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For 151 years, the Nebraska Constitution has provided a North Star for our state, a set of guiding principles that transcend political trends, partisanship, scarcity, prosperity and the politicians of the day.
Every elected official, from the governor to local village boards, swears to uphold the state constitution when they take office. It’s an oath that grounds us in our common ideals — and one we have taken solemnly and with reverence.
The constitution, emulating that of our great nation, gave the power to tax and spend solely to the legislative branch. It was a masterful move, keeping the most critical functions of our government closest to the people through their direct representatives.
That means that decisions on how the state collects taxes and spends its resources are designed to be considered and deliberative, to weigh competing perspectives from the Panhandle to the Missouri River.
When I took an oath to uphold the Nebraska Constitution as I began my service in the Nebraska Legislature, I also knew that I was being asked to make decisions that lasted beyond my time in public service, to ensure my colleagues and I were setting future Nebraskans up for success and continued growth.
So, every time I considered major budget changes, I knew I was making decisions that could have consequences for a lifetime.
That measured and long-term thinking is needed now, more than ever, in this year’s state budget debate. With a projected $472 million budget shortfall made more drastic by the meeting of the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board, the executive branch has proposed sweeping cuts to treasured programs and critical services to balance the state’s budget.
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For instance, the Nebraska Cultural Endowment, the only public-private cultural trust in the nation, is on the chopping block. Endowments take years to be fully funded, and if the state raids the fund to help balance the budget, it will be at the expense of a major driver of economic development in every single county and legislative district, not to mention a significant enhancement to quality of life in our state.
Or look at the Nebraska Environmental Trust, which is funded by proceeds from the state lottery. It was created to preserve and protect our state’s natural resources, offering competitive grants for projects like grassland preservation, watershed restoration and environmental stewardship. These funds have a purpose, and it’s not to serve as a general piggy bank.
How about the Health Care Cash Fund? It was seeded by tobacco settlement dollars, and Nebraska has been the envy of the nation in using the funds to prevent and treat deadly cancers. Until now, when it has become another fund that can be cut at will.
And let’s look at a proposed sweep of the Veteran’s Aid Fund. The critical lifeline for our brave Nebraskans who have served our country in the armed services provides funds for emergency health care, but a proposed sweep would help fill avoidable general fund deficits.
With Nebraska’s long-standing commitment to fiscal conservatism, these cuts are not to remove the supposed fat of government spending, but cuts to the muscle and bone of what makes the Good Life. But there is another path.
Some of our current budget woes come from decisions made in Washington, D.C., that are cutting into our tax collections to the tune of about $100 million per year. Historically, Nebraska Legislatures have worked to try to make sure that federal tax changes come out in a wash for our state.
It’s time to consider more independence in Nebraska’s tax code, to allow us to chart a more predictable and sustainable path.
Eroding our quality of life, leaving our natural resources to decay, allowing the march of cancer across the state to continue unabated and betraying our brave Nebraska veterans – none of that helps grow the Good Life.
Forty-nine state senators are being called at this moment to uphold their oath of office, to act with fidelity to our constitution and to exercise the power entrusted to them by the thousands of Nebraskans who voted for them.
This is a time for the kind of independence and vision of the future that has defined our state for generations. This is a time for the Legislature to stand for Nebraskans.
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