Several budget vetoes overridden

Lawmakers voted May 28 to override a little more than half of the governor’s line-item vetoes of the state budget package.

The eight bills comprising the $7.8 billion budget were passed last week and sent to Gov. Dave Heineman. The governor vetoed approximately $40 million in general, federal and cash funds over the next two years from LB195, the mainline budget bill.

In his veto letter, Heineman said LB195 reflected many shared priorities between the governor’s office and the Legislature, but that fiscal discipline should be maintained.

The Appropriations Committee offered a motion to override vetoes in 10 sections of the bill. Omaha Sen. Heath Mello, chairperson of the committee, said the items represented slightly more than half of the items vetoes by the governor and approximately 33 percent of the funding vetoed from the entire budget.

Provisions in LB195 to be overridden by the committee’s motion included:
• $4 million from the Securities Act cash fund for appropriations for the Homeless Shelter Assistance, the Affordable Housing Trust and Legal Aid and Services;
• $4 million to the state Department of Roads for assistance to local transit authorities for mass transit aid;
• $775,000 for the state’s Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program and salary increases for County Court employees;
• $600,000 to the state’s Federally Qualified Health Centers;
• $450,000 to the Omaha Learning Community;
• $300,000 to fund a Dental Health Director; and
• $140,000 to the Postsecondary Education Commission for a data analyst position.

Lincoln Sen. Amanda McGill supported reinstating funds to the CASA program, which provides volunteers to help youth navigate the state’s child welfare system. She said the funds would allow the program to expand into more Nebraska counties, saving the state money in the long-term.

“There are still 1,600 kids who don’t have a CASA volunteer,” McGill said

Sen. Kate Sullivan of Cedar Rapids spoke in support of raises for the state’s county court employees, saying their workload and responsibilities continually have increased without a corresponding increase in compensation.

“We talk often in this body about the importance of our citizens having access to the judicial system,” Sullivan said, adding that county court employees are the system’s frontline in terms of access.

“They have continued to lag way behind in terms of compensation and salaries,” she said.

Sen. Bob Krist of Omaha supported reinstating funding for a state dental director, saying Nebraska has missed out on federal grant funding because of the vacant position.

“This would create the opportunity to attract that money from the federal government,” he said.

Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers spoke in support of the override motion in its entirety, saying the Appropriation Committee had done a good job of putting together a sensible budget that senators voted to approve.

“The budget bills represented the work product of the Legislature collectively and as an institution,” he said. “We had a chance to chew over everything in those bills … I had a chance to chew it once; I’m not going to chew it again.”

The motion was adopted on a vote of 32-5.

Additional override motions

Chambers offered a motion to override the veto of $353,338 to the Auditor of Public Accounts for baseline funding and salary increases. He said the auditor does excellent work scrutinizing state agencies and deserves sufficient resources to carry out the office’s constitutional duties.

“I am endorsing this override based strictly on the work that office has done,” Chambers said.

Columbus Sen. Paul Schumacher supported the motion, saying term limits increase the need for quality oversight. A good public auditor can bring areas of concern to the Legislature’s attention, he said, especially when new senators may not know where to look.

“It’s one of those guiding lights that we’re going to have to rely on as a Legislature as time goes on,” Schumacher said.

The motion failed on a 24-16 vote. Thirty votes are required to override a veto.

Fullerton Sen. Annette Dubas offered two override motions to other line-item vetoes in LB195. The first would have overridden the governor’s veto of $185,681 to the Public Service Commission to fund a railroad inspector position.

Dubas said Nebraska is number two in the nation in the amount of hazardous materials transported by rail through the state. Currently, she said, inspectors are able to inspect less than 1 percent of railroad lines per year.

“States are an essential component of the national railroad safety program,” she said.

Hyannis Sen. Al Davis supported the motion, saying Nebraska has fewer inspectors than other states in spite of the high level of rail traffic. He said many lines run through small, rural communities.

“If we have a derailment with hazardous materials in one of these communities we’re going to lose lives,” Davis said.

Sen. Tyson Larson of O’Neill opposed the override motion, calling the inspector position unnecessary.

“We’ve gotten by the last two years without this person … and there hasn’t been an increase in accidents,” he said. “In terms of taxpayer dollars, I just don’t think that this is a necessary thing.”

The motion failed on vote of 18-25.

A second Dubas motion, which would have overridden the line item veto of $45,000 for payment of state dues to the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Compact, failed 13-19.

Vetoed items in LB195 that were not challenged included:
• $90,880 to fund a retirement specialist position with the Public Employees Retirement Board;
• $100,000 to the University of Nebraska to fund a DUI recidivism study;
• $128,547 to fund increased staffing at the Foster Care Review Office;
• $300,000 to increase staffing at the Nebraska Tourism Commission;
• $369,001 to fund salary increases for probation officers; and
• $2.84 million that will delay replacement of the state’s Medicaid data management system for one year.

Capital construction

Lawmakers also voted to override three line-item vetoes in LB198, which appropriates funds for capital construction and property acquisition. Vetoed were:
• $2.95 million to construct a University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing building in Lincoln;
• $1.4 million from the $6 million allocated for renovation of the Nebraska History Museum; and
• $544,000 from the Capitol Commission to fund improvements to the State Capitol Building.

Heineman said in his veto message that the nursing building was a lesser priority than others at the University and that savings from other construction projects should be returned to taxpayers rather than rolled into new projects.

The governor also said the history museum has sufficient funds to address deferred maintenance, failures in the original building systems, and fire code and Americans with Disabilities Act compliance issues. Further, he said, the Capitol Commission’s budget is adequate to address priority projects at the State Capitol Building.

Kearney Sen. Galen Hadley supported the motion to override, saying the nursing building is needed to help alleviate the Nebraska’s shortage of health care professionals. He said citizens are willing to donate money to scholarships and programs, but that the state also must do its part.

“It’s hard to convince the average person to contribute money to brick and mortar [projects] because they see that as the state’s responsibility,” Hadley said.

Mello said the full $6 million would be needed to update the museum building and that the number of deferred maintenance issues at the State Capitol Building – including window replacement and water damage repair – continue to grow without adequate funding to address them.

“The Capitol is a state treasure that belongs to all Nebraskans,” Mello said. “There are significant needs here.”

The motion to override the governor’s vetoes in LB198 was adopted on a 34-5 vote.