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James McFarland
James McFarland says if he were
elected governor, he would seek to
change the state’s philosophy for pro
moting education and economic
development
Tax incentives have mostly failed
to lure large
corporations to
Nebraska, he
said. These cor
porations have
shied away
from Nebraska
not because of
tax policies, he
said, but
because the
state lacks the
highly skilled, technologically adept
workforce needed in today’s economy.
Thus, the Democratic gubernato
rial hopeful said, the state should
focus on retaining its brightest stu
dents and developing a workforce
with strong technology skills.
“We’re having a mass loss of one
of our most valuable resources - our
college graduates,” he said. “Half our
graduates leave the state. That’s a
great loss of talent.”
McFarland, a Lincoln state sena
tor from 1986 to 1991, said he sup
ports scholarships and forgivable
loan programs like those promoted
by Gov. Ben Nelson in recent years.
McFarland said he favored an “R
and R” approach to tax and spending
issues: reform of the tax system and
restraint in spending.
‘Taxes are too high, aft«l property,
; taxes are the worst,” he s&M»?Slskte
spending is increasing at an alarming
| rate.” j -
He supports the tax cuts passed
by this year’s Legislature. He said he
favors a homestead exemption on the
first $50,000 of property owned by
senior citizens.
He said he was opposed to a peti
tion drive that would place a constitu
tional limit on state spending, calling
it an “overreaction” by the business
community.
There are other ways to limit state
spending, he said, including statutory
limits. A constitutional limit would
be too inflexible in a crisis situation,
he said.
McFarland opposes the construc
tion of a new prison expected to cost
the state more than $70 million. He
favors diverting nonviolent offenders
info community corrections programs.
“We need to punish criminals,
not taxpayers,” he said.
He said schools must seek
greater efficiency in the face of lower
property tax levies. It is a mistake, he
said, to always equate education with
dollars provided.
McFarland, who played football
for the Nebraska Cornhuskers in
1968 and 1969, also said with a laugh
that he supported lowering student
football ticket prices and again seat
ing students at mid-field.
' -f $ . ; p '
Bill Hoppner
B ill Hoppner has billed himself as
the candidate for governor who repre
sents all Nebraskans, not just the busi
ness interests of Omaha and Lincoln.
Hoppner, a Democrat, has
opposed a petition drive seeking to
impose a consti
tutional cap on
the growth of
state spending.
If the cap is
passed,
Hoppner said,
the Legislature
will be unable
to provide state
funding when it
Hoppner is needed to
ensure that education in Nebraska
remains strong.
All oi us favor reducing the
growth of state spending,” he said.
“But what I’m hearing on the cam
paign trail is that Nebraskans want tax
relief, but not in a way that will risk our
ability to provide quality education”
Although Hoppner opposes state
spending lids because of their possi
ble effect on education, he supports
local levy lids as a means of property
tax relief.
Hoppner has expressed opposi
tion to the activities of the Business
Leaders Summit, a group of state
business leaders involved in die peti
tion drive. The group has also sought
further tax. cuts arjtd-incentives for ••
business grcKvth-in Nebraska. ^
Hoppner emphasizes that all ..
Nebraskans will have a place at the
table in a Hoppner administration,
and has said his campaign is about
“the values we all share as
Nebraskans.”
those values, he said, were
ingrained in him during his child
hood in Pender, a small town in
northeast Nebraska, and through his
business experience with a trucking
company.
Hoppner has been through a
gubernatorial campaign before. In
1990, he lost an agonizingly close
primary race to Ben Nelson, who was
eventually elected. When the results
of several recounts emerged,
Hoppner had lost by just 42 votes.
Hoppner was an aide during the
gubernatorial and US. Senate terms
of James Exon and Bob Kerrey.
“Those experiences have pre
pared me to be a very good gover
nor,” he said, “at a time when
Nebraska is going to be making some
fundamental decisions about the
future they want to build.”
Compiled by Senior Reporter
Brian Carlson
■' ; ■ ; .
John Breslow
State Auditor John Breslow
says government spending and
taxing are out of control, and hev
wants to use the governor’s office
to reverse this trend. “Government
is overbloated, it spends too much
iponey and it
overregu
lates,” he said.
Breslow, a
Republican
gubernatorial
candidate, has
served as state
auditor since
1991. On the
campaign
trail, he fre
quently men
tions the more than 5,000 success
mi audits he has conducted spot
lighting cases of waste and fraud
in state government.
Breslow says he will continue
these effort^ as governor. By con
tinuing to weed out government
waste and search for greater effi
ciency, he says, state government
can provide citizens with a signif
icant tax break.
His plan calls for a 5 percent
reduction in state spending each
year and a 25 percent property tax
cut.
