The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, October 27,1993-3
*State Senate committee approves minor school funding bills
LANSING (AP) - With a parti-
san split widening on the panel, a
Senate committee approved yester-
day several minorbills inapackage to
finance Michigan schools.
The Senate School Finance Re-
form Committee passed the bills on
* the strength of Republican votes, and
sent them to the full Senate. But mi-
nority Democrats largely maintained
their opposition.
"I'm not convinced this thrust is
going to solve the education prob-
lems of this state," said Sen. Joseph
Conroy (D-Flint). "Just don't ask me
to fund any of it. I'm not going to
cooperate. I want to see something
done about the kids at risk in this
state."
Conroy'spositionreflectedDemo-
cratic skepticism about Gov. John
Engler's proposal to revamp Michi-
gan schools and the method of fund-
ing them. The Republican-run Senate
is ahead of the evenly divided House
in its consideration of specific bills.
Among the bills approved by the
Senate committee yesterday were
measures that maintained revenue
sharing for cities but would replace it
with local tax millage for counties,
townships and villages.
The committee still faces major
Engler proposals to boost the sales
tax, increase tobacco taxes, increase
the Single Business Tax and levy a
new real estate transfer tax.
Lawmakers are trying to repair
the hole left by the July vote to do
away with property taxes for school
operations. Earlier this month, Re-
publican Engler issued his plan for
school improvement and to replace
$6.67 billion of the $6.98 billion lost
through the tax cut.
The full Senate opened floor de-
bate yesterday on the first school bills
to be approved by a Senate commit-
tee. But thechamberdelayedany votes
until next week.
Debated yesterday were bills to
authorize alternative charter schools,
independent schools which could be
opened under reduced state regula-
tion. A second bill prohibits teacher
tenure at a charter school.
Minority Democrats again ob-
jected to the pace that majority Re-
publicans were setting on the school
bills, which make major changes in
state law. But the GOP defended its
tactics.
"This is no way to run a railroad,"
protested Sen. Jack Faxon (D-
Farmington Hills). "You're going to
have to put up all the votes" if the
legislation is to pass.
"We're not running a railroad,"
said Sen. Michael Bouchard (R-Bir-
mingham). "We're in the legislative
process."
In related action, a Republican
senator blasted the Michigan Educa-
tion Association for subpoenaing his
legislative records in a court fight
over a state audit of the union's insur-
ance arm.
"It's pure intimidation," Sen. Jack
Welborn (R-Kalamazoo) said of the
subpoena.
Kim Brennan Root, an MEA
spokesperson, acknowledged the
union had subpoenaed aWelborn aide.
She said the union is barred from
discussing the legal action, but said
Welborn had made
about MEA.
serious charges
"We thought it was important to
get testimony or a deposition fromhis
aide," she said.
Meanwhile, several hundred par-
ents, educators and children rallied
on the steps of the Michigan Capitol
to encourage legislators to support
the governor's parental choice pro-
posal.
Gov. John Engler's plan to form
charter schools and allow parents to
send children to the public school of
their choice is a first step towards
quality education, activists said yes-
terday.
Bosnm Croats rfuse
. . .r..
,to alw U.N. troopsk
t investigate killgs
S ARAJEVO, Bosnia- vilians were said to have been taken, '.
Herzegovina (AP) - Bosnian but then pulled back after Croats
Croats accused of massacring Mus- moved up heavy machine-guns and..A'..' w: "'V... .*.
lims north of Sarajevo prevented grenade launchers.
U.N. peacekeepers from reaching The U.N. troops remained in the
the area yesterday to investigate, area, he said.
Government-run Bosnian radio A Danish U.N. aid worker was
accused Croat forces of killing about killed and 12 other peacekeepers
80 villagers in Stupni Do on Satur- and aid workers were wounded
*day and taking about 120 others by Monday when U.N. convoys came
truck toward nearby Vares, aCroat- under fire at a front line between
controlled town. Bosnian government and Croat
A Bosnian Croat radio service forces in central Bosnia.
denied any killings or detentions. The Dane was the 10th U.N. re- .
Lt. Col. Bill Aikman, spokes- lief worker killed.
person for the U.N. troops, said .*
peacekeepers got close enough o "This man gave his life trying to */.,,,-,,,,/ .
Stupni Do' during the weekend to help the innocent victims of a brutal
confirm that it had been burned. war," said Sadako Ogata, the U.N.
