Sen. Charlie Janssen
Sen. Charlie Janssen
District 15

April 19th, 2010

The 2010 Legislative Session was one that will probably be most remembered for its activities to keep our biennium budget in balance, for passing a wind energy development policy for the state of Nebraska for private producers without jeopardizing our all-public power status, and for prohibiting abortions after the twentieth week of pregnancy.

We considered over one hundred “priority” bills during the sixty-day “short session” and passed nearly two hundred measures into law.  Forty-eight bills were killed either in committee or on the floor, and two bills were withdrawn.  Overall, we considered over eleven hundred bills during the two-year One Hundred First Legislature.  I am pleased with the work we were able to accomplish in my first two-years of service as the representative from Legislative District 15.

The biggest challenge we faced during the 2010 Session was passing necessary budget adjustments to keep our biennial state budget in balance.  The Unicameral is constitutionally required to keep a balanced budget.  During some periods of economic growth, this becomes rather easy to do.  During the 2009-2010 biennial budget, this became increasingly difficult.  As you know, the state of the national economy experienced many challenges that made revenue and expenditure predictions difficult.  Thanks to our budget process, we were relatively successful in making adjustments to our two-year budget as needed to meet the actual receipts and expenditures to keep state government going.

When legislative leaders and Governor Heineman agreed that a mid-year budget adjustment was necessary, we were called into special session in 2009 to make cuts to state agency appropriations.  After reconvening last January, we followed the monthly revenue receipts reports and decided to make further budget reductions before passing the 2010 budget adjustment legislation unanimously on March 26th.  While it is not easy or pleasant to make these budget reductions, our obligation to the taxpayers and the constitution made it necessary and recognized by all.

It is rare that budget reduction legislation passes without dissent, but this year’s Unicameral was able to recognize the importance and the need for making these cuts.  Thank you to all the parties that contacted me throughout this session for your good ideas.  And thank you to all the state employees in District 15 and across the state for working harder and longer for less to keep your state government operational.  It is truly a partnership between us all to make sure that our state is efficient and accountable to its citizens.  We may not be able to be all things to all peoples, but we Nebraskans stretch our dollars a long way when providing help to fellow Nebraskans.

Wind energy development in Nebraska got a big boost when the Legislature passed LB 1048 into law on April 9th.  LB 1048 will permit private wind farms and private wind energy developers to construct transmission lines in order to export Nebraska’s abundant wind energy resources to out-of-state markets if the partners decide to do so.  Revenues will be assessed in order to pay for the construction of these transmission lines.  Nebraska has a long and storied all-public power status and LB 1048 will not change that whatsoever.  We will all continue to receive low cost, reliable power from our public power producers.  But for the first time, private producers of power in Nebraska will also be able to produce and export wind power for sale to out-of-state customers using self-funded transmission lines, if they so choose.  All of the protections of Nebraska’s present power consumers remain in place.  Opportunities for private production and export will expand greatly and we will most likely see at least two projects commence, one in the panhandle and one in northeast Nebraska, very shortly after the law goes into effect this summer.  Nebraska can be very excited and proud that we will begin to experience the growth and possibilities that are available by tapping our vast wind energy resources in our state.

LB 1103 was introduced by Speaker of the Legislature Mike Flood of Norfolk.  He did an immense amount of work over the previous two years to determine where current law and current medical knowledge is regarding the development of unborn children.  After consulting with medical professionals and conducting independent reviews of recent state and federal case law, Senator Flood introduced LB 1103 to prohibit abortions after the twentieth week of pregnancy.  After a good public hearing and much deliberation in the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee, LB 1103 was sent to the full Legislature on March 18th.  Good debate and discussion was held on the measure during floor debate, and the measure was passed into law on April 13th by a vote of 44 to 5.  Some litigation is expected on the measure, but Speaker Flood and Attorney General Bruning have good information at their disposal with which to defend the state in any state or federal legal action.

