Governor, lawmakers prepare for short session

The short session (60 days) of the 103rd Legislature starts in one week. It's the last shot for Governor Dave Heineman and 16 of the 49 state senators who are term-limited.

The senators are wrapping up 8 years. Heineman, who has served longer than any other Nebraska governor, is finishing 10.

Lawmakers will meet for 60 days between January 8 and April 17. They generally put in five-day weeks with 12 recess days and holidays and weekends figured in. The session adjourns in time for those who are running to get ready for the May primary. Three senators are seeking the Republican gubernatorial nomination. One wants to be the next State Auditor. They can't campaign in the George W. Norris Legislative Chamber. But they will act like it.

The governor will put on a full-court press to get meaningful tax revision passed in a session that has 406 carry-over items -- five of them proposed Constitutional Amendments -- in addition to any new measures that are introduced in the first 10 days. That's a load. If approved, the constitutional amendments would go to the voters in the November election. They would: require any bill that would impose or increase a tax to receive a majority plus four vote approval by the Legislature; approve the county manager form of government; change blighted and substandard requirements in statute to "in need of rehabilitation or redevelopment"; authorize games of chance; and allow Instant Racing Terminals at live horse racing tracks.

Heineman and at least a couple of the Tax Modernization Committee members who didn't approve of the "status quo" committee report are expected to offer proposals, any one of which could require considerable debate. A major conclusion of the report, based on testimony from tax experts and from a number of Nebraskans testifying during a series of statewide hearings, was that Nebraska's tax system is comparable to most states and does not require significant changes. But the report also admits that Nebraska's reliance on property taxes as a share of state and local taxes is greater than the national average and greater than most of Nebraska's border states.

The report also concluded that the individual and corporation income tax programs are appropriately progressive but the "bracket system" has not kept pace with the rate of inflation in terms of personal income; and the sales and use tax base has been both narrowed and expanded several times since its inception but is comparable to and broader than most border states, with the notable exceptions of taxing agricultural machinery and equipment repair and replacement parts and residential energy consumption. Heineman says taxes are too high and he'd like to see the income tax go down from 6.84 percent to 6 percent or less.

Meanwhile, term-limited Sen. Mark Christensen of Imperial says he wants teachers to have the right to be armed when they are at school. In the wake of fatal shootings at several schools, most recently in Colorado, he said that one or more teachers with guns could change the dynamic. The governor opposes the idea.

Likewise, the state's most experienced lawmaker Ernie Chambers, who has 40 years under his belt, has promised to oppose the governor's plans to stiffen the penalties for good time violations by inmates. Chambers argues that good time, where an inmate receives one day off the sentence for every trouble-free day served, is a necessary incentive to allow those who run the prisons to have control over an inmate's behavior.

When the gavel falls to open the session, 48 veterans (with at least two years experience) will be joined by one true freshman, Sen. Tommy Garrett of Bellevue who was recently sworn in to replace Sen. Scott Price who resigned and moved to another state.

Summed up: it's a long order for a short session. Let's hope that the executive branch can remember that the legislative branch is officially non-partisan and that 17 term-limited people don't try to make a name for themselves at the expense of doing what is right for the entire state.