Legislative Newsletter

 

Sen. Tom Carlson

The legislature is now debating both morning and afternoon and soon it will be into the evenings.
I have been very busy presenting and defending my priority legislation as well as bills forwarded by the Natural Resources Committee. In that case, the introducing senator takes the lead but it is my responsibility, as chair, to explain the committee position and assist with questions during debate.
LB 517, my priority bill, had nearly three hours of debate before the Easter weekend recess. The bill creates a state water funding and sustainability task force, and I believe this is important for our state. I included in my introduction, “the United States and Nebraska will find alternative energy sources if oil and gas run out. But, if water runs out, we will die.”
The task force would identify water resources programs, projects, and activities in need of funding in order to meet long term goals of preserving and perhaps expanding the state’s water supply. Our water resources consist of the Ogallala Aquifer, rain and stream inflows. We can’t predict rain, so we need to properly manage the water resources we have.
While there was much discussion of the bill and some legitimate concerns, most senators agree that we must commit to working with many groups to accomplish the goal. Senator Heath Mello, chair of the Appropriations Committee, is concerned about the cost of the task force, and we are addressing that issue. It is my belief that we can have this study completed in time for bill introduction in January of 2014. The bill moved to the second round of debate on a vote of 36-0.
The second Natural Resource bill that warranted lengthy discussion this week was LB 57, introduced by Senator Larson. The bill would put into statute the policies of the Environmental Trust Board, including requiring written permission of the board to approve any real property transactions if the property was purchased with grant or revolving funds. Another section of the bill would ensure that any time land is purchased with grant money and then sold or otherwise turned over to the federal government, county property tax dollars must be fully replaced with in-lieu-of-tax payments or a permanent endowment fund.
This issue has been the subject of previous legislation introduced by me and town hall meetings in Clay Country and Lincoln. Our rural areas depend on property tax being taxed at the highest and best use rate to ensure county tax bases are not eroded. After several amendments, the bill advanced to Select File.
A third Natural Resources bill debated this week was LB 388, which advanced on a vote of 30-0. The bill would preserve state authority over electric transmission lines in light of a federal order which would allow any qualifying company to build lines instead of deferring to incumbent utilities. Existing companies have 90 days to decide whether or not to construct, own, or maintain a line if the line will connect with another that they own.
The legislature faces at least three more important issues during the last third of this session. Education funding, Medicare, and the state’s budget still wait and we will be working hard to finish these required state responsibilities.