The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 68, No. 12, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 23, 1980 Page: 27 of 32
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TEXAS RAILROAD COMMISSIONERS
Five candidates seek two positions on commission
by Patty Cleary
Democrat Buddy Temple and
Republican Hank Grover vie for
one of two seats open this year on
the Texas Railroad Commission.
The other seat, vacated last year by
Jon Newton (two years remaining)
be being sought by Democrat
James E. Nugent, Republican H.J.
(Doc) Blanchard and Libertarian
David Hurtzelman.
The Railroad Commission,
created to regulate railroads, now
controls production of oil and gas,
regulates intrastate oil and gas
pipelines, controls intrastate
trucking and bussing, administers
laws pertaining to petroleum and
natural gas industries, licenses
dealers and handlers of butane and
propane and establishes
reclamation requirements for
surface-mined lands. It consists of
three members serving over-
lapping six-year terms.
In the race for the unexpired
term, the incumbent Nugent, who
was appointed to replace Newton
last year, faces Blanchard and
Hutzelman.
Prior to his appointment to the
commission, Nugent, a resident of
Kerrville, served for 18 years in the
Texas House of Representatives,
where he chaired several
committees. Republican candidate
Blanchard has maintained a law
practice since 1951, has served in
the Texas legislature from 1956-
1975, and has chaired or served on
Jim Nugent
all major Texas House and Senate
committees. Libertarian candidate
Hutzelman is a former Air Force
officer.
Nugent claims that "Texas
consumers are unwitting victims of
national policies designed to
provide cheap energy to the
Northeast" and that many
outsiders "have used Texas for
their own benefit." As
TEXAS CONSTITUTION!
9 amendments sought
Nine constitutional amend-
ments will also be on the ballot.
These proposed amendments
range from legalizing bingo games
for charitable purposes to
protecting separate property
among spouses. If approved the
amendments will be added to the
more than 200 amendments
already in the Texas constitution.
Amendment no. 1 proposes
that the Texas legislature be
allowed to permit authorized
banks to use their unmanned
electronic teller machines for all
functions provided that they share
the machines with the other
financial institutions located in the
bank's area on a "reasonable,
nondiscriminatory basis,
consistant with antitrust laws."
Amendment no. 2 deals with the
Texas criminal court system and
would allow the state and the
defendent the right to appeal a
pretrial ruling before the
conclusion of the trial. The appeal
would pertain specifically to
pretrial rulings on the
constitutionality of a statute, on a
motion to quash, dismiss, or set
aside an indictment, or on a
motion to suppress evidence.
The third amendment calls for
the legislature to provide a single
appraisal of all property within
Texas counties rather than leaving
this authority to the individual
county commissioners' courts. It
also calls for a single board of
equalization for each county and
excludes elected officials from this
board.
Bingo games organized for
charitable purposes in Texas by a
church, synagogue, volunteer fire
department, nonprofit veterans
organization, fraternal orga-
nizations or nonprofit orga-
nizations supporting medical
research or treatment programs
will be made legal with the passage
of amendment no. 4, but not on a
statewide basis. The legality of the
game will be determined by local
community voters. The bill
requires game organizers to submit
quarterly financial reports to the
state comptroller's office and
penalizes failure to make these
reports**'
Constitutional amendment no. 5
would allow the governor to
exercise fiscal control over the
spending of certain appropriated
funds decided by the legislature.
The governor's actions however,
would have to receive approval
from a budget execution
committee made up of himself, the
lieutenant governor, speaker of the
House, and various finance
chairmen.
Officials appointed by the
governor would be subject to
removal by the governor with
consent of two-thirds of the senate.
Passage of constitutional
amendment no. 7 would allow any
county with a population of less
than 5,000 to build and maintain
private roads in the county. The
counties are instructed to "impose
a reasonable charge for the work,"
and subsequent revenues will be
used for the maintenance of public
roads.
The Texas Courts of Civil
Appeals will try criminal as well as
civil cases and be called simply the
Court of Appeals if amendment
no. 8 is passed. The amendment
also requires that all justices on the
Supreme Court be licensed to
practice law in Texas.
The final amendment, no. 9,
would allow married couples to
agree in writing that income or
property will remain separate
property after marriage. It changes
the wording in the constitution
from "wife" and "husband and
wife" to "spouse" and "spouses."
commissioner, Nugent would
"continue to oppose out-of-state
forays into Texas consumers'
pocket books."
