On the Lege

Has this adoration of former Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock gotten completely out of hand? Consider this: After Gov. George W. Bush was sworn into office, he turned and gave his wife, Laura, a kiss on the cheek. He hugged his daughters. Then he walked down the front row, and instead of hugging his mother, former First Lady Barbara Bush, he shook her hand. But when he got to Bullock, Bush gave him a bear hug. Barbara gets a handshake. Bullock gets a hug. ...

During his inaugural speech, Bush again signaled his intent to woo Hispanic voters. He switched into bilingual mode twice: Once to welcome the Mexican ambassador and once to say, "Our diversity gives Texas new life, new energy, new blood, and we should not fear it, but receive it with open arms."

Among Bush's best lines were "Education is freedom," and "Reading is the new civil right." ...

Bush also talked about the state's need to "be proud of our diverse heritage." But a quick survey of the 200 or so people on the podium revealed that about 10 were African-American. ...

-- R.B.

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The Man Behind the Bush

According to Bush's most recent filings at the Texas Ethics Commission, one of Bush's biggest campaign costs -- after television commercials -- was Karl Rove. A Bush family insider since 1973, when he was president of the College Republicans, Rove has become one of the GOP's most important players in Texas.

Bush obviously values Rove's expertise and Rove makes him pay for it. From July to the end of December, Bush's re-election committee paid Karl Rove & Co. nearly $2.5 million. Bush's campaign also paid Rove-owned Praxis List Company $267,000 for use of its mail lists. Rove says his work for the Bush campaign included direct mail, voter contact, phone banks, computer services, and travel expenses. Of the $2.5 million, Rove said, "About 30% of that is postage."

But the governor's money was obviously well spent. In all, he raised $17.7 million and he still has $3.4 million in the bank. Bush is quick to praise Rove, calling him "a close friend of mine" and a "confidant" who has "good judgment."

Rove directed Bush's press conferences when Bush announced that he was running for governor against Ann Richards. If and when Bush decides to make a run for the White House, Rove has the direct mail expertise and the savvy that will allow Bush to quickly raise tens of millions of dollars for a presidential bid.

-- R.B.

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Favorite Son or Target?

Meanwhile,Bush still won't say whether he's running for president, but that hasn't stopped other presidential hopefuls from taking aim: Lamar Alexander, who has all but announced his plans to run for the White House, recently attacked Bush for using the phrase, "compassionate conservative." Alexander told CNN that those words "mean exactly nothing." Alexander added that political candidates should have a "resolution for the new millennium: no more 'weasel words.'" -- R.B.

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She Still Loves the Nuke

Carole Keeton Rylander dodged the Chronicle before the November election; she probably didn't want to talk about her support for the South Texas Nuclear Project. But when cornered on Jan. 8 in the Senate chamber, Rylander maintained that her support for the Nuke was a good idea.

Rylander said Austin was faced with "going belly-up like New York City" if it didn't pay its share of the Nuke. "We met our bond obligations and that's good for the fiscal health of the city of Austin," said Rylander, who just before the 1979 election took out ads in the local daily reading: "The only way -- the only way -- to insure that your utility bills will be as low as possible is to vote to stay in the South Texas Nuclear Project." Today, 37% of Austin's electric costs are due to the STNP. And Rylander is now the state's chief fiscal officer. -- R.B.

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Chemical Reporting

A coalition of environmental and consumer organizations is proposing legislation that would create a statewide pesticide-use reporting network to better inform the public of the type of chemicals used in their communities. Emissions reporting requirements for industrial pollutants have been credited with leading to reductions in toxic emissions from chemical factories and manufacturing plants. But while state agencies have been cracking down on industrial pollutants, pesticide use has remained virtually unchecked, according to a report issued last week by the Texas Pesticide Information Network coalition. In fact, the group says, the problem is so bad that consumers have no way of knowing what pesticides are used in their communities. "We know how much industrial pollution is released into the air. ... But we need better information and more scientific information on pesticide use in Texas," said Mary Kelly, executive director of the Texas Center for Policy studies.

The group, which also includes Consumers Union and Clean Water Action, proposes legislation that would create the needed reporting network. The network would include information on agricultural use, home-owner sales, and other public and private applications. The coalition's draft bill would direct agencies to require reporting of pesticide use in particular areas, such as ZIP codes or watersheds, without identifying particular home owners or farmers. This way, the origin of pesticides could be tracked to a narrow region without endangering the privacy rights of individuals. But if the information about an area was specific enough to implicate a particular user as the source of pesticide contamination, that information might be kept from the public, Kelly said. But that, she said, would be up to the state agency implementing the plan -- in all likelihood the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission.

Even with all the caveats and concessions, the group is sure to face an uphill battle getting legislation passed in the Senate, considering new Lt. Gov. Rick Perry's less-than-stellar track record on environmental protection during his days as ag commissioner. Winning an endorsement from the man who dismantled his department's environmental protection programs and gutted its integrated pest management pilot won't be easy, but it's sure to be a cinch compared to winning over the Texas Farm Bureau and pesticide lobby, which already gather their own information about pesticide use and worry that the added cost and loss of privacy from such a reporting system would make it prohibitive.

Consumers Union's Reggie James says there's a bright spot even for the farmers who would have to submit pesticide-use information: "We could tell what chemicals were problems so they'd know long into the future what pesticides were going to be removed" from availability.

But similar systems implemented in New York and California have shown that pesticide use has gone up, not down, during the past decade, despite increased emphasis on non-chemical pest control measures such as integrated pest management. The rise, representatives from those states said, came almost exclusively from urban and suburban home use and use in non-agricultural venues like day cares, golf courses, and schools. "This is not an effort to point the finger at agriculture or exterminators," James said, "because we know everyone is part of the problem." -- E.C.B.