents a 4 percent increase over current funding levels keeping the state's General Fund contribution to the school's budget flat at its current $157.5 million.

School officials have said the total proposal actually represents a cut because the recommendation does not include enough to fully cover the faculty and staff pay raise the Legislature approved last year. Roark said Saturday the school will use the list of "possible" cuts he presented to the JAC "as a jumping off point and then possibly follow through on those we identify during the coming two months." The largest cuts among the $4.6 million UW administrators already presented to the JAC include: A reduction in the number of UW varsity athletic teams from 18 to 14. Such a move would save an estimated $300,000 during the coming biennium and bring the university to the lowest number of teams allowed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association for a school to maintain a "Division I-A" standing. A "phase-out" of UW funding for both the Cheyenne and Casper Family Practice Centers. The school expects to save an estimated 1 .4 million during the coming biennium.

Closure of the UW College of Education's "University School" for a savings of $370,000. The imposition of a $1,000 miwnwimfrts Are Your CLOGGED DRAIN SEWER Specialists 266-5210 We're celebrating our first Anniversary In one year, we've kept 70,000 disposable diapers from clogging our landfill! 9 ff rt LUST Continued from Al and eventually the groundwater. A recent analysis by DEQ, however, says that the original cost prediction severely underestimated both the number and scale of contaminated sites and the cost of cleaning them up, Feusner said. Rep. Dennis Tippets, R-Fre-mont, one of the legislators who designed the state's cleanup law, describes the billion dollar figure as "a very soft number," But he also says it's clear that the contamination problem is much larger than originally believed.

"The more we get into this thing, we find the contamination caused by the fact that we didn't do anything about it for years in our state is really more serious than we thought originally," he said. Because of the scale of the problem and the limited resources Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which he said is out of step with Wyoming voters on virtually every important issue. Downes said he thinks the future of the Democratic Party belongs to its conservative leaders, such as Sen. Jay Rockefeller. D-W.

and Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton. A winning Democrat from Wyoming should align with the party's conservative wing in Washington, he said, and reject the national committee which he said is still dominated by East Coast liberals. Vasey, D-Carbon, said he has not considered a challenge to Thomas and will not decide until after the upcoming legislative session. Goodenough, D-Natrona, said he is keeping his options open and will make no decision until the state's reapportionment plan is settled.

Goodenough said his first choice is to run for the Wyoming Legislature but that he may run for Congress if he ends up in a district drawn so that he is pitted against Rep. Susan Anderson, Natrona. Bebout, D-Fremont, was traveling early last week and could not be reached for comment. Money issues Though Thomas claims to already have $60,000 in his campaign committee's bank account, Graves said it is not too late to organize a successful Democratic campaign. "I'd like to have the candidates out early but if they wait until the Legislature is over and make a name for themselves there that's all the better," he said.

"My sense is things change very rapidly in politics in today's world. The media does get the message out rather rapidly." Reeves and Downes were less sanguine. Downes said any Democratic challenger will need between $150,000 and $200,000 to defeat Thomas, a sum that may be difficult, if not impossible, to raise in Wyoming during the next nine months. Said Reeves, "Realistically, it takes a year to put together, plan and finance a campaign." But Graves said the rignt Democratic message will compensate for what the party may lack in funding. Thomas, he said, has cozied up to the Bush administration which he said has done nothing for Wyoming and is losing popularity nationwide.

Wyoming voters, he said, are smart enough to recognize which candidate will look out for their best interests in Washington regardless of how much money that candidate is able to raise. "IDEA TriFlA 3 IT Jl Ml i ssn a 12-3 Entbantf i Eartliiuorka 504 5. LXJfWn (kaddf-cornir from Cabla TV) mow. CASPER ELKS "SUNDAY BRUNCH" 9AM- 12NOON SPECIAL PRICES FOR SENIOR CITIZENS AND CHILDREN Sunday, Jan. 26 "SUPER BOWL PARTY" Bring a Covered Dish.

Happy Prl- Durlnn Game Time. Dining Room Closed This Evening. the DEQ will ask the Legislature to fund eight new positions in the agency's underground storage tank program to help get the cleanup off the ground, DEQ Director Dennis Hemmer said. The agency isn't yet asking for a new funding mechanism for the project, he said. "Before we get into going much further with that, I'd like to see some of the projects get going, so we have some real costs on them," he said.

"And we'd like to see some more information on how many tanks we have out there and that sort of thing." "We're aware that the projections show us drastically short, but we're still mainly working with projections and until we see what the costs actually run us on some of these things, I'm reluctant to do anything," Hemmer said. Hemmer said the agency doesn't have any updated estimates on the cost of the liability program to the state. The original estimate done in the first actuary report in 1989 predicted it would be less than 5 percent of the total costs of the program. No third party has yet made a liability claim against Wyoming, he said. As of November 1991, there was $4.06 million in the state's fi-; nancial responsibility account which covers the cost of liability claims, Hemmer said.

