Krusin' the Capitol
By Nebraska State Senator Lowen Kruse
2003
Week 18
May 9, 2003
Hi
The big news this week is we have one revenue bill under way that will
deliver $340 million. A lot of things could happen to that, but it does
prove that there is enough revenue available to meet the crisis. We have
several other revenue items on the table. The gap is something over $350 m.
Keeps changing because of small adjustments.
Our strategy is to have revenue all in one bill, so the governor has to take
all or nothing. He cannot line-item veto on revenue. If he vetoes the
whole, which represents endless compromise on the floor and belongs to all of
us, we would override. "We" includes more Republicans than Democrats. I
must emphasize we do not use those labels to think on the floor. The bill
sponsor is Republican.
If revenue is in two or more bills, the governor can veto one and write his
own budget. Building budget is the legislature's responsibility, which is
the main point of our very hard work to negotiate a package. No one will like
all of it but most will support.
A big revenue piece also available is to increase alcohol tax. For beer, it
would add 2 cents a can. I have already reported that the alcohol lobby
predicts two cents will create serious reductions in alcohol consumption,
causing a reduction, not an increase, in overall revenue. Servers will lose
their jobs with the cut in trade. Border bleed will be excessive, with
Nebraskans hurrying across the river to save 12 pennies on a six pack. A
senator said on the floor that several businesses would close. Another
called it an "astronomical increase."
Meanwhile, back on this planet, we can find no one hurt by the increase and
it would put $20 million on the table. One senator would rather cut $10
million each from the university and from K-12 education. That is a
fascinating proposal for a discussion of priorities. Is cutting our kids'
education more important to us than raising a can of beer by 2 cents? Will
25 votes support this strange trade? If they do you can be assured we will
be doing all we can to add to public embarrassment for them.
That is but one illustration, but it capsulizes the situation. Those who
want to cut more must contend with the obvious fact that in this time of
crisis it actually is not necessary to cut more. Education is all that is
available to cut.
Another illustration puts more bite in the choice. Should we tax the labor
on home repair? (All materials are presently taxed.) We presently tax labor
on replacing the water heater. But not repair, which is confusing to
workers. The dilemma can be put this way: for the owner of a modest home
which needs repair, do we tax the labor on repair of the home, or add to the
property tax by cutting aid to K-12? The property tax would spread it out
more, unless most owners of expensive homes also have some labor for repairs.
A dilemma without an easy answer.
In fairness to the "astronomical" senator, the present tax on beer is two
cents. So our amendment would double the tax. It is a clear example of the
power of the lobby to keep alcohol taxes shamefully low. Our state budget
expenses on alcohol abuse are 20 times the present tax.
My repeat offender-impaired drivers bill was the second one up Monday. We
never got to it. I put on a fresh suit for the big moment. It is now as
rumpled as my other ones. So much for trying to add a little class to the
legislature. I have dropped several debatable parts of the bill, to avoid a
filibuster. However, learned yesterday that another senator's promised
amendment will create a filibuster and I will have to move for cloture to get
the bill through.
Other subjects continue. The Poop Bill took several more hours, and still is
not done. We will have to vote cloture to stop the debate. The anti-cloning
bill was copied from federal legislation and now a legal expert has pointed
out that federal language does not fit the structure of state statutes.
Keeping my voting finger exercised.
Lowen
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