On a personal level, I am pleased that the Legislature unanimously passed my proposal to expand the ability of Dodge County’s emergency vehicle manufacturers to deliver their products to market on April 1st.  LB 820 will permit emergency vehicle manufacturers to deliver their products across our state, nation, and continent to customers in a uniform manner.  Previously, the manufacturer was subject to different processes depending on whether the producer or customer drove the product to its end route.  With passage of LB 820, regardless of the driver of the vehicle, the new vehicle will travel to its final customer in the same manner.  Thank you to all the employees and associates of Dodge County’s many emergency vehicle manufacturers for your help and advocacy with this bill.

Over the 2010 interim, I have sponsored three interim study resolutions (LRs 520, 521, 522) to examine the impact of illegal immigration on the state of Nebraska.  LR 520 asks the Appropriations Committee to examine the effects of illegal immigration on the state budget.  LR 521 asks the Education Committee to examine whether the state should repeal provisions providing in-state tuition rates at our public postsecondary institutions for persons not lawfully present in the United States.  LR 522 asks the Judiciary Committee to examine the legality of the State of Nebraska knowingly offering state benefits to illegal immigrants with a focus on the committee’s follow-up work on their own interim study in 2008 (LR 362) examining our benefits policies regarding illegal immigrants.

Please continue to share your thoughts with me on issues before state government.  As always, I can be reached at 402.471.2625, cjanssen@leg.ne.gov, or District 15, State Capitol, Lincoln, Nebraska 68509.

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April 12th, 2010

The Legislature spent the majority of the last week considering bills on the last stage of debate (Final Reading).  As we approach the end of the 2010 Legislative Session, many of the bills that were introduced are either near passage or will not be enacted into law this year.  On April 9th, we voted on thirty-nine different bills.  Most made minor changes in statutes that most of us will never be directly involved with.  But some of the thirty-nine could affect most Nebraskans.

If you are a consumer of electric power (LB 1048) or visit a local restaurant to enjoy food and drink with friends and family (LB 861), the 2010 Legislature has made changes to the governing law that will, hopefully, make your experience better.

LB 1048 was passed by the Legislature (and later signed by the Governor) in order to encourage more development and export of wind power in Nebraska.  As many of you know, Nebraska has an abundance of renewable energy opportunities in the form of our wind resources.  Not the hot air that sometimes emits from the statehouse, but rather, the phenomenon of strong and relatively consistent prairie wind.  Many states across the country have experienced great growth in their wind generation capacity.  Nebraska also has had some growth in the wind energy industry, but we have unique challenges because we are the only all-public power state in the nation.  Due to this status, the challenges that our power producers face is different from other state models.

Nebraska has a long history of low-cost, high dependability power generation.  Wind is the fastest growing, but latest developing, of the power options on a mass production level in the United States.  LB 1048 was introduced by the Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee to provide a venue for local farmers and power producers to have a venue from which to export power to markets outside the state of Nebraska.  By having the ability to sell our wind power to out-of-state customers, the opportunities for private development can be expanded without Nebraska sacrificing its status as a public power state.  LB 1048 will provide a vehicle where landowners and private developers can cover the costs to develop transmission lines for wind power export.  Our low-cost, reliable public power status remains while private developers will have the option to export excessive wind energy to customers across the country.

LB 861 was introduced by the Legislature’s General Affairs Committee on January 11th.  It became one of the committee’s two priority bills on February 18th.  Each of the Legislature’s fourteen standing committees can prioritize two bills each year.  Generally, the committee selects two measures that clarify and modernize the Nebraska laws that cover their subject matter jurisdiction.  LB 861 is a good example of this.

LB 861 made changes to the Nebraska Liquor Control Act, the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission, and Nebraska’s State Racing Commission.  These statutes occupy most of the General Affairs Committee’s time and attention.  With the passage of LB 861, our law governing Nebraska’s State Racing Commission will better represent the interests of horseracing fans and employees, it will update and modernize our alcohol industry governance through fees more reflective of the costs of doing business, and permit local governing bodies to expand the business hours of restaurants and bars, if a supermajority of the local council or board approves the change.  Most of our neighboring states permit their restaurants and bars to stay open later and LB 861 will permit Nebraska hospitality businesses to compete with border state competition, particularly Iowa and South Dakota.

The 2010 Legislature will adjourn “Sine Die” (Latin for “without day”) on April 14th.  During the summer and fall, senators will remain busy with interim studies for unresolved issues and future potential legislation.  I have introduced three interim studies exploring the impact of immigration on our government budgets, postsecondary statutes, and federalism principles (LR’s 520, 521, 522).  The language of these can be found by searching the Legislature’s website: www.nebraskalegislature.gov.

