Catch the Galilean moons this week

The Nebraska Legislature's vote to override nearly $65 million in gubernatorial budget vetoes on April 1 was no joke. Not only did the 49 members of the Legislative branch restore the budget crafted for them by the Appropriations Committee, but they also took a major step toward separation of powers between the Executive and Legislative branches.

Not since Republican Governor Charlie Thone (1979-1983) and his so-called "Thone Clones," has the dividing line between the two branches of government been so blurred. Lobbyists and some senators in the officially non-partisan legislature have wondered aloud for some time about incumbent Governor Dave Heineman's influence on the body. Granted, some of that might be attributed to his longevity (he has served two four-year terms and was appointed for an additional two years when predecessor Mike Johanns went off to Washington to become the U.S. Agriculture Secretary).

But lawmakers remained amazed, though not often amused, by that influence. Some wondered aloud how the cycle would be broken. In this lame duck year for Heineman -- he's term-limited at year's end -- that spell seems to have been broken.

Veteran Senator Ernie Chambers of Omaha, like him or not, set the tone for the override debate when he said that the vetoes simply represented the governor "once again poking his finger in the eye of the Legislature." Heineman's consistent cry for "property tax relief" this session failed at this moment even though his lieutenants, Senators Beau McCoy of Omaha and Bill Kintner of Papillion tried to win the battle. McCoy wants to be governor and Kintner is married to the head of Heineman's Policy Research Office.

McCoy, one of six Republican candidates in the governor's race, targeted $2.5 million earmarked for completion of four courtyard fountains in completing the Capitol renovation plan and $11.7 million to be spent in the first year of a multi-year plan to replace the aging heating and air conditioning system in the historic building. He argued that the money could be better-spent providing property tax relief.

Sen. Dave Bloomfield of Hoskins and a couple other opponents argued that property tax relief would be more meaningful "than fountains which will only be seen by a few people." Appropriations Committee member Sen. John Nelson of Omaha opposed the override. He said striking a one-time appropriation from the cash reserve to fund the fountains would not help with property tax relief, adding that the fountain cost would equal approximately $2.86 for every person who filed an individual tax return in the state.

Kintner, also a member of the nine-member Appropriations Committee, said he didn't like the veto overrides as one package -- as it has been for years -- and would have liked to see the items separated. Appropriations Chairman Heath Mello of Omaha said he presented the budget as a package and the overrides as a package as agreed upon by the committee. Kintner was the lone dissenter on those committee votes.

McCoy's motions to sustain the vetoes failed on votes of 10-25 and 8-33 respectively. Sensing futility, McCoy withdrew a motion that would have sustained a veto of $7.4 million for a juvenile services project through the state Supreme Court. Mello's motion to override the governor's vetoes in the main budget bill (LB905) was adopted on a 37-11 vote. Senators then voted 39-9 to override the vetoes of two other budget bills (LB906 and LB130.)

As the session ends and voters prepare to elect a new chief executive in November, it appears that there is some sense of the balance of powers.