Los Banos Rotary Club History
Senator Hatfield Is Rotary Guest

Senator George J. Hatfield, of Stevinson, was a welcome guest at the Rotary Club luncheon Tuesday noon, and spoke informally for a few minutes on legislative matters and to advise club members of his progress as a member of the state Hoof and Mouth Disease committee.

Of legislative matters, the Senator said interest at the opening session was primarily concerned with the financing of the proposed billion dollar budget as submitted by Gov. Earl Warren. Of particular concern is means of financing two initiative measures approved by the people at the last election: the increase in state aid to schools, which now doubles the former state aid allotment, and the new old age benefit measure which is estimated to add $100 million a year to state tax requirements.

To finance these mandatory requirements, Senator Hatfield said he thought it will most probably be accomplished without necessity of adding a new form of state taxation, but would require that the state sales tax, corporation franchise tax and state income tax be revised upward to about the 1943 level, which would set the state sales tax at 3 cents instead of the present 2 ½ cents.
As to the Hoof and Mouth Disease situation, with which the Senator has been intimately concerned as a member of the Senate Interim Committee, he said the program in Mexico is now proceeding beyond all expectations, with the men in charge well aware of their job and earnestly working. Commenting on the seriousness of the situation, Hatfield said that if they are able to defeat the disease the job will be recognized as history's outstanding accomplishments in veterinary medicine, comparable to the work of the U.S. medical profession in cleaning up the malaria and yellow fever plague in the Canal Zone at the time the Panama Canal was being built.

Also on the Rotary program were two colored films produced by Ducks Unlimited, showing the work being done by that organization in fostering and furthering the propagation and perpetuation of ducks in the Canadian breeding areas. The films were obtained through R. L. Puccinelli, local duck hunting enthusiast.

President Francis Buck announced there would be no noon program next Tuesday, but there will be a ladies' night program and dinner meeting Tuesday evening, starting at 7:00 o'clock.

The program will feature a talk by Commander Scott, the famed globe girdling Commander who now heads the Pacific Greyhound Lines' popular radio show "The Romance of the Highways." Charles Bates is program chairman for the evening.

March 1, 1949

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