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April 4, 1990 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Vol. 89 No,428£^)
Reconsideration successful
9 bills meet deadline, advance to second round
By Victoria Ayotte
Senior Reporter
With just enough votes, 30, the Ne
braska Legislature on Tuesday voted
to suspend the rules and advanced
nine bills, one of them deaiing with abortion, to
a second round of consideration.
Tucsday was the last day for bills on the first
round of consideration to ■ ■■
be advanced to a second
round of debate. Only three
days remain in the legis
lative session.
senators usually ad
vance bills twice before
voting on their fate in final
reading.
State Sen. Bernice La
bcdz of Omaha moved to
suspend the rules to change
the speaker’s agenda so that the nine bills could
be advanced at once without further debate,
motions or amendments. The nine bills had
been scheduled for separate consideration.
Labedz said she was worried that senators
wouldn’t have enough time to consider the bills
if they were not advanced together. She said
the bills arc important and should be given a
chance.
Several controversial bills were involved:
• LB976, stiffening drug penalties.
•LB854, requiring a woman planning to
have an abortion to sign a statement saying she
knows the consequences of her decision. After
signing the statement, the woman would have
to wait 24 hours before having the abortion.
•LB 1062, authorizing drug or alcohol test
ing of applicants for employment.
• LB866, authorizing a reduction in prop
erty tax valuations.
Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha provided
the main opposition to Labedz’ motion.
“The bill that is the underlying reason for
this is LB854, and we all know this,” Cham
bers said.
Such a motion would be4 ‘just putting off to
another day what ought to be fought here
today,” he said.
Sen. Loran Schmit of Bellwood supported
the motion, but said “it isn’t really going to
make much difference” because senators also
will be pressed for time when the bills come up
for second-round debate. The argument that
the bills are very important isn’t as much of a
consideration, he said.
“All bills are important just as all babies are
beautiful,” Schmit said, defending all sena
tors’ priority bills. “I can place no higher
priority than on protecting those who cannot
protect themselves.”
The motion is “just one more base” and
does not constitute a home run, he said. Schmit
said he wanted the bill to advance directly to
final reading.
Sen. Howard Lamb of Anselmo said the
motion is proper because Speaker Bill Barrett
of Lexington had a motion up for the afternoon
that would suspend amendments, motions and
debate on a series of bills on final reading. That
motion included the controversial LB 1059,
dealing with school financing.
Barrett said, however, that he did not see the
association between this motion and his on
final reading.
“My purpose in life is to keep the agenda
moving,” Barrett said, and senators already
had debated the bills on final reading.
Sen. Dan Lynch of Omaha supported the
motion.
“This is a hell of a way to do business,
obviously, but I’m going to support it,” Lynch
said. “I might as well join in the stupidity along
with everyone else ...”
Sen. Jacklyn Smith of Hastings said she
wasn’t willing to go along with the stupidity.
The Legislature should not follow bad leg
islative procedures, such as Friday’s filibuster,
she said.
‘‘I haven’t been very proud to be a member
of this body the past few days,” Smith said. “I
am ashamed of us.”
Chambers said, “The abortion issue has
tinged and embittered everything about this
session.”
The motion, which needed 30 votes to be
successful, originally was defeated with only
28 votes. Labed/. moved for reconsideration
and was successful. The motion then passed
30-16.
Chambers moved to again reconsider the
vote, but was unsuccessful.
The Legislature then considered the motion
to advance the nine bills to select file.
“We’re down to the muscle and the bone”
of the issue, Chambers said. The Legislature’s
action in approving the motion would be “not
illegal, but irresponsible.”
Schmit urged senators to vote their convic
tions. On a 30-15 vote, they advanced the bills.
Senator’s motion
suspends rules
to break logjam
By Roger Price
Staff Reporter
nhe Nebraska Legislature voted
again to suspend the rules
Tuesday afternoon to “break
the logjam” that earlier filibusters
over abortion and school financing
have caused.
Speaker Bill Barrett of Lexington
moved to suspend the rules to allow
final consideration of 20 bills without
amendments or debate.
Barrett said he made the motion to
keep bills moving in the legislative
process.
AH the bills covered in the motion
had been debated and amended twice
on the floor of the legislature, Barrett
said.
Barrett said he was concerned about
this session and the entire legislative
process breaking down.
“This is a chance to partially put
the system back together,” he said.
Slate Sen. Ernie Chambers of
Umaha opposed suspending tne rules
because he said some of the bills
affected by the motion need addi
tional consideration.
Sen. Rod Johnson of Sutton said
the Legislature is “playing fast and
loose with the rules.”
Johnson said the motion was a
result of senators starting to get nerv
ous as they “waste away the time”
remaining in the session.
Sen. Howard Lamb of Anselmo
said that although he supported sus
pending the rules in the morning ses
sion, he was opposed to Barrett’s
motion.
Lamb said bills advanced out ol
general file still are debated two more
times, and problems can be corrected.
Final reading, he said, is the last chance
senators have to correct problems.
The morning suspension allowed
nine bills on general file, the first
round of consideration to be advanced
to select file, the second round of
consideration, without debate or
amendments.
Barrett’s motion provided for 20
bills on final reading to be considered
individually without debate or amend
ments.
Once a bill is passed out of final
reading, it is either signed or vetoed
by the governor.
Barrett’s motion to suspend the
See SUSPEND on 3
David Fahleaon/Daily Nebraskan
UNL junior Phillip Walton examines his pickup Thursday mornincj after hitting a motorcycle on 17th and R streets.
Kevin Coulson, tne rider of the motorcycle, was taken to Lincoln General Hospital. Coulson, 36, was conscious and not
seriously injured, said Bruce Craig, a driver for Eastern Paramedic Ambulance service.
The 1982 Chevrolet pickup was making a left turn from 17th Street when it struck Coulson’s 1982 Kawasaki, which
stopped in the eastbound left turn lane on R Street.
Walton said he turned the corner too short while watching for other traffic and hit the motorcycle.
“I saw the traffic coming through the light and didn’t see him,” Walton said.
Officials work to increase gasohol use atUNL
By Todd Neeley
Staff Reporter_
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
officials are working to in
crease gasohol use in the uni
versity’s state vehicles, said Ray
Coffey, UNL business manager.
Coffey said for the “past few
months” he has been encouraging
university employees to use gasohol
while traveling on official business.
In addition, the university will
eliminate all tanks containing fuel
without added alcohol at its pumps on
City Campus. One pump of regular
unleaded gasoline will be left on East
Campus for older vehicles and agri
culture equipment, Coffey said.
Gasohol should be used in state
vehicles that were made no earlier
than 1985, Coffey said.
Older vehicles and agriculture
equipment on campus can use gaso
hoi, he said, but they were not made
to bum the fuel and it isn’t recom
mended.
Because Nebraska’s economy is
based on agriculture,Coffey said, it is
important to use the state’s resources.
See GAS AH OL on 5
