Unicameral Update
Senator Dave Bloomfield
November 18, 2011
The third week of the special session has just ended, and we have two more days to go before we adjourn until regular session in January. This special session has been a remarkable experience. When I arrived in Lincoln on November 1st, I did not know if any bills would be advanced out of the Natural Resources Committee. Two bills dealing with pipelines did advance and are headed for passage. LB 1 will set up laws for all future pipeline projects. LB 4 will address all pipeline issues that are currently underway, including the Keystone XL Pipeline. Speaker Flood of Norfolk has worked with all sides on the pipeline issue, including TransCanada, the Sierra Club, the labor unions and various landowners. TransCanada has agreed to look for another route through Nebraska, which will avoid the most fragile parts of the Ogallala Aquifer and the Sand Hills. In return, Nebraska has agreed to pay for the environmental impact statement along the new route, which will cost between $1 and $2 million. This approach should get the project moving in months instead of years.
I am not totally pleased with the final results of the special session, but will support the compromise. The next question will be whether a court challenge will ensue, and if so, will the legislation we pass in special session hold up. I am also concerned that we may have harmed our chances for future contracts that would benefit Nebraska.
You, as constituents, should know that I intend to look into the possibility of establishing an oil refinery in Nebraska. I know that with all the environmental regulations, this is a long shot, but if we truly wish to “grow Nebraska,” I think we need to at least look at the possibility.
I received some very disturbing information from my colleague, Senator LeRoy Louden of Ellsworth. The U.S. Department of Labor has proposed changes to the Current Federal Agricultural Child Labor Provisions. These changes would greatly affect many farm and ranch families, and the ability for our children to gain hands on experience while working with their families. Children under 16 could not operate any power equipment, including tractors, riding lawnmowers, push lawnmowers, and other equipment if in the employment of someone other than their parents (this means even grandparents, uncles, aunts, and neighbors). Young people under 16 could not mow lawns to earn spending money.
Children under 16 would also be excluded from working on a farm in a yard, pen or stall occupied by an intact male equine, porcine, bovine or bison older than six months, a sow with suckling pigs or a cow with new born calf (with umbilical cord present). They cannot engage or assist in animal husbandry practices that inflict pain upon the animal. Poultry catching or cooping in preparation for slaughter or market is prohibited. Children under 16 cannot herd animals in confined spaces such as feed lots or corrals, on horseback, or using motorized vehicles such as trucks or all terrain vehicles.
The intent of these changes, I am told, is to protect youth from injury or harm. The proposed changes, however, deny children the important opportunity to get the hands on knowledge and experience gained by working side by side with their families. I believe these changes are not so much to protect “children” but are actually further infringements by big government on our rights as Americans. We are taking another step down the road of telling young folks that they cannot do anything. Then, we wonder why when they sometimes don’t.
I would encourage everyone to contact our U.S. Senators Ben Nelson and Mike Johanns and ask them to fight these changes proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor. You can reach Senator Nelson’s Lincoln Office at 402 – 441 – 4600. The phone number for Senator Johann’s Lincoln Office is 402 – 476 – 1400.
Senator Greg Adams of York and his staff are preparing Christmas care packages for our deployed troops. I have offered my assistance with this project, and we are looking for names and addresses of Nebraska soldiers who are currently deployed overseas. If you have a loved one serving our Country overseas, please call my office at 402 – 471 – 2716 or email dbloomfield@leg.ne.gov with contact information by Thursday, December 1st. We will share that information with Senator Adams and try to get care packages sent to family members from District 17.