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NHA bills of interest advance
With committee hearings now complete, the NHA is actively involved at the capitol as bills of interest are debuted. During the week of March 27 – 30, the following bills were debuted and advanced by the Unicameral.
- Support LB 192 – Adopt the Access College Early Scholarship Program Act
Sponsor: Sen. John Harms
Status: Passed by Legislature and forwarded to the Governor
- Support LB
203- Provide for an informal conference process for disciplinary action regarding health care facilities
Sponsor: Sen. Tim Gay
Status: Passed by Legislature and forwarded to the Governor
- Support LB 255 – Change the Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Act
Sponsor: Sen. Kent Rogert – Status: Signed by Governor
- Support LB 292 – Provide for transfers of county funds for Medicaid purposes
Sponsor: Sen. Tom Hansen - Status: Passed by Legislature and forwarded to the Governor
- Support LB 304 – Change qualifications for tax credits for long-term care insurance
Sponsor: Sen. Tim Gay – Status: Advanced to Final Reading
- Support LB 374 – Change repayment provisions for rural health education loans
Sponsor: Sen. Joel Johnson
Status: Passed by Legislature and forwarded to the Governor
- Support LB 395 – Adopt a statewide smoking ban
Sponsor: Sen. Joel Johnson – Status: Advanced to Final Reading
- Opposition to LB 588 – Change the workers’ compensation hospital fee schedule and payment of providers
Sponsor: Sen. Abbie Cornett – Status: Advanced to General File
Vacation-pay bill signed byGovernor Heineman Monday
LB 255, supported by NHA and its membership was approved by the Governor April 2, 2007. The legislation addresses two issues important to Nebraska employers: payment of employee fringe benefits, including sick leave, and payment of employee commissions.
LB 255 was introduced by Sen. Kent Rogert in response to the Nebraska Supreme Court’s 2006 ruling in Roseland v. Strategic Staff Management. In that case, the Court held that an employee’s accrued vacation time is payable upon termination of employment regardless of an employer’s policy.
During the hearing on LB 255 earlier this year, the State Chamber presented testimony that the Court ruling had employers questioning what types of leave policies they should offer and how best to limit employer financial liability. As signed into law, LB 255 states that “paid leave, other than earned but unused vacation leave, provided as a fringe benefit by the employer shall not be included in the wages due and payable at the time of separation … unless the employer and the employee or the employer and the collective bargaining representative have specifically agreed otherwise.”
— NE Chamber Daily Update, April, 2, 2007. .
One step closer to millions in federal funds
Lincoln, Neb. — On March 30, 2007, LB 292 was passed by the Nebraska Legislature and forwarded to the Governor’s office for approval.
Dave Burd, NHA’s senior director of finance, stated “The passage of LB 292 was the direct result of a team effort by the NHA and our membership, Sen. Tom Hansen (North Platte), Sen. Joel Johnson (Kearney), Sen. John Harms (Scottsbluff), and Health and Human Services Finance and Support (HHS F&S).”
LB 292 allows county boards to transfer general assistance funds to HHS F&S prior to those payments being made to providers. These funds will be considered the state’s match, which will result in additional federal funding being available to the Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) program. The DSH program compensates hospitals for serving a disproportionate share of low income individuals who are part of the Medicaid system or are uninsured. The passageof LB 292 will allow additional federal funds to be brought into Nebraska’s economy without any new state or county funds being required.
The next steps include receiving the Governor’s approval and working with the appropriate counties and HHS F&S to establish a process to make this successful. The NHA appreciates the support of the Legislature and particularly the assistance of Sen. Tom Hansen.
Smoking ban advances
Lincoln, Neb. — Backers of a statewide smoking ban said they got 90 percent of what they wanted Wednesday in a bill given second-round approval by the Nebraska Legislature. An amendment to Legislative Bill 395 would allow cities and counties to opt out of the statewide ban, while making it easier for voters to overrule less-restrictive local ordinances.