As always, please continue to share your thoughts with me on issues before the Unicameral.  I can be reached at 402.471.2625, cjanssen@leg.ne.gov, or District 15, State Capitol, Lincoln, Nebraska 68509.

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April 5th, 2010

The 2010 Legislative Session has only seven scheduled days left for the year.  This becomes readily evident to us as we conclude our work.  We passed over twenty bills into law last week.  There are still many bills in the remaining rounds of debate scheduled before our adjournment on April 14th, but these final days become more satisfying as the hard work over the past few months pays off in positive changes to our laws to make Nebraska more competitive, more efficient, and more reflective of the wishes of our constituents.

I am pleased to report that one of the bills passed into law last week was LB 820.  I have referenced my bill in recent past columns and the bill finally reached the last round of debate on April 1st.  The bill passed 48-0.  Thank you to all the constituents who helped me advocate for this idea, which should simplify the delivery process for Dodge County’s excellent firetruck and emergency vehicle industry products to customers both in the state of Nebraska and across the country and continent.

The Legislature had significant debate, and ultimately did not advance, LB 1102 on March 30th.  LB 1102, introduce by Senator Robert Giese of South Sioux City, would have permitted Nebraska’s horsetracks to offer historic horserace wagering at their racetrack facilities.  Proponents of the measure said that permitting this activity would help keep Nebraska’s live horseracing tracks in business.  Opponents of the measure were concerned that LB 1102 would expand our permissible gambling activities to include wagering that was beyond our current wagering laws.  We had a good discussion on the right policy for Nebraska regarding our gambling statutes.  Senator Bill Avery of Lincoln filed numerous amendments to Senator Giese’s bill and the Legislature was eventually asked by Senator Giese to invoke cloture to cease debate on LB 1102.  Senator Giese did not get the two-thirds majority vote required to invoke cloture, per our legislative rules.  I voted for Senator Giese’s cloture motion because I felt he had the right to receive an up or down vote on his bill.  My personal priority bill also was filibustered earlier this session and I don’t think that is how we should conduct business down in the statehouse.  Senator Giese fell three votes short of ending the filibuster.

The Legislative Council implemented its first staff furlough on April 2nd in order to meet its target for our agency’s budget cut.  Staff has been prepared for this budget cutting measure and has been informed that they may experience future furlough days in the next budget cycle if necessary to meet our agency’s budget allocation.  At this point, the Legislative Council and the Public Service Commission have been the only two state agencies that have implemented staff furloughs in order to meet their required budget reductions.

The Legislature debated two significant abortion-related bills last week.  LB 594 is Senator Cap Dierks of Ewing’s proposal to ensure that women who request an abortion be fully informed of the entire process and possible side effects.  I think it is important that Nebraskans receive as much information as possible regarding their health care and I hope that LB 594 will assist people in making healthy choices.  It was advanced to the second round of debate on March 25th on a 34-7 vote.

We also debated Speaker Mike Flood of Norfolk’s LB 1103.  LB 1103 would restrict the availability of abortion procedures to women after twenty weeks of post-fertilization age barring very unusual circumstances.  Speaker Flood has done a great deal of research on this topic over the past several years and asked the Legislature to consider the latest medical research and Supreme Court rulings to better craft our state statutes dealing with abortion procedures.  LB 1103 was advanced on March 30th on a vote of 38-5.

I would like to alert interested Legislative District 15 high school students that the Legislature and 4-H are once again sponsoring the Unicameral Youth Conference.  The 2010 Conference will occur from June 13th to June 16th in Lincoln.  Attendees will participate in an excellent simulation of the Legislature’s activities during the week to get a better understanding of their state’s legislative process.  Applications are due May 1st.  For more information and to apply, please visit: www.nebraskalegislature.gov/education/unicamyouth.php.

As always, please continue to share your thoughts with me on matters before the Nebraska Unicameral.  I can be reached at 402.471.2625, cjanssen@leg.ne.gov, or District 15, State Capitol, Lincoln, Nebraska 68509.

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