Published Friday | April 18, 2008
Successes ease lumps, governor saysBY LESLIE REED
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2 ... d=10313190

LINCOLN β€” In 2007, it seemed as if Gov. Dave Heineman had a golden touch with the Legislature.

Triumphant from his landslide election that included a GOP primary win over former Husker football coach Tom Osborne, Heineman persuaded lawmakers to pass a $425 million tax cut, one of the largest in Nebraska history.

He won passage of legislation on economic development, schools and water. He got members of the Appropriations Committee to back his vetoes of spending items in the very budget they wrote.

Some of the gilding seemed to rub off this year.

Lawmakers overrode Heineman's vetoes of bills to raise the gas tax and expand fluoridation of drinking water. They killed his bill to get tough on illegal immigration.
They blasted him for not fixing problems at the Beatrice State Developmental Center. They spurned his nominee for a state panel that rules on labor disputes.

Heineman acknowledges taking a few lumps.

But he says the bruises were salved by the successes of "a very good and very productive session."

The most important achievements, he said, were getting the Legislature to agree to spending cuts to balance the budget and holding raids on the state's cash reserves to a minimum.

Those moves will prevent a tax increase if Nebraska's economy turns sour in the next year or two, he said.

Concern about the economy was one reason he dropped his push to increase Nebraska's property tax credit by $75 million. The plan would have given property owners an extra $60 state credit per $100,000 value to use toward their property tax bills.

"It was critical that we maintain the financial stability and integrity of the state's budget and we've done that. If we don't have a significant economic slowdown, then you can bet you're going to see a big tax relief proposal coming from this governor," he promised.

The Legislature passed a bill that essentially balanced the budget by trimming a predicted increase in school aid by $60 million, but Heineman is not counting that among his achievements.

He said the school aid formula needs more work, because costs are rapidly approaching $1 billion a year and he questions whether the state can continue to fund such growth.

Legislative Speaker Mike Flood of Norfolk and Appropriations Committee Chairman Lavon Heidemann of Elk Creek were among Republican lawmakers who parted ways with Heineman over increasing gas taxes. They said the extra cash is needed to preserve Nebraska roads.

"Quite honestly, when we're inside that (legislative) chamber, we're making decisions based upon what we think is right," Flood said. "We have to speak loudly on issues we feel passionately about."

Some lawmakers said that even though Heineman lost the vote to override his gas tax veto, he won the public relations battle.

Sen. Mike Friend of Omaha warned fellow lawmakers that the governor would come out on top.

"This is political. Who wins here? The governor," Friend said in arguing against overriding the veto.

"Who loses? The Legislature loses. We lose. We lose over and over again because we can't show the fiscal restraint β€” to the Department of Roads or anybody else. The governor always wins, and he'll win here," Friend said.

Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha predicts the governor's domination of the Legislature will increase when the last veteran lawmakers leave under term limits.

"He's just licking his chops," Chambers said. "Anything that could be considered a setback this session won't mean much to him because he can more than recoup next year. He'll drive them like oxen."

Some senators said the 22 lawmakers who joined the Legislature in 2007 were less inclined to follow the governor's lead during their second year.

"The body has shown a lot more independence . . . as people have gained in experience and confidence," said Sen. Tom White of Omaha, one of the 22.

White said a "sea change" followed the forced withdrawal of Heineman's appointee to the Commission of Industrial Relations. The Business and Labor Committee had recommended against Omaha business lawyer Sam Jensen, arguing that his career representing management would make people doubt his impartiality.

"The body got a lot of pressure from the governor" to confirm Jensen, White said. "But the members of the Legislature listened to the committee over the governor."

Heineman was philosophical: "That was one appointment out of several hundred I made, and it doesn't even rival the most important one, that of chief justice to the Supreme Court. It's a blip on the radar screen."

Lawmakers' 43-0 vote to investigate the state facility in Beatrice came after federal authorities cited numerous instances of patient abuse and said conditions showed a "cultural undercurrent that betrays human decency at the most fundamental levels."

"There's criticism for all of us β€” the Legislature the governor, Health and Human Services, everybody involved in this," Heineman said. "This situation just didn't arrive yesterday. . . . The focus ought to be on the future."

He disagrees with the idea that senators took a year to gain the confidence to challenge him.

"The senators I saw come in last year were experienced business and community leaders," he said. "I never felt they were in awe of this place or any part of it."

Heineman also said he has some influential friends β€” the public. Public opinion convinced lawmakers not to further raise gas taxes, he said, and public opinion most likely will help him win passage of an illegal immigration bill next year.

"Generally, I feel fairly comfortable that I'm in sync with the citizens of this state," he said. "And when you're in sync with the citizens of the state, you're going to get a responsive Legislature."