1.   Anheuser-Busch even threatened to close its St Louis plant if the tax measure passed, though nobody believed that.

2.   If the measure passes the House, Senate approval is considered probable.

3.   The contracts will guarantee that specific maintenance and construction projects will be funded if a local bond measure passes.

4.   The measure passed easily, but heavy-handed government interference in the voting brought the result into question.

5.   Although most Council members contended that they expected the measure to pass easily, some opponents said they would not abandon their fight to have the measure defeated.

6.   Although the measure passed, it included a reduction of several billion dollars for summer jobs, heating assistance and programs such as Head Start.

7.   American business leaders expressed relief Thursday that the measure passed, and insisted that US jobs will never be lost en masse to China.

8.   An official secession could require another vote and negotiations could take at least another year -- even if the measure passes.

9.   An even harsher measure easily passed the House last month, but opponents of the Helms measure say it faces much tougher prospects for passage in the Senate.

10.   And if the measures pass, as expected, nearly half the states will have such limits.