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Time to 'let the dogs out'
There's some good news and bad news out of Lincoln this week.
The bad news is -- at least one legislator thinks it's time for a raise -- a 67 percent raise, to be exact. Sen. DiAnna Schimek wants to raise Nebraska lawmakers' salary from $12,000 to $20,000 a year.
I wonder if she's ever heard the old cliche about snow in July -- or in the current drought situation, snow in January.
The good news is the Legislature can approve a request for a raise but it comes down to a decision by the people. With the state in its current money situation, I bet they don't get that raise.
It's all right to ask, though. We all have a little fantasy world where we can go for a short vacation. Mine happens to center around a winning ticket for a $500 million Powerball jackpot.
I'm not saying these hardworking individuals don't deserve a raise. After all they expend a lot of time and energy in Lincoln trying to decide how best to spend more and more of our money. But instead of a raise, I'm thinking maybe they should go on a commission salary. We can give them a certain percentage of the money that's left in the state's accounts when their term is up.
If I could offer some unsolicited advice, it might be to look at ways of getting the state out of its current mess before asking for a reward.
Several senators are examining ways to do just that. While I'm no politician, I have to wonder if they're going about it in the right way.
Following are just a few examples of some of the bills on the table of the Nebraska Legislature this session:
- One bill would decrease property taxes and increase income taxes by the same amount, meaning that the people who can afford to own property would have some tax relief while the one's who can't would be asked to pay more of something they don't have in the first place. The whole thing does nothing for increasing the state's revenue. Boy, that'll help.
- Another bill, LB285, would extend the state's one-half cent sales tax increase, which was to expire in October, until July 2005. Any idiot who didn't see that one coming, raise your hand.
- Under LB283, taxes on beer, wine and liquor would increase. Now we won't be able to afford the weekly ritual of drowning our money problems in an alcohol-induced haze.
- For the last year, there's been talk of imposing a sales tax on junk food. Anything with sugar or aspartame will be considered junk under this proposal. I don't know about the rest of you, but a daily six pack of Diet Mountain Dew and an occasional Hershey's bar are part of my regular diet. I don't know that I'd call it junk.
I'd been waiting for the hammer to fall, because I knew, somewhere in the mix, tobacco users were going to take it in the pocketbook.
Gov. Mike Johanns did not disappoint. His budget proposal released Tuesday includes continuing the 30 cent tax increase on tobacco taxes which was to expire in October 2004 and adding another 20 cents. It is believed that the increase will raise about $47 million in taxes each year. Compared to a $674 million budget deficit, I'd say it's hardly worth the effort.
Just like rats in a corn crib, lawmakers from all over the country look at tobacco taxes as their personal treasure trove. Obviously the ones in Nebraska are no different. In answer to a popular new football fight song, maybe it's time to for US to let the dogs out -- the rat terrier variety.
It is estimated that less than 25 percent of the Nebraska population is smokers. Lawmakers are targeting a very small group of individuals involved in a legal activity, giving them the responsibility to pay for the entire state's money problems -- problems these lawmakers are at least partially responsible for.
I've said it before and I'll say it again -- people will find cheaper ways to buy cigarettes or they'll quit. To this point I've done my part in taking care of Medicaid. I won't be doing it any longer. I'm going shopping, I hear there are some great bargains on the internet.
I can hardly wait to see what they do with K-12 funding. Personally, I think we should get rid of it. Imagine the money the state could save by not educating our young children.
Not only would we be saving money on that program, there would be no need for a university system. We'd be saving millions upon millions of dollars by eliminating the salaries of the overpaid university administration alone. And think of the savings of not having to hire an entirely new coaching staff for the Huskers' football team next year.
Yep, Members of the Nebraska Legislature have a tough job ahead of them, one I certainly don't envy.
Imagine being asked to pass LB265, which would allow Nebraskans to carry concealed handguns. According to a report from the Associated Press, around 64,000 Nebraskans would be eligible to carry a concealed weapon. Put yourself in the position of the legislators -- Would you want 64,000 ticked off, smokin', gun-totin' Nebraska taxpayers running around with a 9 mm under their jacket if you had just raised your salary and their taxes by 67 percent?