Read the full article on Nebraska Examiner
LINCOLN — After several failed attempts to pull funding from biomedical research efforts, Nebraska lawmakers eventually settled on half of what the governor proposed sweeping.
The Legislature’s Appropriations Committee agreed through two motions this week to transfer $6.15 million out of the Nebraska Tobacco Settlement Biomedical Research Fund. This would leave $10 million in the fund, to be divided between research efforts at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Creighton University and Boys Town.
Gov. Jim Pillen initially proposed sweeping all of the money from the settlement fund, a $16.15 million reduction over Nebraska’s two-year budget cycle. The governor recently amended his proposal to a $12.15 million reduction, focused solely on dollars slated for UNMC.
The committee voted Tuesday to transfer $1.15 million from the settlement fund this fiscal year, but members couldn’t agree on what to do with the remaining $15 million. A motion to transfer the $11 million Pillen sought failed Tuesday in a 3-6 vote.
Pillen has requested dollars be pulled from the settlement fund for the last two years to aid in balancing the state budget, but the suggestion has prompted heavy opposition from supporters who argue the fund does a lot of good for Nebraska, both in its research and its ability to recruit talented professionals.
State Sen. Rob Dover of Norfolk, who sits on the committee, called the settlement fund “one of the wisest investments” the state currently has.
“We’re not just cutting some money that’s spent,” Dover said Tuesday. “We’re cutting money that gets a big return in growing our state.”
The committee tried again Wednesday to transfer $5 million from the settlement fund, but that initially failed in a 4-5 vote. However, after the meeting concluded, State Sen. Paul Strommen of Sidney changed his vote from a no to a yes, allowing the motion to succeed.
State Sen. Rob Clements of Elmwood, chair of the Appropriations Committee, later clarified that committee members are allowed to change their votes within 24 hours of a committee vote.
Strommen said he changed his mind because Nebraska is in “an extremely tough financial situation,” and he saw the funds as needed to balance the budget.
The committee has met every day for the last week to debate specific budget adjustments with the goal of filling a projected $471 million budget deficit. Before the committee’s Thursday meeting, Legislative Fiscal Analyst Keisha Patent said the committee’s progress so far has brought the projected deficit down to roughly $155 million.
Transferring $5 million from biomedical research freed up room in Nebraska’s Health Care Cash Fund, which the settlement fund is housed in. A Pillen proposal to cut $2.7 million for pediatric cancer research was restored in the committee’s preliminary budget. Then on Thursday, committee members added $1 million to the fund, spread over two years, for Meals on Wheels.
State Sen. Myron Dorn of Adams, who voted against transferring $11 million from the settlement fund but supported the $5 million transfer, said he felt comfortable adding the funding because of the approved cuts to biomedical research.
“I think we’re down to splitting hairs,” Dorn said.
SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
