Water: Issue of the decade

Joined by Sen. Tom Baker, Gov. Dave Heineman said that for all of Nebraska, "water is the issue of the decade."

Heineman and Baker spoke at an informal meeting Saturday evening at the Bieroc Cafe.

"We didn't get into this overnight, and we're not going to get out of it quickly," Heineman said, and he believes some sort of compromise can be worked out as long as "good faith efforts" were continued by irrigators.

An additional $3-$5 million has been budgeted this year to help with short- term solutions, he said.

If Nebraska is not in compliance by 2007, the state will have to pay $15 million to Kansas in 2008 as mandated by a 1998 U.S. Supreme Court decision, which some senators see as a localized problem.

"They created the problem, then they can solve it" is the attitude of some, Heineman said.

With the majority of urban senators unsympathetic to the water crisis facing this part of the state, they would prefer to solve the problem by taxing farmers by the acre, Baker said.

"We need to work collectively on the legislative side," Baker stressed.

Heineman agreed, and added that "we're beyond the blame game."

"We've got to educate residents on the eastern part of the state, so they know you're making sacrifices out here," he said. The real issue, he said, is how the state can work together to find an integrated solution.

With agriculture as the number one industry in the state, Heineman said he is committed to its growth and cited the recent trade agreement with Cuba for $30 million in corn, wheat and soybeans, the largest agreement ever with any U.S. state.

Boosting economic development is also one of his priorities, which will be helped by the Nebraska Advantage job incentive program that Heineman signed into effect last year. This incentive package really kicked in this January, he said, with 11 companies already signed up, resulting in the creation of 3,000 new jobs in Nebraska.

Responding to a question that the state could be "overdoing" ethanol incentives, Heineman said that federal energy legislation which calls for cleaner fuel could only work to Nebraska's advantage.

"The demand is there," he said. With seven new ethanol plants breaking ground last week, and two more scheduled for this week, each plant will create between 40-50 high technology jobs, he said, plus 75-100 construction jobs for the next year and a half. Ethanol production also benefits the state by pushing up the price of corn, currently 20 cents higher a bushel, he said.

Heineman briefly discussed his tax cuts proposal, which he said will save the state $420 million over the next three years, and by utilizing spending restraint, reduce the budget by $7 million over the next two years. He said he personally called each of the 49 senators to get a feel on what they were hearing from their constitutes about the proposal, and has received positive feedback. Heineman also thanked Baker for playing a key role in supporting the tax plan.

Heineman and his wife Sally kept a busy schedule on Saturday, with first handing out achievement awards to Cub Scouts at McCook Community College, meeting with the public at the Bieroc, then attending the Chamber of Commerce awards banquet later in the evening. Approximately 30 attended the meeting at the Bieroc.