Legislature adjourns sine die

The 102nd Legislature, first session, adjourned sine die May 26, 2011. Senators adjourned on the 87th day of the scheduled 90-day session.

Norfolk Sen. Mike Flood, Speaker of the Legislature, said a balanced budget was passed this session because of the committees’ hard work and compromises that were made.

Lawmakers began the session facing a projected budget shortfall of nearly $1 billion.

The session ended with $575 million worth of general fund savings and nearly $300 million was set aside in the state’s cash reserve, Flood said.

“It is easy to dismiss the budget [shortfall] as a major issue because [the committees] did such a good job,” he added.

Gov. Dave Heineman thanked senators for making difficult budget decisions.

“We knew this would be a challenging budget,” he said. “We knew we would have to make tough budget decisions — and we did by working together.”

Flood also thanked senators and staff for their service to the Unicameral.

“We have a lot to be proud of and we have a lot to celebrate,” he said.

Lawmakers passed 272 bills this session. Of those bills, several sought to invest in and develop education and business initiatives.

One of those investments was included in LB377, a bill that appropriates $25 million from the Nebraska Capital Construction Fund to the University of Nebraska to finance the renovation of the 4-H Building and construction of a Food, Fuel and Water Research Building. Both projects are part of Lincoln’s Nebraska Innovation Campus.

“This proposal will jump start and accelerate the development of Innovation Campus,” Heineman said.

LB345 established the Small Business Innovation Act. Under the bill, the state Department of Economic Development will administer a pilot program to assist up to 40 Nebraska-based growth businesses, at least one half of which will be located in counties with fewer than 50,000 inhabitants.

LB389 provides up to $3 million in annual tax credits for investments made in a business with at least 51 percent of its work force and payroll in Nebraska and 25 or fewer employees primarily engaged in researching, developing or using products and services in the high-tech field.

Some of the more contentious bills this session, however, involved redistricting, labor dispute reform and roads funding.

The Legislature is responsible for setting new boundaries for the state’s congressional, legislative, judicial, Public Service Commission, University of Nebraska Board of Regents and Board of Education districts every 10 years after the decennial census.

LB704, the most contested of the redistricting measures, shifts a number of counties from Congressional District 1 to District 3 to account for population shifts from western to eastern Nebraska. District 3 now reaches from border to border across the northern and southern boundaries of the state.

The bill also shifts areas of eastern Sarpy County from District 2 to District 1, and western areas of the county from District 1 to District 2.

Opponents argued the changes would violate the redistricting principle of maintaining the core of existing districts and would dilute the voting strength of the minority voting populations.

Among proposals ranging from reform measures to abolishing the Commission on Industrial Relations (CIR) — the state’s arbiter of labor disputes between public sector employees and government employers — was a bill that brokered a compromise between private and public sector employers.

LB397 includes a formula that allows wages to be adjusted over a three-year period to bring them within a range of between 98 percent and 102 percent of the average of an array, or between 95 percent and 100 percent during periods of recession.

Flood said CIR reform was a major accomplishment of the Legislature because all affected parties worked together to address their concerns.

“We did it better than anyone else in the nation because we found a pathway through a very difficult issue,” he said.

Finally, LB84 directs sales tax dollars to roads projects from fiscal year 2013-14 through FY2032-33.

Eighty-five percent of these funds will be deposited in a new State Highway Capital Improvement Fund. The remaining 15 percent of the new revenue will go to the Highway Allocation Fund.

Supporters said the state is slipping toward a crisis situation due to inadequate revenues derived from the state’s gas tax and the bill is needed to provide sufficient funding for roads projects and infrastructure.

After indefinitely postponing bills amended into other bills this session, the Nebraska Legislature adjourned sine die May 26.