But heycoud nt dterine High Commissioner for Refugees,
what happened to the villagers. woeaec raie h o-
The peacekeepers were fired on vroyt
when they tried to get through a "There is absolutely no excuse
roadblock Sunday. Another U.N. for an incident of this kind."
peacekeeping unit was shot at in The aid convoy was returning
Vares. There were no casualties in empty from the town of Zenica to
either incident. U.N. warehouses in the Croatian
Aikman said Croat forces con- town of Metkovic when it and a .
tinued to block a team of Swedes, separateconvoy of U.N. troops came
Norwegians and Danes Monday under mortar and small-arms fire
0from reaching the village, 20 miles near Travnik. ~
north of Sarajevo. Aikman said the convoys ap.-
Aikman said U.N.troops in Vares peared to have been caught in an
watched a school where Muslim ci- attack on a Croat checkpoint. A purple bus cruises down State Street yesterday. EEAMAGU/
crli ton a onces governent s endingC cut
*President pledges to reduce wasteful purchases by various federal offices
Clinton to show
new health care
plan to Congress
Revised proposal includes compromises on
Insurance converage, government role in
providing health care
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Presi-
dent Clinton's health reform pro-
posal will fall $30 billion short of
the budget savings predicted ear-
lier, an administration official said,
yesterday as the White House read-
ied the plan for delivery to Con-
gress.
The president and Hillary Rodham
Clinton were due to bring the 1,600-
page bill to Congress in person today
in a ceremony in Statuary Hall.
Clinton has argued that without a
sharp slowdown in health inflation,
the federal deficit would spiral back
up later in this decade.
His economic advisers had vowed
to sacrifice further deficit reduction
before raising taxes any more for
health reform.
In the original draft, Clinton's
health plan would have lowered the
deficit by $91 billion between now
and the year 2000.
Dr. Philip Lee, the assistant secre-
tary for health, told a medical educa-
tors' meeting the deficit reduction
figure now is "around $60 billion."
Other administration officials said
the revised plan will offer discounted
coverage to some small businesses
with as many as 75 workers.
The cutoff had been 50 workers
in the original plan.
And a government takeover of
employers' costs of providing health
benefits for early retirees ages 55 to
64 will be phased in slowly between
1998 and2001, saidthe officials, who
spoke on condition of anonymity.
[he White Househas backed down
from an ambitious goal to reserve half
of all residencies for doctors training
in primary care within five years.
Instead, it would set a goal of
having 55 percent of the residents in
primary care by the year 2002. Sev-
enty percent of the 625,000 U.S. doc-
tors now are specialists.
Leon Panetta, the White House
budget director, said Clinton had taken
pains to avoid creating new "open-
ended entitlements" in health care,
"particularly when we're trying to
discipline the rest of government
spending."
Panetta said Clinton has built in a
mechanism to cap the entitlements.
A 239-page draft summary of
Clinton's original proposal that leaked
out almost seven weeks ago has been
a lightning rod for complaints from
businesses, hospitals and others with
worries about the so-called Health
Security Plan.
The plan proposes to pay for the
reforms with cigarette taxes, big sav-
ings in Medicare and Medicaid, a one
percent levy on large corporations
and a requirement that all employers
and employees buy insurance.
Under the final plan, the health
board would be an executive agency,
the sources said.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Presi-
dent Clinton proposed a major over-
haul of government buying yester-
day, requiring that the Pentagon and
other agencies order items off the
shelf when possible rather than cus-
tom-made, super-expensive ver-
sions.
Clinton also proposed a $10 bil-
lion package of new spending cuts
and other cost-saving moves.
"We can and will run a govern-
ment that works better and costs
less," the president said at the White
House.
Clinton said: "Procurement waste
is costing the taxpayers tens of bil-
lions of dollars and it has to stop." He
;aid he hoped some of the savings
:ould be channeled into anti-crime
programs.
"No more specially constructed
cigarette ash trays," said Rep. John
Conyers (D-Mich.)
He was referring to the nine pages
of specifications issued by the Gen-
eral Services Administration earlier
this year for glass ashtrays to be used
in government buildings.
The government buys $200 bil-
lion in goods and services each year,
75 percent by the Pentagon.
Clinton said his package fulfills
the promise for more spending cuts
he made last August to congressional
conservatives to win their support for
his deficit-reduction plan. It also aims
to carry out a host of recommenda-
tions made by Vice President Al
Gore's National Performance Review
last month.
