Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 17, 1996)
Drunken driving bill advances By Ted Taylor Senior Reporter The Legislature’s Transportation Committee advanced a bill Tuesday to keep drunken drivers from slipping through legal loopholes. Law enforce ~ . . . Iment officials, ac Legislature tivists and state of iqc » ficials were on hand ® ® ^ to testi fy in favor of LB9JV, which would make it a criminal offense for drivers to refuse to take a breath, urine or blood test. J The bill would also snorten tne advisement mat law cnformenct officers are required to read before drivers are given a blood alcohol test. The bill, introduced by Sen. Doug Kri stensen of Mindcn, was priorit i zed Tuesday by Sen. LaVon Crosby of Lincoln. Mike Hybl, the Transportation Committee’s legal counsel, said the bill would make law enforcement of ficials’ jobs easier by shortening the advisement they must first read. “Right now it is very broad and very vague,” he said. “We are taking it out of the broad outline of conse quences and putting it into specific language.” Kristensen proposed that the ad visement be read to individuals when they apply for drivers’ licenses, as well as at the time of arrest. Diane Riibe, the public policy liai son for Nebraska Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, agreed, saying too many cases were lost due to unneces sary complications in the current law. “By adding the advisement lan guage to the application for an operator’s license,” she said, “we can bring a simple, yet fair approach to giving that information to anyone who would drink and drive.” Riibe also called LB939 “a sound and needed attempt to clean up the state’s drunken driving laws.” The current law requires officials "These people are intoxicated. They can’t even perform a nine step walk. ” SGT. JEFF ELLIOT Fremont Police to read a lengthy advisement before a driver undergoes a blood-alcohol test at the time of arrest. State law enforcement agencies are allowed to use advisement forms they feel are sufficient with the law — some as long as five pages. Fremont Police Sgt. Jeff Elliot told the committee that even a two-page advisement was too long and difficult to understand. “These people are intoxicated,” he said. “They can’t even perform a nine step walk. “They wouldn’t be able to under stand it even ifthey were sober,” he said. Tax Continued from Page 1 intended it to promote general discus sion on a complicated issue. Debate was too broad for some. Sen. David Bernard-Stevens of North Platte called the debate on the resolution a “love feast” and said if legislators were going to do some thing about property taxes, they should get started. Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, who said he ignored Tuesday’sdebate for a reason, said the resolution was “one of the worst uses of legislative time” he had seen. Property taxes are local taxes based on valuations of personal property. They arc used to pay for local and county government, such as county courts, school districts and law en forcement. The property tax issue has been at the forefront of the Legislature for decades, but it has heated up recently with the advent of several citizen pe titions that would restrict or repeal property taxes entirely. Tuesday’s resolution said it was the goal of the Legislature to pass legislation this session that did the following: • Restructured public services and t he financ ing of those services through levy caps, consolidation of services, equalization aid and fiscal responsi bility. • Promoted greater cooperation among political subdivisions, such as On-line Continued from Page 1 sions in a timely manner,” she said. “In the past they had to rely on mail to get information.” And, Valenziano said, after wait ing for the proper information, con stituents could find they were too late to participate in the legislative pro cess. Although Valenziano has not yet received feedback on the service, she said site users would be able to send e mail to senators via the web site within the next couple of days. Sen. Kate Witek of Omaha said she was thrilled with the web site, and she wanted to see it expanded. “I would like to see complete ac cess — minute-by-minute so people can see the politics that go on here.” She said the web site would make senators’ jobs easier and would do nothing but positive things for both her and her constituents. “Knowledge is what you need to be informed,” she said. “The more ac cess you have to the information, the better decisions you’ll make.” Research gave him a future Relief measures As public hearings on property tax relief measures are set to start in the Nebraska Legislature, three citizen petitions are waiting for Ne braska voters — and driving legis lators to act on property tax relief. Senators began hashing out some of the bigger issues in what many called the key issue of the session Tuesday. Several initiatives from sena tors and the governor are expected, but for now, the three petitions are the only finished documents. They are: • The Citizens Amendment to Reduce Property Taxes. Organized by the Nebraska State Education Association and the Nebraska Farm Bureau Federation, the amendment would limit property tax levies and result in an estimated $400 million reduction in property tax revenue. •The Property Tax Relief Amendment. Organized by Stan Dobrovolny, an Atkinson rancher, the amendment would eliminate property taxes altogether and re sult in a $1.4 billion reduction in property tax revenue. • The Nebraskans For Tax Re lief Amendment. Organized by Ed Jaksha of Omaha and Paul Nelson of O’Neill, the amendment would cap local spending and tax levies and result in an $800 million reduc tion in property tax revenue. encouraging school mergers. • Phased in levy caps that would still allow for effective law enforce ment, prosecution and defense, cor rections and health care, while cap ping levies at no more than $2 for every $100 valuation. • Left general tax increases as a last resort for covering property tax relief revenue loss. Sen. Doug Kristensen of Minden said the Legislature had three choices when it came to dealing with the goal of a $400 million property tax reduc tion: raise state income and sales taxes, expand both of those tax bases or drastically reduce spending. Those three options, Kristensen said, would leave the Legislature with rai sing taxes, cutt ing government ser vices and taking away some local con trol as its remaining options. Kristensen said to senators that if property taxes were as big an issue as they thought, they would have to do one or all of the three. If they were not prepared to do that, he said they were not serious about property tax relief. Sen. Chris Beutler of Lincoln tried to amend the resolution twice, but he failed on the first try and withdrew the second amendment. The Beutler amendments would have made the phasing-in of levy caps a 10-year process, set reductions at 5 cents per year and required the rev enue and appropriations committees to report yearly progress on property tax relief. Metromail Corporation has immediate openings for part-time Media Input Specialists working Monday through Friday, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. with flexible hours. •Job responsibilities include compiling data obtained through various sources, verifying and comparing data against existing sources and making any changes. •Qualified applicants must have a high school diploma or equivalent, the ability to analyze variable data, make accurate decisions, and the ability to type 30 words per minute with minimal error. Working conditions are in an office environment. Applicants may apply be submitting a resume and/or completing an employment application. If you desire to work with our Team, please apply in person: Metromail, an R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company 949 West Bond Lincoln, NE 68521 EOE • M/F/H/V • women, minorities, and disabled are encouraged to apply mi big 1 ; i -> CALL - l TO ORDER 4.J |_gfe HO N 17th. St. FREE DELIVERY IN $0 MINUTES11