Forecast cuts chances for water funding

A drastic reduction in predicted revenue for the state has senators scrambling, including Sen. Mark Christensen.

"It's a whole different environment," Christensen said this morning. The budget shortfall "changes the way people look at things."

Christensen said that in light of the news, senators have been asked to trim their budget requests, something that will adversely affect his own priority bill, LB1094.

The bill, originally introduced by Sen. Carlson of Holdrege, would use $9 million from the state's cash reserve fund to pay surface water irrigators who sold their water to Republican River Basin natural resources districts in 2007.

In a statement released by Gov. Dave Heineman's office, tax receipts are forecast to be lowered by $51 million for 2007-08 and $74 million for 2008-09.

The prediction was based on lowered expected sales tax income that would decrease state's cash reserves, that must be kept at a minimum of $230 million.

Christensen said prior to this forecast, he was confident that LB1094 would pass. But now the projected shortfall has put that in a different light.

Christensen said in talks between Sen Carlson and Gov Dave Heineman, it appeared the governor did not seem in favor of the bill.

Christensen made a plea to constituants to contact the governor or other state senators and encourage them to support the bill.

Without it, the Republican River NRDs could raise the property taxes outside the lid, he said, if the irrigation districts decide the sue the NRDs.

The NRDs are holding the collected property taxes authorized in LB 701 in escrow until litigation is resolved.

The property taxes and occupation taxes were levied to pay back a bond that the NRDs had planned to use to purchase the irrigator's water. The bonding company declined to issue the bond, citing pending litigation that challenges the property tax levy.

Christensen also commented on the rumors that he might be be resigning soon and said no definite decision will be made until later in the year.

"I'll try to do everything I can to finish four years," he said, "but if I can't, it was worth every bit. I enjoyed it."

He explained that his decision will be based on how well his commodity business does in the next few months,

"What happens in summer will contribute to what I decide to do," he said.

Currently the business is doing well, he said, with the grain prices up so high. But the annual salary of a state senator, at $12,000, is still too low, he believes.

On recent bills, a proposed bill that would increase the penalties for marijuana possession was debated most of this week, he said.

LB 844 would increase the penalty for possession of marijuana, less than one ounce, to $200, the same for the charge of minor in possession of alcohol. Sen. Ernie Chambers has been fighting it, according to Christensen, and does not want the bill to include any classes that offenders must take if charged.

A proposed bill by Gov. Heineman that would make children of illegal immigrants to pay out of state tuition to state colleges is another hot topic right now on the floor, he said.

The proposed bill is in direct reversal of a bill Heineman signed into law 2006, that allowed children of illegal immigrants who graduated from a Nebraska high school to attend a state college for in-state tuition,.

Most of the people he met with during his campaign were in favor of charging out of state tuition he said, but Duane Tappe, who attended the conference call, said the sudden turnabout looked suspicious.

"This reactionary stuff going on...I'm not comfortable with it," he told Christensen. To allow it and then take it away was not right, he argued. "The right thing to do is to oppose it," he said.