The Michigan Daily-Wednesday, August 5, 1981-Page 3
Tax cut
awaits
Reagan's
signature
From AP and UPI
WASHINGTON - The House sent President
Reagan yesterday the bill he wanted to slash per-
sonal income taxes in each of the next three years
and launch what he contends will be an era of
economic boom without inflation.
Operating under unusual procedures that required
a two-thirds majority vote, the House voted 282-95 for
the compromise tax cut bill worked out by House and
Senate negotiators during a marathon weekend
session, sending it on to the president for his
signature.
AS HAD OCCURRED in the Senate a day earlier,
final passage was held up in the House long enough
for several members to try to trim some of the $11.8
billion that the bill earmarks for the oil industry
through 1986. Rep. James Shannon and his supporters
were no more successful than a fellow Massachusetts
Democrat, Sen. Edward Kennedy, had been.
The bill, which includes massive tax cuts for -
businesses and special interests, will cost the
T eaasury $748.8 billion in lost tax revenues through
19 .
The heart of the bill is Reagan's proposal to per-
manently reduce personal tax rates by an average of
would be cut automatically every year, starting in
1985, to help offset inflation.
REAGAN, WHO has waited nearly six months sin-
ce first unveiling his proposal, planned to sign his
prized across-the-board tax cut package into law
today or Thursday.
The first bit of the tax cut will start showing up in
paychecks received in early October, but for most
workers, that will amount to a decrease of less than
$1 in taxes withheld. Bigger cuts in withholding will
follow next year and in 1983.
A typical four-member, one-earner family with
$20,000 income would get a $25 tax cut - less than $2 a
week - for the last quarter of 1981. The family would
get an additional reduction of $228 in 1982, $371 in 1983
and $464 in $1984. When fully effective, the bill would
reduce that family's current tax liability of $2,013 to
$1,549.
Similarly, a single person earning $30,000 now pays
$5,718 in federal income taxes. That would be cut $71
this year, $566 next year, $1,117 in 1983 and $1,342 in
1984.
HOWEVER, PEOPLE making less than $10,000 a
year will get such a small tax reduction in 1982 that
increases in inflation and Social Security payroll
deductions will mean they will end up paying more.
Hey, good-lookin'.!
This foxy lady was spotted yesterday while cruising for hitchhikers along Huron Parkway.
Prisons need 'tighter
LANSING (UPI)-Michigan's riot-
torn prison system needs tighter
discipline, better trained guards, and
improved facilities, Gov. William
Milliken's special committee said
yesterday.
The nine-member committee, in its
final report to the governor, reaffirmed
its initial finding that an unauthorized
lockdown by guards sparked the first
riot at Southern Michigan Prison in
Jackson May 22, but was sharply
critical of the state Corrections Depar-
tment for failing to avert a recurrence
four days later. Media coverage of the
riots also was criticized.
THE PANEL made 39 recommen-
dations and said a voter-passed ban on
sentence reductions for good behavior
has caused serious problems and called
for alternatives. The state must hire
more black guards to ease serious
racial tensions, maintain minimum
staffing, improve food and soothe
strained relations between ad-
ministration and front-line prison em-
ployees, it said.
Milliken called the situation
"urgent," but said he stands behind
embattled Corrections Director Perry
Johnson.
The May riots at Jackson, the
Michigan Reformatory in Ionia, and the
Marquette Branch Prison-called the
worst in 30 years-are expected to
eventually cost the state about $9
million.
THE COMMITTEE, headed by for-
mer Michigan Supreme Court Justice
Lawrence Lindemer, said government
"has an obligation to render the
prisoner better equipped to return to
society."
"Basic to a resolution of all problems
in prisons is development of adequate
physical facilities to avoid system
overcrowding," the 40-page report said.
Responding to a chronic complaint of
d1s1pine'
prison guards, the committee called for
stronger disciplinary measures against
unruly prisoners.
SPECIFICALLY proposed were
elimination of automatic appeals to the
circuit court, doubling the maximum
major misconduct penalty, increasing
availability of detention and
segregation cells and improved
training for guards in disciplinary
procedures.
The committee concluded racial ten-
sion between black and white prisoners
is "evident," noting 75 percent of all
inmates seeking protective custody are
white.
White guards are predominant in the
heavily black prisons and most have
"little knowledge, empathy or
awareness of the black experience,"
the report said, calling for race
relations training.
EAST LANSING (UPI)-A
biochemistry honor student at
Michigan State University is accused of
running a laboratory that could
produce enough cocaine to "get MSU
high for a long time," police said
yesterday.
Phillip Lyle Lamoureux, 21, a senior
from Dayton, Ore., attending MSU on a
scholarship, was arraigned in U.S.
District Court in Grand Rapids on
charges of conspiracy to manufacture
cocaine.
HE WAS released on a $5,000 personal
recognizance bond. Preliminary
examination was set for Aug. 19.
Det. Lt. Gene Wriggelsworth of the
Tri-County Metro Narcotics Squad said
Lamoreux's laboratory in suburban
Williamston was capable of producing
drugs with a street value "in the
millions." He called it one of the largest
seizures ever made in the area, but said
Laboureux has not been found with any
drugs.
"It would be enough to get MSU high
for a long time," Wriggelsworth said of
the lab's potential production. The
maximum penalty for cocaine con-
spiracy is 15 years.
TWO OTHER suspects were- being
sought on conspiracy charges, he said.
Wriggelsworth said that the metro
squad, along with the federal Drug En-
forcement Administration and MSU
campus police, has been stalking
Lamoureux for at least two years.
According to a roommate,
Lamoureux is "really smart" and "not
into messing up anybody." The room-
mate said Lamoureux only "dabbled"
with the laboratory.
Wriggelsworth said Lamoureux was
operating with equipment worth $2,00,
much of which he had bought himself.