Only 5 legislative days remain
After today, only five days remain in the 2007 legislative session. The last day is scheduled for May 31.
Governor’s vetoes cut nearly $42 million
Gov. Dave Heineman whittled about $41.7 million from the state’s more than $7 billion two-year budget with his line item vetoes, sparing the University of Nebraska from major cuts and avoiding a gas tax increase. Heineman said that lower taxes, provided by the tax cut package he signed last week, and modest growth in spending — an average 4.3 percent per year — would help promote job growth in the state.
His vetoes also will mean smaller increases in the provider rates paid to thousands of Nebraskans who help care for the state’s most vulnerable residents, including foster care parents, nursing homes taking care of Medicaid clients and agencies that provide services for adults with developmental disabilities. Heineman had recommended 1 percent to 2 percent increases in most of these provider rates while the Legislature’s budget bill gave 3 percent raises. The governor’s $11 million veto in provider rates splits the difference.
Pointing out the need to restrain the costs of Medicaid and other public assistance programs, Heineman said “this veto represents an attempt to meet the Legislature half-way in those areas where the Legislature increased rates above my original recommendations.”
Read the full Lincoln Journal Star article or
view Gov. Heineman’s
vetoes.
— Nancy Hicks, Lincoln Journal Star, May 21, 2007.
Lawmakers tackle identity theft
(AP) – State lawmakers have taken steps to prevent identity theft and lessen the financial damage when it does happen. The Legislature passed a bill (LB 674) introduced by Omaha Sen. Steve Lathrop on Friday and now awaits Gov. Dave Heineman’s signature. It would limit both the posting and use of more than the last four digits of employees’ social security numbers in workplaces.
Employers, for example, could not force workers to transmit more than four digits on Web sites unless the sites were secure or the information encrypted. The bill also would allow residents to prohibit credit bureaus from releasing their credit reports. That can prevent people from using stolen identities to gain lines of credit, such as new credit cards or car loans.
— Lincoln Journal Star, May 18, 2007.
Two health-related bills advance in Legislature
Two health-related measures, stuck near the bottom of the legislative pile, got a push into the limelight Friday. One was aimed at protecting kids and one helps adults. One of the measures would require children who spend time in daycare to get one more shot –immunization against invasive pneumococcal disease, or
IPD, a disease that can lead to meningitis and death. The other measure would require health insurance companies to cover colon cancer screening.
Read the full article.
— Nancy Hicks, Lincoln Journal Star, May 18, 2007.
Gov. Heineman signs largest tax relief package in state history
Gov. Dave Heineman signed LB 367 into law May 18. The package is the largest tax relief bill in Nebraska history and is expected to provide $425 million in tax relief over the next two years. “Today I sign into law the largest tax relief package in the history of our state,” Gov. Heineman said. “I want to thank the senators for their work in passing a bill that provides truly significant tax relief for Nebraskans, and I also want to thank the many business and community leaders who supported this bill.”
The centerpiece of the plan is property tax credits equal to 8 cents for every $100 of property value. Among other key components of the bill, it:
- Repeals Nebraska's estate tax, which now collects about $25 million a year from the estates of about 200 people who die with more than $1 million in assets.
- Eliminates the so-called "marriage penalty," cutting $146 million in income taxes over two years.
- Boosts an income tax credit for the working poor: $7.6 million will be paid to qualified workers.
- Repeals the remaining sales tax on remodeling construction labor, a $15 million tax cut.
— Governor’s Office Press Release, May 18, 2007.
Writing off debt to HHS
(Lincoln Journal Star) – The Legislature will write off more than $1 million in uncollectable debt owed to the regional center, veterans’ homes and various poverty programs managed by Health and Human Services
(HHS). A number of startled senators wanted to know how it got so high and what the state’s collection procedures were. Not quite one-third of the $1 million is uncollected debt from patients at regional centers or veterans homes. ADC beneficiaries, very low-income parents who are getting some money to help feed and clothe their children, owe much of the rest — $666,770.
Until 2004, HHS had no coordinated system to collect debts, according to Chris Peterson, who now heads the HHS system. The agency has been taking steps for the past three years to do a better job collecting money owed the state. It will soon be picking a collection agency to go after the people who haven’t paid when letters and warnings from the state don’t work. Administrators will also work with senators to determine when the state should use the courts to collect debt.
— Nebraska Chamber Daily Update, May 15, 2007.
Senator pay raise wins round
Nebraska lawmakers voted 32-0 Thursday night in favor of a proposed constitutional amendment to raise their pay from $12,000 to $22,000 per year. But they would wait three years – until May 2010 – to put the request before voters. Voters must approve legislative pay raises, which are set in the state constitution.
Last month, the raise proposal, Legislative Resolution 1CA, failed to gain the 25 votes it needed to advance, but some state senators reconsidered. The measure's sponsor, State Sen. Don Preister of Omaha, collected 31 lawmakers' signatures to ask Speaker Mike Flood to put the bill back on the agenda one more time.
State senators haven't gotten a raise since 1988, when their annual salaries were increased from $4,800 to $12,000 per year. In May 2006, voters rejected a proposal to raise salaries to $21,000 and institute an automatic cost-of-living adjustment.
— Leslie Reed, Omaha World-Herald, May 18, 2007.
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