At the same time, there was nearly $5.2 million in the corrective action account, which pays for the cleanup of contaminated sites, Hemmer said. nomic development offices for possible elimination. Sharratt said Saturday the net savings to the state "may frankly be negligible. For example, if we close the University School, the Albany County School District and therefore the state will have to accommodate those additional students." "Like all state agencies, we may just be to the point of shifting burdens to one another," Sharratt said. "What the state actually needs is a group of legislators to take the lead and admit that Wyoming needs to develop additional sources of revenue." Sharratt declined to suggest what "additional sources of revenue" taxes should be considered by the Legislature.

"That's really not our place as trustees to do that," Sharratt said. "The governor has made several constructive recommendations and there are other areas to look at. Just for an example, a one percent sales tax for education would raise about $50 million (a year)." THE BIG SHOT IS COMINC! All Golfers Need One! 'MEM BREAKFAST SPECIAL Try Our Huevos Rancheros s3.79 GRANNY'S DineR Xioo4 Fttth Food Great Pncet! Give your HONDA some Tender Loving Care ENGINE TUNE UP $44.95 tax OUR CERTIFIED HONDA MECHANICS WILL INSTALL: New Spark Plugs New Dist. Rotor Check Timing Idle Speeds Inspect Belts Hoses PLUS GIVE YOUR CAR THOROUGH ROAD TEST (Offer Good On Honda Cars Only Additional Parts Labor Extra) Expires February 14th, 1992 ims iionon fiSOEIsT 577-9333 isLl li (if Ht'k 'S I Si i registration fee, said the Legislature doesn't have any clear idea where it will find the new funds that will be needed. But he added that the DEQ will tackle the worst sites first, using currently available money.

The DEQ's recently completed management study predicts that the number of leaking sites and the scale of contamination across the state will be extensive, agency officials say. Feusner said that there are currently 475 identified sites containing leaking underground tanks. But he said that only a fraction of existing tanks have been checked for leaks. Based on the experience of other states and what's been uncovered so far in Wyoming, the agency predicts the final number of contaminated sites will be over 1,200, he said. The billion dollar figure covers the cleanup of all those sites.

"When the bill was originally passed there was a study done by (a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm)," Feusner said. "The work they did was okay, but it severely underestimated the number of facilities that might be leaking and underestimated the costs that will probably be incurred for each task." The updated estimate, he explained, is "what we perceive based on the national experience of 25 percent of all tanks leaking, and our estimate of what we're finding in Wyoming, which is a little bit closer to 50 percent." In the upcoming budget session, per year tuition increase for UW law students entering the program in the fall of 1992. The program would apply only to new students and be fully phased in over a three-year period. The surcharge is expected to generate an estimated $216,000 during the next two years. An increase from $1,000 to $5,000 in the annual tuition increase for medical students enrolled in the school's "medical contracts" program at Nebraska's Creighton University.

Currently, UW students enrolled in the program pay Wyoming's in-state tuition and the $1,000 surcharge. Increasing the surcharge would generate about $180,000 during the next two years. A reduction in the number of students enrolled in the Creighton program from 15 to 10, for an estimated savings of $125,000. If that cut is adopted the above tuition surcharge would only generate an additional $155,000. Closure of the Powell, Sheridan and Archer Agriculture Experiment Stations for an estimated savings of $645,000 during the 1993-94 biennium.

Cancellation ofUW's "Cultural Outreach" programs including the school's Centennial Singers, the University Band and all concert travel. Such a cut would save an estimated $120,000 each year. The school has also targeted its international programs and eco- Thcre are Still Seats Available for the Feb. 2nd. Gamblers Fun Flight to Reno Departs Casper 8:00 AM 1-234-6484 Some restrictions apply See tour participation agreement for into.

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Box 80 JA-2, Casper, WY 82602 has demonstrated "a clear direc-I tion" in office and that his record I speaks volumes. "I voted 98 percent of the time last year and was in Wyoming 1 8 1 days in a non-election year," he said. "That's a lot of travel but that's how you stay in touch." Though leading Democrats appear hesitant to take on Thomas this year, he said he expects a strong candidate to emerge and that he would not have it any other way. "I think there ought to be a i challenge and I intend to campaign whether there is or not," he said. "Campaigns are part of the process of going out and listening." Thomas has made a good start in preparing tor the campaign.

According to his press secretary, Liz Brimmer, the Wyoming Republican already has roughly $60,000 in his campaign account. Tun a fl Eagles Hall 306 N. Durbin A A U- LCr AKKh I 1UUAY10-4 umi-iaiuii Sponsored by the Casper Antijue 5V Kg Worn Basket Unusual Fibers U'arprrnlniif Mcdiri Cluny DMC Floss Perel 3-5-8 Baiger Metallic Stop by to see out complete selection 138 S.Kimbaii Casper 266-1715 Sat. A a- PRIVATE MAILBOXES Confidential U.S.RS.&U.RS. Delivery Sunrise Postal Center a division of APPC 472-1829 Pap.b Service Elki Bona l-ide Ouem uniyi 7th Center.