U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Next week, LR 288 will have its public hearing. For the first time in Nebraska’s history, members of the public will have the opportunity to publicly express their concerns regarding the Missouri River’s management by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers before the Nebraska Legislature. Some of you may have seen the statement posted to my Facebook page on Sunday, January 27. For those of you who did not, my concerns about the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers mismanagement of the Missouri River are outlined below.

From 2011 onwards, our region of Southeast Nebraska, Northwest Missouri, and Southwest Iowa have experienced several major floods. For example, the town of Hamburg, Iowa, has experienced three “100-year” floods in the last decade.  This is due to a number of factors, including poorly-timed releases from dams in the Upper Basin of the Missouri Rivers, outdated levee standards that largely have not been overhauled in 80 years to reflect modern runoff trends, and a failure by the Corps to adequately lobby for the changes it has deemed necessary since the 1993 floods. 

There has recently been an agreement announced between the governors of Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa, and Kansas to split the cost of a study with the Corps on how we can prevent future flooding. This should not be necessary. The Corps has had decades to address flooding and now surrounding states are forced to use our tax dollars to pressure a federal agency to do its job.

This “study” will take around three years to complete and several more years after that to implement. It is designed to collect data which the Corps should already have. Moreover, conclusions from this study will likely lead to the exact same recommendations that have been unsuccessfully supported by the Corps for nearly three decades. 

My Facebook post made it up the chain of command with the Corps, and Major General Scott Spellmon, the Deputy Commanding General of the Civil and Emergency Response Projects and nominee to be the next national Chief of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, gave me a call last week to discuss my concerns. However, my position on the Corps’ failure to take actions to mitigate flooding along the Missouri River remain unchanged.

My resolution, LR 288, intends to send the message to Congress and the Crops to reprioritize flood control on the Missouri River. LR 288 is set to have a public hearing on Wednesday, February 5th in the Natural Resource Committee. If passed by the Nebraska Legislature, this resolution will be a public condemnation of the Corps inaction and will be delivered to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the Pentagon and Nebraska’s federal delegation.

In addition to LR 288, my office continues to lobby the federal government for adequate flood recovery resources and adoption of proactive measures to mitigate future flooding, work with my colleagues in the state government to mobilize our resources to help our area recover, and meet with local officials to assess needs and best position District 1 for the most recovery funding possible. We are not out of the woods for potential 2020 flooding, and the relationships built now will continue to benefit our area for the years of recovery left before us.

As always, I welcome your input on issues important to you. Follow along on my Facebook and Twitter pages, both entitled “Senator Julie Slama” for more updates, or contact me directly at Senator Julie Slama, District 1 State Capitol, PO Box 94604, Lincoln NE 68509-4604; telephone: 402-471-2733; email: jslama@leg.ne.gov.    

LB 58 & LB 816

We are now into the third full week of session. The first ten days have passed, so there will be no more new bill introduction for this session. There were 482 bills introduced, with six of them being mine. Hearings have also begun and will go until February 27th. Each bill will receive a public hearing just like in previous sessions. I’d invite each of you to consider testifying on bills which interest you.

Many have contacted my office asking for my opposition on LB 58 and LB 816. Rest assured, I oppose those bills and any other attacks on the Second Amendment without due process. As a concealed carry permit holder myself, I am proud to support and defend the Second Amendment.

LB 58 adopts the Extreme Risk Protection Order Act, which is otherwise known as a “Red Flag Law.” This bill would allow a court to intervene in cases when a person has been accused of potentially being a threat to themselves or others. At a hearing in which the accused does not have to be present, the court can order law enforcement officers to seize the accused’s guns for up to one year. The cost of enforcement is very high. The fiscal note for this bill on the state level indicates in FY 2019-20 the cost of implementation is $415,500 and for FY 2020-21 the cost is $114,750. According to the Supreme Court, in order to implement LB 58, as introduced, work on other important Judicial Branch IT projects will be delayed. The Crime Commission has estimated that the cost of such a database would range from $400,000-$600,000 over a 2-year period of time. Moreover, our county law enforcement officials would be forced to seize and store the firearms of a person who has not been accused of a crime or given due process. This represents another unfunded mandate on our counties, who could be left to store hundreds of firearms, or destroy them if space was unavailable.

