Christensen makes payment his priority bill

Thursday, February 21, 2008

LINCOLN -- Sen. Mark Christensen has decided to make as his priority bill one that would use state funds to pay irrigators who sold their water last year.

"It's critical to get this done," he said this morning at the weekly McCook Chamber of Commerce Legislature conference call.

The bill, originally introduced by Sen. Tom Carlson of Holdrege, would use $9 million from cash reserves to pay surface water irrigators, who sold their water in 2007 to Republican River Basin natural resources districts that was sent to Kansas as a way to meet water obligations.

The bill has passed out of committee and Christensen was confident that it would pass quickly on the floor. When asked if the governor would veto it, Christensen said he believed that he wouldn't, although initially Gov. Dave Heineman was not in favor of it.

The money would be paid back by the occupation and property taxes that are being collected by the Republican River Basin NRDs. If a pending lawsuit that challenges the property tax is successful, Christensen said the irrigation districts may sue the NRDs who purchased the water, leading to the property tax levied by the NRDs to be raised over its limits.

At this point in the Legislature, which ends in April, bills that aren't designated as priority bills will not be heard unless they are put on the consent calendar, he said. Christensen may designate one of his bills through this method, he said, because of the favorable response it got in the Education Committee Feb. 19.

The bill would allow a special education student in Nebraska to receive a certificate of attendance and participate in their school's graduation ceremony. The student would still be allowed to attend school until age 21.

The bill received good support in the Education Committee, he said, which was surprising because the committee has a reputation of being difficult.

"It was so favorable it was scary," he recalled.

The bill is meaningful and non-controversial and addresses rules that haven't been updated, he explained.

But another bill that may draw controversy will be LB843, he said, introduced by State Sen. Dwite Pedersen of Omaha. The bill, not voted out of committee yet, would allow persons convicted of murder between 16-18 years old to be eligible for parole after 25 years and those convicted under the age of 16, eligible after 20 years.

Currently, those convicted of first-degree murder are sentenced to death unless they're under the age of 18, when they are sentenced to life without parole.

The bill's intent is to allow individuals to mature and develop after being sentenced and will allow parole but doesn't force it, he added. Although he hasn't read the entire bill yet, at first glance it appears to be beneficial, he said.

Other issues Christensen commented on included the proposed "Snowbird Trail," an expressway that would link 75 percent of Nebraska residents within 20 miles of a four-lane highway. The highway would jump start economic development in Southwest Nebraska, he said, as well as other parts of the states, but finding dollars to fund the project may be the problem. In his discussions with the Department of Roads officials, the expressway "is not in the immediate horizon" or considered a high priority. "We may get the eastern end done but we need the western end too," he said. "If we can figure out a way of paying for it, I would gladly prioritize it."

The Snowbird Trail would also connect the packing and ethanol plants within a few miles.

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