Budget cuts concern Nelson
By Kathryn A. Ratliff
Staff Reporter
During a conference call Mon
day, Gov. Ben Nelson said he
wanted to ensure that the federal
budget was not balanced at the
expense of state governments.
Nelson has been in Washing
ton, D.C. attending the Winter
Meeting of the National Gover
nors’ Association since last Satur
day. The budget was among a va
riety of issues including health care,
welfare reform and the Mexican
loan guarantee discussed by gov-'
emors across the country and Presi
dent Clinton on Monday.
Nelson said he supported Con
gress’ need to balance the budget,
but not on the backs of state gov
ernments and not without state
decision-making.
“States have got to be equal
partners in the process,” Nelson
said. “The day and age where these
decisions are made in Washington
is over.”
Congress doesn’t want to deal
with tax increases, he said. And in
balancing the federal budget, costs
are shifted to the state level. Cuts
come directly toward issues that
affect the states, such as welfare
and Medicaid contributions,
Nelson said.
“That’s not a balanced budget,”
Nelson said. “We won’t have our
budgets busted.”
Nelson said it was important to
recognize that a balance of power
between federal and state govern
ments was important to balancing
the budget.
A balance of power will ensure
that states are equal partners, that
people know how their budget will
be balanced and to what extent,
Nelson said. It will also ensure that
state governments’ powers and
budgets are protected and un
harmed from Congress’ attempts
to reduce the federal budget, he
said.
“We don’t want the train to
leave the station without the gov
emors,” Nelson said. “There is state
money to be saved.”
Concerning welfare, Nelson
said the reform that passed needed
the maximum level of flexibility
to ensure that as many people as
possible were eligible. States must
have the opportunity to make deci
sions at the local level, he said.
Nelson said it seemed that
Clinton would offer that flexibil
ity.
Regarding the Mexican loan
guarantee, Nelson said it must be
as risk-free as possible so the
American people didn’t pick up
the costs. No decisions were re
garding a 1995 farm bill, he said,
although there are growing con
cerns with agriculture.
Nelson will participate in a dis
cussion with House Speaker Newt
Gingrich concerning confidence
relations between Washington and
the states. He also plans to testify
on Capitol Hill regarding water
legislation and highway funding.
Hearings
Continued from Page 1
(Casady’s trial is scheduled to begin
March 20.) “Once you have an in
dictment, things change.”
Endacott said only the testimony
was secret, but their knowledge go
ing in was not shielded by the oath
and could be explored.
Kauffman said after the hearing
that the case before Endacott was
rare for district court. Few cases are
brought by grand jury indictments,
he said, and there is no body of case
law established.
Issues being raised in the court
room, he said, have not been fully
addressed even by the Nebraska Su
preme Court.
Kauffman and Bartle both said
they planned to proceed with Casady’s
trial date. If motions delay the hear
ing, however, Endacott’s schedule is
so full, the delay could be substan
tial___
Resolution
Continued from Page 1
University of Nebraska over the next
two years.
The Legislature should make edu
cation its top priority, Loudon said.
“I think the state of Nebraska
should not have a higher priority than
to educate its young people, whether
it’s K-12 or higher education.”
Student leaders also presented their
colleges’.own concerns about a de
crease in funding during the press
conference; they also showed their
support for the resolution.
■— -- -
Justin Peterson, student body presi
dent at the University of Nebraska at
Omaha, said many non-traditional
students would be affected by budget
cuts.
Scott Krichau, student body presi
dent at Peru State College, said a 20
percent increase in the number of
freshmen enrolled this year contrib
uted to a shortage of faculty and staff.
Krichau said the resolution showed
that every college in Nebraska had
common problems.
“No one will say that one is better
than the other,” he said. “We all need
money.”
Bills address kegs, bars’ closing time
By Matthew Waite
Senior Reporter
If two bills that were stalled in a
Legislature committee Monday make
it to law, bars could be open an hour
longer and there would be less paper
work when people bought a keg of
beer.
LB468, proposed by Sen. Paul
Hartnett of Bellevue, would elimi
nate provisions of Nebraska’s liquor
laws requiring that kegs be regis
tered. The laws also require the buyer
to provide a drivers license and a
signature.
The law, which was created in the
1994 legislative session, made the
kegs traceable to the buyer. The pro
vision was to act as a deterrent to
adults buying minors kegs for par
ties.
Testifying before the General Af
fairs Committee, Hartnett said the
intent of the bill had failed.
“Although the intent of the keg
registration law is good, the reality is
that it is not a deterrent,” he said. “It
sounds like a good idea but I don’t
think it is.”
But Sgt. David Friend of the
Omaha Police Department’s Project
STOP disagreed.
Testifying against the bill, Friend
said that his unit, a grant-funded force
that specializes in preventing minors
from using alcohol, had used the reg
istration to catch adults buying kegs
for minors.
“No one claims responsibility
when the police show up at a keg
party,” he told the committee.
Dianne Riibe, a representative of
Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said
she was opposed to the bill and
pleaded with committee members to
give the law more time.
The committee took no action on
the bill.
LB217, sponsored by State Sen.
Tim Hall, would give cities the op
tion of allowing the sale of alcohol to
go on an hour longer than the state
mandated 1 a.m. closing.
Hall, who has sponsored a similar
bill for several years, said the bill
would give the decision for bars to
stay open to the local government.
Hall’s district, which encompasses
downtown Omaha from 24th street to
the Missouri River, has the largest
number of liquor licenses in the state
within its borders. Hall said, how
ever, that bars’ business was being
hurt by Iowa bars a mere 10 minutes
away that stayed open until 2 a.m.
“There is a competition issue,” he
said. Iowa gambling and gaming
could magnify the bars’ losses when
casinos open in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
No one testified before the com
mittee in opposition to the bill, but
two letters opposed the bill. The com
mittee voted 2-2 on the measure, but
that fell short of the required five
votes needed to make a decision.
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Amy Hopfensperger
p. Daily Nebraskan January" <4
Account Executive on the Month
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| MACARONI AU FROMAGE
(EAT WITH GUSTO FOR ABOUT 5lg PER SERVING.)
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1 cup sharp Cheddar (grated) 3 tbs flour
1/2 stick butter 1 tsp pepper
1 tsp Worcestershire (if you like) 1 tsp salt
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minutes or until al dente. Drain. In a separate pot, melt
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Stir well. Smother macaroni. Serves 4.
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