LB 816 would increase regulations on shotguns and rifles, under the guise of “suicide prevention.” This bill would mandate that information be provided to the purchaser regarding firearm safety and suicide prevention and require suicide prevention training. LB 816 includes that any sale, purchase, or transfer of a designated firearm occuring at a gun show shall be reviewed or conducted by a licensed dealer to ensure compliance with the Firearm Transfer Certification Act. There is absolutely no data to back that increased regulations on long guns makes any impact whatsoever on suicide rates. In fact, according to FBI reports, a mere 25 people have died by rifles or shotguns since 2010. The cause of death, whether it be accidental, murder, or suicide, is not noted in the statistic. This represents a mere 5% of firearm deaths in Nebraska during that period.

My role on the Judiciary Committee allows me to analyze and add my opposition on the record to bills which attack the Second Amendment, as all bills dealing with firearms are sent to that committee. This is especially handy if those bills come to the floor for full debate, as my research and preparation in committee provide a solid foundation on which to focus my floor strategy.

As always, I welcome your input on issues important to you. Follow along on my Facebook and Twitter pages, both entitled “Senator Julie Slama” for more updates, or contact me directly at Senator Julie Slama, District 1 State Capitol, PO Box 94604, Lincoln NE 68509-4604; telephone: 402-471-2733; email: jslama@leg.ne.gov.

LB 153 & Property Tax Proposal

In the first week of debate, the Legislature considered carry-over bills from last session including a few priority bills that did not make it to the floor before we adjourned sine die. Senator Brewer’s LB 153 at the request of the Governor was one of these bills. LB 153 would allow a 50% exemption for military retirement benefit income. The bill was advanced to Select File with a 46-0 vote with 3 Excused – Not Voting. This is a fantastic step in the right direction for Nebraskans veterans. I am excited to get this across the finish line and signed by the Governor to make our state more competitive in veteran recruitment. 

The Revenue Committee on Tuesday introduced their new plan to reduce local property taxes. LB 974 will have its public hearing on January 22nd. Senator Linehan and the Revenue Committee have worked tirelessly on this bill and I am hopeful to see a positive outcome, as achieving property tax relief remains my top priority for this session.

The current proposal would increase state aid for rural schools to reduce reliance on property taxes without raising income or sales taxes or eliminate any sales tax exemptions. The current property tax credit relief fund would also remain intact. State revenue is expected to exceed the forecasts by at least $100 million every year for the next three years. 

This bill seeks to increase state aid to local schools by about $520 million over three years. It would cut down between 13% to 15% of your property tax bill. New state aid would be introduced for non-equalized rural schools based on a per-student basis. This would ensure that every school would receive state funding. This will increase state aid for more rural school districts while the larger schools will see more of a modest increase. Your property tax bill will be reduced over three years because of cuts the taxable valuation of your property paired with spending controls. For agricultural land, it will fall from 75% to 55% of actual value; for homes and commercial, it will fall from 100% to 85% of actual value. 

Six of the eight Revenue Committee members signed on as co-sponsors of this bill. Governor Ricketts has voiced his support for the “framework” of the bill. Speaker Scheer has reiterated his push for major tax proposals at the beginning of session which will allow more time for consideration rather than waiting until near the end of the 60 days. Given that the bill’s hearing is next week, my best estimate is that the bill will likely come to the floor in early February.

As always, I welcome your input on issues important to you. Follow along on my Facebook and Twitter pages, both entitled “Senator Julie Slama” for more updates, or contact me directly at Senator Julie Slama, District 1 State Capitol, PO Box 94604, Lincoln NE 68509-4604; telephone: 402-471-2733; email: jslama@leg.ne.gov.

LB 1208 and LB 131

The last two weeks of committee hearings are upon us, which means that late night debate is just around the corner. The 482 total bills introduced this session will have each had a public hearing by February 27. The focus of the column this week will be two bills which originated in the Judiciary Committee that would potentially compromise the safety of our corrections officers and our communities. This past week, we heard testimony on LB 1208 which relates to restrictive housing, immediate segregation, discipline, and other conditions of confinement in state correctional facilities. 

 “Restrictive housing” is a term used within the Nebraska Department of Corrections when an inmate is moved from the general population to a more restricted setting with less contact with other inmates and less time spent outside the cell, typically due to attempted assaults on staff or other inmates. LB 1208 placed limitations on Department of Corrections’ use of restrictive housing with our most dangerous inmates, setting caps for the amount of days an inmate could spend in restrive housing and setting a minimum number of hours to be spent outside the cell each day.

Many leaders in corrections opposed this bill during public hearing because it would compromise the safety of staff and of the prisons as a whole. Dozens of staff members at TSCI reached out to my office, as well, to share their concerns with a bill that prioritized inmate comfort over staff safety. 

