MAKING A POSITIVE DIFFERENCE

For Immediate Release:

 People, Process & Policy in the 2010 Legislative Session

April 30, 2010, Lincoln – Recently, I talked about four elements that are often present in the complex work of our state legislature. Three of the elements - people, process and policy - came to mind when I thought about noteworthy events in the 2010 session.

People were the keys to compromises on issues that divided citizens, organizations and senators alike. Negotiations led by Education Committee Chairman Greg Adams, Judiciary Committee Chairman Brad Ashford and Speaker of the Legislature Mike Flood were instrumental in potentially ending a two-year disagreement among the state’s six community colleges. We hear a lot about state aid for K-12 education, but the aid formula for community colleges is seldom mentioned. The disagreement in question began last year when officials from Metropolitan Community College (Metro) complained that revisions in the formula reduced their funding so much that they were forced to raise property taxes. Tensions increased when the other five colleges ousted Metro from their state association. A lawsuit filed by Metro against the other colleges caused state lawmakers to discuss the possible need for legislative action to resolve the dispute. Thanks to the efforts of Senators Adams, Ashford and Flood, the colleges agreed to accept a temporary aid formula and work together on a permanent one for the future, and Metro dismissed its lawsuit.

Another dispute involved a proposal to create a two-year freeze on construction of new physician-owned hospitals. The proposal was offered because the impact of such construction on health care costs has not been reviewed, since Nebraska became one of 14 states that does not require a certificate of need to justify new facilities more than ten years ago. The proposal prompted strong disagreements among citizens in and around the Kearney area, where a new physician-owned hospital was already under construction. It appeared that floor debate on this proposal might be lengthy and possibly contentious, so lawmakers, including Speaker Flood and Lincoln Senator Kathy Campbell who introduced the proposal, worked with interested constituent groups to negotiate a compromise. The study, which will look at the viability of competing hospitals, will be conducted but will not affect decisions about the Kearney project that is already underway.

The crucial role of committees in Nebraska’s one-house legislature is evident in the workings of the Appropriations Committee. The budget-writing responsibility of this Committee is a great example of our legislative process at its best. In challenging economic times, we hear stories about other states that struggle for months to pass their budgets. In Nebraska the legislature can move the budget through three stages of debate in a matter of days. Why does the process here work so efficiently? It is because the months of work required to build the state budget are performed first by the nine senators who serve on the Appropriations Committee. This Committee meets five days a week, with additional meetings, as needed. The budget-writing senators represent Nebraska’s diversity in age, interests, occupations, policy positions and place of residence. When the Committee delivers the budget to the full legislature, there are opportunities for questions, debate and changes, but most of the work is already finished. The legislature is required to create and pass a balanced budget every year. Our process supports this requirement in the best way possible.

A restructuring of state law to allow for the private development of wind farms was probably the most significant new public policy enacted during the 2010 legislative session. The drafting, writing, introduction and passage of LB 1048 took more than a year. Wind developers, representatives from Nebraska’s public utilities and members of the Natural Resources Committee held countless meetings and hearings to discuss policy compromises, before the entire legislature even saw the bill.

LB 1048 was introduced to remove barriers to privately generated electricity that have been in place since the 1930s, when Nebraska became this country’s only public power state. Our public power policies have limited development of wind energy, because public utilities do not qualify for federal incentives that have made wind energy production so attractive in other states. LB 1048 will allow private developers to generate wind power in Nebraska and export it to other states. In ways too numerous to describe here, this new policy will serve individuals and businesses in our state and protect our low energy costs, as well.



I appreciate the opportunity you have given me to represent District 2 in the Nebraska Legislature.
We welcome your contacts by mail, phone or email.
Senator Dave Pankonin
    State Capitol
    PO Box 94604
    Lincoln, NE 68509
    (402) 471-2613
dpankonin@leg.ne.gov