He would also try to "hold gas
utility profits to the minimum level
allowed by law while aiding small
towns in their "rate proceedings
with utility companies." As
commissioner, Nugent states, he
would continue his "initiative to
keep overweight trucks off [Texas]
highways, saving millions in
highway maintenance and
automobile repairs."
Nugent thinks the immediate
challenge posed by the energy
crisis is to produce efficiently
existing energy, conserve all energy
possible, and develop new sources
of energy.
Nugent also feels the Railroad
Commission can play a vital part
in solving the national energy
problem by continuing "as an
aggressive leader in each phase of
[the] program by efficient
management of [Texas] oil and gas
reserves, promotion of lignite-
coal, solar, gasahol, geothermal,
and in situ mining technologies."
He adds that the commission
"must also play a leadership role in
balancing developing federal
energy regulation against [its]
own."
Blanchard suggests one of the
main problems facing the Railroad
Commission is a "lack of effective
leadership toward solving the
energy problem." He continues,
"The commission must exhibit
strong leadership in every phase of
evergy. Texas produces 40% of
total U.S. energy yet has no strong
voice in Austin or Washington to
insure that every citizen's interest is
protected."
Blanchard maintains that the
commission's failure to provide the
necessary strong leadership "has
encouraged the federal bu-
reaucracy to spend billions of
dollars without producing one
barrel oof oil." He adds that
unconscionable taxes have been
imposed "on the people of Texas
which [impede] future exploration
and production."
Another problem Blanchard
sees is "red tape [that] has resulted
in the production of tons of
paperwork but little energy, with
added consumer cost." He suggests
the commission "promote
methods of streamlining
operations to encourage
production of substantially more
energy. Texas should trive for
incentives which will allow for
greater production of energy."
Hutzelman feels the Railroad
Commission does not operate in
the best interests of the consumer.
He states, "The only important
issue facing the Railroad
Commission is whether it should
be allowed to continue its anti-
consumer programs or whether it
David Hutzelman
should be abolished under the
Sunset Act." The Sunset Act,
established in 1976, requires
government agencies to come
before the legislature in hearings to
determine their usefulness. The
Railroad Commission will be
reviewed in 1983 when its mandate
expires.
Hutzelman believes, "There
used to be a need for the
commission when we had no
Department of Energy. As Texas
was the main petroleum producer,
the commission set de facto
national energy policy." He
maintains the need for the
commission no longer exists.
H utzelman feels the commission
resents federal regulation. He says,
"1 contend Nugent presents the
typical argument of someone
whose territory is being muscled in
on. 1 think it's sad when a state
bureaucrat campaigns on a
platform of protecting us [the
consumers] from federal
bureaucrats."
He continues, "The commission
exists under a veneer of nice words.
It uses emotionally appealling
phrases like 'energy conserving" to
describe programs that control
and restrict oil production in
Texas. This control keeps prices
artificially high."
Says Hutzelman, "The
commission claims it prevents
waste through limiting pro-
duction. However, a smaller oil
supply inhibits competition,
increases prices, and in turn
consumers buy less." He suggests
that without regulation, a greater
supply would cause competition to
increase, prices would fall, and
consumers would buy more. He
concludes, "The naturally-
independent and competitive spirit
of Texas energy producers, not the
Railroad Commission, is the key
to abundance of future energy at
fair prices."
In the race for the expired term,
Democrat Temple, who defeated
incumbent John Poerner in the
May primary, faces former
Republican gubernatorial
candidate Hank Grover.
Temple has served four terms in
the Texas legislature and in the
Texas primary, received 57% of the
vote. He feels the main goal of the
commission should be to point "a
new direction in national energy
policy." This is possible, he says,
because "the commission has the
expertise to be in the forefront of
the solution to our national energy
problem."
As commissioner, Temple would
try to be a "vocal spokesman in
Washington for the consumers and
producers in Texas."
Grover was unavailable for
comment throughout the
campaign.
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J
The Rice Thresher, October 30, 1980, section 2, page 7
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Dees, Richard. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 68, No. 12, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 23, 1980, newspaper, October 23, 1980; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245452/m1/27/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.