According to the hearing testimony of the Director of the Nebraska Department of Corrections, Scott Frakes, Nebraska was 2nd in the nation for the percentage of inmates held in restrictive housing in 2015. Of the 5,162 people incarcerated in NDCS, 685 were in restrictive housing, with 173 of those held in “administrative segregation”.  Over 45% of the people who are considered for placement in immediate segregation instead go to an alternative, less restrictive setting. The Department of Corrections has lowered the number of inmates in restrictive housing since that time by 60%, with a mere 273 inmates in restrictive housing today. Director Frakes also shared that LB 1208 would decrease prison safety and has the potential to increase risks to staff, inmates, visitors and the public at large. LB 1208 represents an initiative that would work only in a hypothetical world with unlimited resources for building facilities up to the most modern standards possible and the ability to double our staffing numbers at correctional facilities across the state. I oppose the bill because we must legislate based on current conditions, and those current conditions paired with the mandates of LB 1208 would put staff in danger.

Another corrections bill that is a carry-over from last session is LB 131. This bill, which I oppose, would allow dangerous felons back into our communities before the originally-scheduled completion date of their minimum sentence. The amended bill, which passed through committee with me as the only vote in opposition, would restructure sentencing to make felons eligible for release, in some cases after serving only a quarter of their original minimum sentence. In the first round of floor debate on this bill, it was shared that LB 131 was meant to address the prison overcrowding crisis in Nebraska. For me, releasing felons who have been convicted of heinous crimes such as sexual assault of a child, manslaughter, repeat DUIs, kidnapping, attempted murder, drug trafficking and human trafficking is far too high a price to pay for the potential of lowering our states incarceration rate by a few dozen people. I oppose this bill, and will continue to do so on the floor. 

As always, I welcome your input on issues important to you. Follow along on my Facebook and Twitter pages, both entitled “Senator Julie Slama” for more updates, or contact me directly at Senator Julie Slama, District 1 State Capitol, PO Box 94604, Lincoln NE 68509-4604; telephone: 402-471-2733; email: jslama@leg.ne.gov.

The second session of the 106th Nebraska Legislature has officially begun. We are in the midst of the first ten days of session, which is the only time that Senators can introduce bills. I introduced six bills and one resolution on the first day of session. You can read all bills introduced and follow their status on the Legislature’s website. My bills for this session focus on addressing issues within our district and repealing other statutes to make our government more efficient.

LR 288 is a resolution to urge Congress and the United States Corps of Engineers to reprioritize flood control as a top priority for the management of water systems under their authority in the Missouri River Mainstem Reservoir System Water Control Manual. This resolution has already received bipartisan support and will be a chance for the Legislature to publicly endorse a plan to prioritize the lives and livelihoods of people downstream with improved flood control.

LB 788 pertains to the Department of Labor. This bill would change a report date from July 1 of each year to December 31 of each year, and would also change an application or renewal fee. This is a clean-up bill for the Department of Labor which repeals over a dozen statutes that are outdated and unused.

LB 789 cracks down on those who violate school bus stop signal arms. This bill would allow a school bus driver to report violators of the school bus stop arm with local law enforcement. Law enforcement could then investigate those reports and issue a citation if the investigation proves a violation has occurred. 

LB 790 is a bill introduced on behalf of the Department of Administrative Services. The bill expands the Department of Administrative Services’ negotiating powers and will save taxpayers millions in excess spending if passed.

LB 791 is a bill to expand the Livestock Animal Welfare Act. If a person is convicted of livestock abuse or neglect and the court orders such person to not own or possess a livestock animal, LB 791 adds that person could not own or possess any other animal, including pets. 

LB 792 gives our law enforcement officers another tool in their fight against methamphetamines and other hard drugs by allowing them to aggregate amounts of the drugs sold to them in sting operations to upgrade their charges. This bill combats the issue of meth dealers habitually being arrested one day, then back out on the streets the next.

LB 793 cracks down on entitlement fraud by bringing it to the same level of crime as theft. Statutes to outline the penalties for theft were updated nearly a decade ago with LB 605, but the same changes were not made for fraud to entitlement programs, like Medicaid and food stamps. This created a loophole in our statutes that needs to be closed with LB 793.

As always, I welcome your input on issues important to you. Follow along on my Facebook and Twitter pages, both entitled “Senator Julie Slama” for more updates, or contact me directly at Senator Julie Slama, District 1 State Capitol, PO Box 94604, Lincoln NE 68509-4604; telephone: 402-471-2733; email: jslama@leg.ne.gov.