Will property taxes, irrigator fees fund LB701?

LINCOLN -- Property taxes or irrigator fees will fund surface water buyouts, under Sen. Mark Christensen's proposed water bill, LB 701.

Individual resources districts will decide which mechanism to use, he said at the Legislative conference call this morning at the McCook Chamber of Commerce.

According to Christensen, fees will be assessed on irrigators in the upper Republican district, property taxes on the lower and possibly property taxes again in the middle, the McCook area, although no formal vote has been taken yet in the mid district, he said.

Details of LB 701 is still under construction, he added, including how to collect irrigators fees, assessing delinquent fees and whether this will be accomplished by the NRDs or the county treasurer's office.

"There's still a lot to work out here to do," he admitted.

He also mentioned that it was unfair for surface water irrigators to foot the bill while deep well irrigators are let go.

The Appropriation Com-mittee is already balking at including the $2.7 million Gov. Heineman has requested until they know exactly what it will be used for, he added. This wasn't reasonable, he believed, as this will be a long term problem that will have to be addressed every year.

Nebraska has been found to be using more than its allotted share of water in the Republican River compact with Kansas and Colorado.

Christensen also spoke about the debate this week on Sen. Ernie Chambers bill to repeal the death penalty. He said the debate drew the most attendance on the floor he's seen so far and was exciting to watch as senators kept changing their minds on the vote.

Christensen voted against the repeal, defeated by 25 to 24, which he believes is why Sen. Chambers was so abrasive when it came time to debate his marriage bill, LB 696.

Christensen's bill would require those seeking marriage licenses to take eight hours of marriage education or pay $150 for the license. Chambers was very harsh on supporters of his bill and asked "non-legitimate questions", Christensen said, at one point claiming that watching a pornographic movie could qualify as marriage training.

"He was a little nasty," Christensen said. The bill is not written as well as it could be but will be a tool to improve marriages and prevent divorces, comparing it to a driver's license.

"This would be way for people to look at issues they might not other wise look at," he said.

Christensen said he came under fire last week for not supporting LB 502, that would change inheritance tax rates and possible force property taxes to increase. He asked that constituents e-mail and call him with their thoughts about this bill, so he could get a better idea of what they want.

LB 588, a bill to modify the workers' compensation hospital fee schedule and payment of providers, was addressed briefly.

Larry Eisenmeger, admittedly biased as he is in the insurance businesses, said the Workman's comp program is often abused, with Medicare and Medicaid often not paying their way. "This makes insurance companies loolike the bad guys," Eisenmenger said. Some hospitals charge a greater amount for services under workman's' comp than they would under other programs, he maintained.

Christensen said he would research the bill; LB 588 is a priority bill of the Business and Labor Committee.