State Sen. Joel Johnson of Kearney, chief sponsor of LB 395, acknowledged that the amended version of the bill falls short of what he had hoped to accomplish. But he said he didn't have enough votes for his original smoking ban. The amended version passed 35-4. "The choice we have to make is whether we take this giant step forward for the whole state of Nebraska or twiddle our thumbs for another year," he said.
Read the complete Omaha World Herald Article.
— Martha Stoddard, Omaha World Herald, March 28, 2007.
Smoking ban buys time for Omaha’s bars
Lincoln, Neb. — A statewide smoking ban headed for legislative approval gives Omaha bars, keno parlors and, especially, Horsemen's Park enough wiggle room to fight another day.
"We are not thrilled, but it could have been worse," said Omaha attorney and liquor lobbyist Mike Kelley, who fashioned Omaha's loophole-filled smoking ban. The measure that won second-round legislative approval Wednesday ends Omaha's smoking ban exceptions for bars where food is not prepared, keno outlets and Horsemen's Park on June 1, 2009 - two years earlier than Omaha's smoking ordinance.
An amendment to LB 395 would allow cities and counties to opt out of the statewide ban while making it easier for voters to overrule less-restrictive local ordinances and enact tougher ones.
The 2009 termination date on Omaha's exemptions also gives the bar owners and city officials time to see whether Bellevue, Ralston, La Vista, Papillion and Douglas County accept the total ban, opt out or establish their own exemptions.
Read the complete Omaha World Herald Article.
— C. David Kotok and Martha Stoddard, Omaha World Herald, March 29, 2007.
Smoke show exhibit at State Capitol April 9-22nd
Lincoln, Neb. — “Cartoonists Take Up Smoking,” an exhibition of original newspaper cartoons compiled by Alan Blum, M.D., one of the nation’s foremost authorities on the history of the tobacco industry and the battle over smoking, will be on display in the first floor State Capitol Rotunda, April 9-22.
A press conference and formal exhibition opening will be held Wednesday, April 11 at 3:30 p.m. in the Capitol Rotunda. Speakers include Nebraska Medical Association President Rowen Zetterman, M.D., Lincoln Journal Star Editorial Cartoonist Paul Fell and Larry Voegele, a former smoker.
The exhibit is curated from material at the University of Alabama Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society, founded and directed by Dr. Blum. The exhibit retraces the 40-year battle over the use and promotion of cigarettes since the publication of the landmark surgeon general’s report on smoking and health in 1964.
The exhibit, which was produced with the cooperation of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists, as well as with the financial support of Community Health Endowment of Lincoln, the Lancaster County Medical Society, the Nebraska Hospital Association, the Nebraska Medical Association, and the American Cancer Society, will be on display at the Nebraska State Capitol Rotunda from April 9-22 during regular hours and is free to the public.
Read the full press release from Community Health Endowment of Lincoln.
Lawmakers grapple with extending benefits to new legal immigrants
Omaha, Neb. — As the tumult over illegal immigration fuels an emotional national debate, advocacy groups are worried that immigrants in the United States legally could suffer as a result.
“Immigrants are being so demonized at this moment — are being labeled in multiple ways as unworthy of any kinds of rights, benefits or consideration,” said Lourdes Gouveia, director of the Office of Latino/Latin American studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. “The climate makes it possible because they are the least likely to have a voice.”
The Nebraska Legislature, for example, is considering taking public benefits such as food stamps away from scores of legal immigrants who have been in the country less than five years. In October, Maryland’s highest court blocked the state from implementing a law similar to the one pending in Nebraska.
The law would have cut Medicaid benefits to almost 3,000 children and pregnant women. The court upheld an injunction on the changes while a lawsuit was pending because the judges thought that the immigrants who sued the state would likely win their case.
Read the full Lincoln Journal Star article.
— Oskar Garcia, the Associated Press, April 1, 2007.
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