Earmarked roads funds under fire

LINCOLN — An Omaha senator is among those questioning whether Nebraska can afford to earmark $70 million a year for new highways when there are so many other demands on the state's dollars.

The governor is seeking tax cuts, and legislators are asking for increased spending for abused and neglected children, K-12 education and the University of Nebraska, among other items.

State Sen. Brenda Council said that might mean repealing or paring back last year's Build Nebraska Act, which earmarked additional state funds beginning in 2013 to complete the state's unfinished four-lane expressway systems, build bypasses around major cities and help cash-strapped cities fix their streets.

"Everything ought to be on the table," Council said. "Compared to everything else, roads are a relative priority."

Council's Legislative Bill 1098 would overturn a landmark bit of legislation that, for the first time, devoted state sales and income taxes for highway construction. Currently, roads are funded through state gasoline taxes and federal funds.

The measure was one of 72 bills introduced Thursday, the last day for introducing proposals in the 2012 legislative session.

All told, 468 bills were introduced this year, along with six proposed constitutional amendments, setting up a busy 60-day session that ends April 12.

Among the measures introduced on the last day were those to help victims of last year's flooding, encourage bull-riding events, ban "flying lantern"-like floating fireworks and help rural areas ease a shortage of natural gas supplies for rural areas.

A lack of natural gas pipeline capacity sometimes leaves businesses in northeast Nebraska without energy to heat their operations.

Lindsay Corp.'s manufacturing plant in Lindsay, Neb., had to switch to backup energy sources 21 times last year when gas suppliers couldn't meet peak demand.

The problem is a symptom of inadequate natural gas capacity in rural areas, said Greg Oswald, vice president of manufacturing for Lindsay, which makes irrigation equipment and highway safety barriers in the small community northwest of Columbus.

"This effort, it's not just about Lindsay Corp.," Oswald said. "If northeast Nebraska really wants to grow and bring in new businesses, it's a must."

Norfolk Sen. Mike Flood, the speaker of the Legislature, introduced LB 1115, which would allow for a streamlined process for expanding natural gas service in underserved rural areas.

"We have watched helplessly as new business opportunities go elsewhere when they find out our communities can't support their utility needs," Flood said. "Something must be done."

Sen. Deb Fischer of Valentine, the architect of last year's roads act, Legislative Bill 84, said she sees no need or legislative appetite to rescind the act.

Fischer, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, said the first thing she hears when she travels the state is excitement that long-delayed highway projects are going to be finished, thanks to LB 84.

"We made a commitment," she said. "Communities are counting on it, businesses are counting on it, workers are counting on it. We're moving ahead."

The State Department of Roads has already outlined the projects it will pursue when the bill takes effect in 2013. They include widening Nebraska Highway 133 from Omaha to Blair to four lanes, completing a bypass road in Kearney and finishing expressway work in the Panhandle.

But some senators say maybe LB 84 ought to be at least reconsidered.

Papillion Sen. Jim Smith said he's not ready to "jump ship" on the act, "but the circumstances are a little bit different this year than last year."

"We need to look at it carefully in context with everything else," Smith said.

Council said her top priorities will be avoiding a cut in state aid to K-12 schools and fixing the child welfare situation.

She said some of the governor's proposed tax cuts might only shift the tax load locally and result in a property tax increase.

"How's that going to help the middle class?" Council said.

Other measures introduced Thursday would:

» Earmark $2 million for emergency housing needs when the governor declares a natural disaster. Bancroft Sen. Lydia Brasch said displaced homeowners during last summer's flooding along the Missouri River had to wait 30 days for housing help. She introduced a second bill that would allow farmers whose land is unfarmable for two consecutive years to obtain a lower valuation on "inundated" land that cannot produce a crop.

» Exempt organizers and sponsors of bull-riding events from liability, as bull riders take on "inherent risks" in trying to ride 2,000 pounds of bucking bovine.

» Ban the sale or possession of "flying lantern"-type devices sold during fireworks season. They are like tiny, hot-air balloons, with a flame that lights the lantern and provides the hot air to float the lantern. The bill, from Wilber Sen. Russ Karpisek, seeks to prevent fires caused when the lanterns float to earth.

» Combat human trafficking and increase penalties for enticing minors into become prostitutes. Lincoln Sen. Amanda McGill conducted an interim study on human trafficking. Her bill would require posting of a national human trafficking hotline number in places such as bars, strip clubs and truck stops. A second bill would allocate $20,000 for a rehabilitation treatment program for prostitutes — an idea that Heineman has vetoed twice previously.

» Allow for the creation of "career academy schools," an alternative 7-12 grade school that would prepare kids for technical jobs rather than college. Omaha Sen. Brad Ashford is targeting kids at risk of dropping out of traditional schools with a proposal he calls "the new technical high school," named after a former school in Omaha.

» Allow the state to contract out even more responsibility for child welfare cases, eliminating the duplication of case responsibility. McGill's proposal would also cap caseloads of child welfare workers whether they work for the state or for a private contractor, addressing a problem within that system.

» Provide tax incentives for data centers that employ more than 30 workers and cost more than $300 million.

» Allow deer hunters to donate deer meat to prison inmates and the poor.

» Allow cities to form "entertainment districts" where alcohol could be consumed in a commons area, much like Kansas City's Power and Light District. Lincoln Sen. Colby Coash said he's fielded interest for such districts in Lincoln's Innovation Campus as well as from a developer in La Vista.

World-Herald staff writer Martha Stoddard contributed to this report.

Contact the writer:

402-473-9584, paul.hammel@owh.com

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