The package ranges from ending
federal subsidies for wool, mohair
and honey to providing less money
for certain small airports.
And it would authorize the gov-
ernment for the first time to follow the
example of private industry and offer
"buy out"bonuses to federal employ-
ees as an incentive to early retire-
ment.
The goal is to bring about a reduc-
tion of about 252,000 federal em-
ployees.
Some conservative Democrats
have suggested they might press for
even deeper cuts.
And the acquisition-reform effort
could prove contentious once it actu-
ally begins to move through Con-
gress. The process could result in
giving work now performed by de-
fense contractors to smaller compa-
nies.
That is raising concerns of some
labor interests. Also, some lawmak-
ersmay oppose the program if it threat-
ens to take business away from com-
panies in their districts.
"Although we may quibble about
specific cuts in this package, there
should be no question that this spend-
ing cuts package will let taxpayers
keep more money in their pockets,"
said Sen. John Glenn (D-Ohio).
The administration contended the
proposed changes in procurement
policies could save $22 billion over
the next five years.
Congressional budget officials put
the potential savings from procure-
ment reform at far less, around $3
billion over five years.
Administration budget officials
said that the package included $9.1
billion in cuts for the current fiscal
year, to be followed by another set of
about $1 billion in cuts later this week.
Loyalists lead in Georgian civil war
TBILISI, Georgia (AP) - Sol-
diers loyal to Georgian leader Eduard
Shevardnadze followed up a string of
victories by attacking therebels' mili-
tary stronghold of Senaki yesterday.
The government troops converged
on the western Georgian town from
two directions in an attempt to break
the back of the rebel army, said Min-
istry of Defense spokesman Eteri
Baladze.
The assault on Senaki came one
day after government forces recap-
tured the vital Black Sea port of Poti
from rebels seeking to overthrow
Shevardnadze and restore former
President Zviad Gamsakhurdia to
power.
More government troops and arms
were being sent to Potifrom the Geor-
gian capital, Tbilisi.
Shevardnadze has gained the
edged in Georgia's civil war over the
last five days after his troops united
under a single command and received
support from Russia.
The rebels, known as "Zviadisti"
from Gamsakhurdia's first name, had
stopped shipping along the main rail-
road that runs from Poti through
Senaki and on to Tbilisi.
Battles in the civil war often in-
volve only a few hundred men, and
the outlook for either side can change
overnight with a sudden victory or
defeat.
Student groups
t Graduate Employees Organi-
zation, membership meeting,
Rackham, East Conference
Room, 6 p.m.
L Lutheran Campus Ministry,
Jesus Through the Centuries
study/discussion, 6 p.m.;
Evening Prayer, 7 p.m.; 801
South Forest Ave.
Q Marxist Study on Current
Events, MLB, Room B 129, 7
p.m.
C Ninjutsu Club, IM Building,
Wrestling Room, 7:30 p.m.
Q Rainforest Action Movement,
weekly meeting, Dana Build-
ing, Room 1046, 7 p.m.
0 Rotaract Club, meeting,
Dominick's, 9 p.m.
rFDin T.ar- n-:- .:rtt
Q Sociology Club, mass meeting,
LSA Building, Third Floor
Lounge, 7:30 p.m.
U Tae Kwon Do Club, beginners
and other new members wel-
come, CCRB, Room 2275, 7-
8:30 p.m.
U Undergraduate Law Club, of-
fice hours, Michigan Union,
Room 4124, 11 a.m. -1 p.m.
Events
U Ethiopian Jews in Israel,
speaker: Teshome Wagaw,
sponsoredby AMI, Angell Hall,
Room 35, 7 p.m.
Q Goldman Sachs/Information
Technology, sponsored by Ca-
reer Planning and Placement,
Michigan Union, Kalamazoo
n - - " _ . a
ture, sponsored by the Center
for Russian and East European
Studies, Lane Hall Commons
Room, noon.
Q The Mind as Hero In 'Atlas
Shrugged', speaker: Andrew
Bernstein, sponsored by Stu-
dents of Objectivism, MLB,
Aud. 4, 8 p.m.
U What Are You Going To Do
With Your B.A. in English,
sponsored by Career Planning
and Placement, Michigan
Union, Kuenzel Room, 7:30-8
p.m.
U Writing Law School Personal
Statements, sponsored by Ca-
reer Planning and Placement,
3200 Student Activities Build-
ing, 4:10-5 p.m.
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