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A Day in the Statehouse
EDITOR'S NOTE -- Gazette City Editor Gloria Masoner recently spent a day at a session of the Nebraska Legislature with State Sen. Tom Baker of Trenton.
I suppose the invitation I received from Nebraska Sen. Tom Baker shouldn't have taken me by surprise, but I have to admit -- not only did it surprise me, it left me a little nervous.
After all, haven't I spent the last two and a half legislative sessions voicing my perceptions of the decisions made by the by the Unicameral.
Why in the world would he want me in Lincoln?
But after discussing it with my superiors, we decided maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea and the arrangements were made.
I arrived in Lincoln on Tuesday night so I could be up bright and early for the next day's activities.
Let me first point out that finding a parking spot within a six-block radius of the capital is nearly impossible -- unless you park illegally in one of the two-hour parking spots available. (Which I would never, ever consider doing.)
I met the Senator in his office and that's when the true test of my stamina began.
Sen. Baker had a meeting at 8 a.m., in the conference room of a bank about six blocks away. The meeting was hosted by Maris Johnson of the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources. Sen. Baker explained the meeting normally centered around water.
On this day, Dave Aikens, of the University of Nebraska Lincoln, discussed Initiative 300.
In short, Aikens told the group of senators and other interested parties that under federal law, if the corporate farming ban were to be challenged, there would be no way for the state to win the case. Aikens predicts the initiative will be off the books within two to three years.
From that meeting, the senator and I went back to the capital and made our way to the Legislative Floor.
The discussion that morning centered around several bills on General File.
Everything from noxious weeds to smoking in a home daycare setting was discussed.
Over the lunch hour, the Revenue Committee of the Legislature was called to an executive session/committee hearing. Unlike executive sessions in local government, the press is allowed to sit in on this type of meetings.
The purpose of the meeting was to address the state's budget deficit and determine if there was any support for raising taxes. The group also discussed the state's expected obligation of paying a $150 million judgement on the low-level nuclear waste compact.
Attorney General John Bruning and Assistant Attorney Dave Cookson explained the state's current position and briefly discussed the expected timeline of the judgement and ways in which it might be reduced. One of which was picking up the plans to build the facility.
Bruning told the group of eight senators the state could be forced to come up with the total judgement by as early as November -- and under a best-case scenario, the judgement could extend into the next legislative session.
The senators discussed ways to raise the funds for the judgement, however, Sen. David Landis strongly opposed collecting funds for the judgement before it is imposed.
"Will (the public) tolerate paying this bill before they get it?" he asked. "We don't have to do this today."
From that meeting, Baker went immediately back to the Legislative floor.
That evening, the Senator invited me to a reception sponsored by the South Platte United Chambers of Commerce.
The gathering gave senators and their constituents a chance to sit down, relax and discuss issues on both the state and federal level.
The next morning the senator invited me to a breakfast sponsored by the Nebraska Medical Association. Following that, the Legislature met for final reading on several bills.
During final reading, Senators are required to stay in their assigned seats. Most of them did. Those that didn't were dispatched back to their assigned places by the Sergeant at Arms.
It was like watching a group of grade school children as the senators would look around, trying to figure out where they would find their monitor. Once they saw they were not being observed they'd make their way to their destination, casting furtive glances at the Sergeant at Arms -- ensuring that he was still occupied elsewhere. I kept expecting someone to raise a hand and tell the teacher one of their counterparts was acting out.
The legislative body showed its sense of humor when a bill sponsored by Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha came up for a vote.
Sen. Phil Erdman had attached an amendment to the senior senator's bill. Chambers took exception to the amendment, but told Erdman he was impressed with his tenacity.
"For a young cub to take on a Kodiak is an amazing feat," he said.
When it came time to vote on the bill, senators voted 36-4 against it, much to the surprise of Sen. Chambers.
The vote was changed before the legislative clerk could call the roll call. Chambers' bill passed 42-0.