n
frlday,may 4J070 r
llncoln, nebraska vol. 101 no. 122
X1
"Kelly9s motion to reconsider fails
liy Randy Essex,
Time is not on Jrand Island Sen. Ralph Kelly's side.
When his bill to raise the state's drinking age to 21 came
up for debate the first time, tome of his supporters left
for lunch before a vote could oe taken. . -
Thursday, when Kelly won a long procedural battle
to have that first vote reconsidered, five of his supporters
had left the Legislature for the day , and the motion failed.
Finally, old man time has one more trick up his sleeve
that makes Kelly'i chancel to pass his bill, this year look
very dismal. Only 12 dayi remain in the legislative session,
and Kelly's LB22 1 is one of the last bills that would come
up for debate in normal rotation?; ,
The bill tits toward, the bottom of 68 bills still on
General FileLthe first stage a bill must clear.
Speaker Richard Marvel said Thursday he honestly
does not know , If the Legislature .will get to Kelly's bill,
but he also told the body that he is committed to proces
sing those bills that have been moved from general file.
Defeat not conceded
But Kelly said he won't concede defeat for this session.
He claims that there are ways he can get the bill passed
this year. He would not disclose how he expects to use the
rules to his advantage, but said that he knows what those
rules are, '. '
. Unicameral observers doubt that Kelly will be able to
get his hill off General File, and almost rule out the possi
bility that the measure could pass this year. -
If the bill is not passedand if it is not kiiled-in the
remaining 12 days, it will be carried over to the next legis
lative session, which begins in January.
"There could be 28 to 30 more kids killed before next
year;
Kelly said
after
the vote
rv"-
on
his motion
to
reconsider Thursday. There has been talk attributed to
Kelly that supporters of his bill will start a petition drive
this summer to raise the drinking age, if LB221 does not
pass.
Marvel overruled
The vote on Kelly's motion was 21-19, but 25 affir
mative votes were required to approve the motion. Kelly
was successful in overruling Marvel's decision that the
motion to reconsider was out of order.
Marvel ruled that because bills have three chances to
advance from General File, the initial vote on LB221 did
not constitute a final decision on the question, and
therefore could not be reconsidered.
Heated debate followed Kelly's motion to overrule
Marvel as opponents of Kelly's bill argued that reconsider
ation of the measure would have dire consequences on the
Legislature's procedure.
However, Marvel had put LB221 on the daily agenda,
but not in the form of a motion to reconsider. Marvel put
the bill and, five others into a special category of
consideration. The other five had failed on a vote to ad
vance from General File.
Rule suspension
The Legislature was instructed to vote on whether or
not to suspend its rules and vote on the bills. But 30 votes
were required to suspend the rules, and Kelly conceded
that he did not have that many supporters. '
So, , with Lt. Gov. Roland Luedtke presiding, Kelly
asked that his motion to reconsider be taken up in place
of the rule suspension proposed by Marvel. Luedtke re
fused, and set up a battle that resulted in Kelly bringing in
his private attorney to interpret the rules of the
Legislature.
. Continued on Page 7
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L '. r. am: - l V . v. -. -if .-. , j ... m ....
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Dairy NrirMkan photo
Sen. Ralph Kelly of Grand Island
c
',f ; Dy lltr.dy E$X End - $ understanding with those gentlemen,- ; governor and approved bl'tlSTfijlvejIht legislature more control and
Reeky Strcnk
The controversial East Campus chiller
contract ?waa the straw that finally broke
the camel's back Bellevue? Senv Frank
Lewis said .Thursday in explaining why he
introduced a resolution calling for legisla
tive study of "the fiscal and budgetary as
pects of NU.
"We need to develop a reasonable
Lewis aaid in reference to the NU Board of
Regents and NU administrators. -
Lewis;was one of two interim atudy r
resolutions Introduced Thursday pertaining
to tiie university and the regents.
This board would establish policy tor
WivComitiuniiy. technical., colleges md
other state colleges.
Legislature's tight
Sen. Dave Newell introduced t
resolution that calls for a study of the
establishment of a "super board of
regents, that would be appointed by the
t - 5
give the legislature more control and pro
vide better coordination of the higher
education system,
"I'm sure that there will be some kind
of study on the university said Newell
. pssarure ngni about chances of hi$ resoiution being
The legislature clearly has the right to snnrnwj 8
make allocations but has no decisions on that two resolutions lre
how that money win be spent after it has p. He added that he expects his reso-
beenappropmted,NeweUsaid; Mm t0.passafterwhich Legisi
He added tiiat.a uper" board would Executive Committee, which Lewis chairs,
- will appoint the right people" to the
study committee,
Lewis said he would expect himself,
the chairman of the Appropriations Com
mittee, Jerome Warner and the chairman of
the Judiciary Committee, William Nichol
to be on the committee.
Extended ordeal
Lewis explained that his resolution is
in response to "a three or four year-long
ordeal," during which the regents have
charged the Legislature with "getting in
volved in their business.
The regents have "made brazen
attempts to circumvent the Legislature's
authority Lewis said.
He offered the chiller contract, which
the regents entered into without assurance
of legislative financing, as one example.
Lewis also said that the regents have
not followed legislative intent" in estab
lishing a retirement age for NU employees
at 65, after the Legislature set that age at
70 for all state employees.
"There is no question they have over
stepped the authority given them by the
State Supreme Court" Lewis said.
Lewis added he wants to be sure spend
ing at NU is consistent with the high
court's ruling that the regents have ulti
mate control of policy at NU, which gives
the Legislature budgetary control.
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