page 2
friday, march 3, 1978
daily nebraskan
Burbach remembered for structuring state tax laws
The weathered face and colorful vocabulary of former
State Senator Jules Burbach tell a lot about Nebraska.
The retired senator and farmer points proudly to a long
row of appreciation plaques in his basement. Plaques
presented to him by his constituents, by farm organi
zations, by business organizations, by his former col
leagues. Burbach served in the Nebraska Legislature for 20
years. His role in shaping Nebraska's tax structure has
been compared to the role of the Missouri River in shap
ing the state's geography.
Most UNL students were struggling through grade
school while Burbach, chairman of the Revenue Com
mittee, was struggling with tax reforms that are now so
basic to our lives that few notice.
But Nebraskans might remember Jules Burbach any
time they drive down a scenic Nebraska highway, pay
sales tax on a candy bar, fill out a state income tax form
or receive a property tax exemption on their home.
Burbach now lives in Hartington, Neb. where he was
born, raised and worked on his farm for 19 years.
Hunched over a mail-heaped table topped by an open
copy of the 1943 Nebraska Revised Statutes, he discussed
his political career in a mixture of the four-lettered pro
fanity of a Nebraska farmer and the sophisticated vocabul
ary of an experienced lawmaker.
Burbach said he first was persuaded to run for the
Legislature because of a friendly argument with a group of
farmers in 1956.
"I had business to take care of that I couldn't afford to
take time off from," he said. "1 had no more damned
intention of running for the Legislature than I had of
going to the moon."
He finally agreed to file, Burbach said, and with 14
carloads of supporters and five days of campaigning in
Cedar and Knox counties he easily was elected to repre
sent the 19th District in the Unicameral.
He said when he first came to Lincoln he was "green,"
But he said he learned fast.
"It was practically unheard of for a second-year
senator to be selected as committee chairman, but in my
second year I was named chairman of the Miscellaneous
Subjects Committee."
In 1959 he was placed on the Revenue Committee
where he served for 16 years. He chaired the committee
for 12 years.
"I feel the issues facing us then (during his early years
as senator) were of a more fundamental importance to the
state than issues facing the Legislature now," Burbach
said. "We didn't have to mess with sunshine and sunset
laws like the Legislature does now. That's babysitting
UIIIUIIi
calendar
)
9 a.m. - Cultural cen
ter task force, Room 216.
11:30 - Carriage Hill
School - Papillion, Con
ference Rooms.
12:30 p.m. - Muslim
Student Association, Room
337.
3 p.m. Campus activ
ities and programs staff,
Room 203.
3:30 p.m. - Teaching
and Learning Center. Room
242.
7 p.m. - Iranian Student
Association, Auditorium.
7:30 p.m. Inter Var
sity Christian Fellowship,
Room 202.
Chi Phi Marathon Dance,
4:30 p. m.-Registration, 6
p.m.- Dance, Ballroom.
short, mm
stuff
Applications for Out
reach are due today in
Health Center 104.
The UNL Campus Girl
Scouts will be selling cook
ies in the Nebraska Union
North Lobby beginning
Monday.
The UNL French Club
will meet today in Branni
gan's lower level.
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legislation, protective agencies and consumer agencies."
The list of Burbach 's accomplishments runs on like a
broken record. A few of the highlights were:
-sponsoring a constitutional amendment which
allowed a tax exemption on property taxes.
-sponsoring legislation allowing, for the first time in
Nebraska issuance of state bonds to finance state highway
and interstate improvements.
-helping enact personal property tax exemptions for
farms and businesses.
-sponsoring legislation which centralized and brought
order to Nebraska's Natural Resources District.
-to serve as Speaker of the Legislature for two years
and expand the Speaker's power to efficiently direct the
work of the Legislature.
But Burbach spoke with the most enthusiasm about his
role as chairman of the Revenue Committee in sponsoring
a constitutional amendment in J 967 replacing the state's
property tax with a sales and income tax as the basis for
financing state government.
Burbach is credited by many with steering the Legisla
ture through one of its most traumatic sessions.
"A series of bills in 1967 had left Nebraska with no
way of financing its state government," Burbach said. "We
needed to come up with some bucks fast.
"We worked up a bill ready to go into effect in five
months," he said.
"Nebraska has been recognized as having one of the
best and most comprehensive sales and income tax laws in
the nation," he said. "We have income tax down to a
pretty fine science."
Burbach ran for governor in 1970 but lost in the
Democratic primary by 3,000 votes to Gov. J. James
Exon, who Burbach admits was his foremost political
opponent during most of his political career.
"I was not a very stout Democrat,"Burbach said. "And
Gov. Exon had the party's blessing in 1970. The voters
looked to me as a man of fairness and experience but I
lost by a few thousand votes."
"Gov. Exon is a very astute politician and he has been
a very popular governor, but that does not necessarily
mean he has been a good governor," Burbach said.
"The implementation of a good working relationship
between the governor and the Legislature has on state
government is like the influence parents who fight all the
time have on their children," he said.
Burbach said that with his experience in the Legislature
he could have established this good working relationship
very well as governor.
Burbach said it is very important that a good balance
of farmers, businessmen, attorneys, males and females and
old people serve in the Legislature.
He warned against what he saw as a trend towards
overliberalization in the Unicameral.
Although he said state senators should not be overpaid,
he thinks senators should get raises and retirement bene
fits. It takes experience and acceptance by collegues to be
an effective senator, and most of the young senators
cannot afford to stay long enough to be effective when
they are paid $4,800 a year, Burbach said.
Texas farmers rally
for jailed brothers
tdinburg, Texas-A column of about 75 tractors and
pickup trucks -their lights flashing and carrying signs
supporting American Agriculture-moved into this Rio
Grande Valley town Thursday to support about 200
of their jailed comrades.
Law enforcement officers kept the traffic flowing as
the vehicles were parked away from the downtown area
About 300 farmers had gathered in the town by mid-morning.
associated press
datelines
Sheriffs officials said the farmers would not be
bothered as long as they did not block traffic or cause
trouble.
However, standing by were a helmeted squad of riot
police and several tow trucks.
The farmers were Valley residents who did not take
part in the strike activities Wednesday. After the trouble
at the International Bridge between farmers and law
enforcement officers, they , threw their support to the
strikers.
More than 200 farmers, claiming they were victims of
police brutality during the Wednesday melee, decided to
remain in jail overnight rather than pay $18.75 for bond.
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