Texas Political History Oral History Project

Interview with Ralph Hall, an attorney, a former county judge, a businessman, and a Democratic member of the Texas Senate from Rockwall. He discusses his experiences and personal views as a member of the Sixty-first and Sixty-second Legislatures. Hall talks about the one-year versus two-year budget, tax legislation, the University of Texas at Dallas, teacher pay raises, anti-riot legislation, the state sales tax, the "grocery tax," the destination tax, Lieutenant Governor Ben Barnes, deficit financing, the corporate profits tax, as well as the Sharpstown stock-fraud scandal, ethics legislation, redistricting, his campaign for the office of lieutenant governor, and Governor Preston Smith