The plan, of course, must be
approved by the Legislature,
which has balked at some of Gov.
Ben Nelson’s property tax cut pro
posals.
But Breslow insists he can get
the job done.
' “The most important thing we
neejrfsfbold leadership,” he said.
.“(Hie 25 percent tax cut) will be a
mandate.
“Members of the Legislature
will know that if they don’t sup
port it, they won’t be in the
Legislature,” he said.
Breslow also said quality edu
cation in Nebraska would be safe
under his tax and spending reduc
tions.
He said education funding
would be a priority, and he said his
plan would provide $128 million
to schools.
Spending cuts would be
achieved by forcing state entities
to operate more efficiently, he
said.
Breslow also said he supports
tougher crime measures. He
would increase the size of the
State Patrol and seek to make
prison sentences more difficult for
inmates.
Breslow, the millionaire owner
of Linweld Inc., said his experi
ence as a businessman sets him
apart from gubernatorial con
tenders who are “career politi
cians.”
Jon Christensen
v, U.S. Rep. Jon Christensen says
his battle for tax relief amid the
“lion’s den” of Washington has
prepared him well to be the state’s
next governor.
The Republican gubernatorial
hopeful, who represents the 2nd
District in the U.S. House of
Representatives, said state taxing
and spending
are too high.
Families
should be
allowed to
keep more of
what they
make, he said.
“I’ve
always said
I’m going to
Christensens fight for the
family budget
more than for the federal budget,”
he said, a philosophy he said he
would apply to the state’s budget
as governor.
Christensen supports a peti
tion drive now circulating that
would limit the growth of state
spending to just more than 2 per
cent annually.
He said as governor he would
seek to double the 5 percent
income tax reduction made per
manent by the Legislature this
year. He also supports making
permanent a 10 percent sales tax
reduction which the 1998
Legislature passed for a period of
one year.
Once spending caps are imple
mented, Christensen said, govern
ment must take a close look at its
.spending and. find ^ays to be
more efficient.
urm going to ask everybody
to do a little bit more with a little
bit less,” he said.
Nevertheless, Christensen
said, the goals of less taxing and
spending are not incompatible
with a sustained commitment to
quality education in Nebraska.
The beauty of my plan,” he
said, is that individual school dis
tricts still will be able to hold local
elections to override state
imposed levy lids which in 2001
will drop from $1.10 per $ 100 val
uation to $1.
Christensen also said he would
seek to ensure that at least 90 per
cent of state educational funding
covers the direct costs of educat
ing students.
“We’ve got to do a better job of
getting dollars into the classroom
and out of the bureaucracy,” he
said.
Christensen is now serving his
second term in Congress.
Mike Johanns
Lincoln Mayor Mike Johanns
says that while other candidates’
plans for tax and spending cuts are
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mere theory, his conservative fiscal
policies have been put into prac- ^
j:
j Johanns, a
Republican
gubernatorial i
hopeful, said
he has reduced
property tax -
rates in *
Lincoln each !,
last four
years and
improved gov
Johanns effi
ciency under a
local spending lid.
In a GOP field consisting of
three candidates calling for
reduced spending and taxes,
Johanns said, this experience is
what sets him apart.
“The difference is I’ve done it,”
he said. “It’s not about what I want
to do; it’s about what I’ve done.”^
Johanns supports a proposed
constitutional amendment to limit
the growth of state spending, say
ing state government should be
subjected to lids just as local gov
ernments are.
“Spending lids in government
are not a bad thing,” he said. “It
forces government to choose its
priorities.”
For instance, Johanns said, he
found a way to add 56 police offi
cers to the Lincoln Police
Department despite being under a
lid.
And Johanns said educational
quality can be preserved as state
spending and taxes are reduced,
although he admitted it will pose a
challenge to lawmakers.
“It can be done,” he said. “I’ve
done it.”
Johanns also said strengthen
ing the state’s workforce and
encouraging retention of the state’s
top students will be of critical
importance to the state’s economic
future.
He supports scholarship and
loan programs to encourage bright
students to attend college and work
in Nebraska, and said the state
should recruit outstanding students
“with the same aggressive attitude
that we recruit a top football play
er.’”
Johanns supports the enact
ment of a permanent income tax
cut and further cuts once spending
has been reduced. He favors the
elimination of unfunded state man
dates on local governments as a
means of reducing property taxes.
Johanns served as Lancaster
County Commissioner from 1982
to 1986. He was a member of the
Lincoln City Council from 1989 to
1991 and has served as mayor since
his election in 1991.
Compiled by Senior Reporter
Brian Carlson
Governor’s race most expensive yet
■ Republican candidates lead
Democrats in fund-raising and
campaign expenditures.
By Todd Anderson
Assignment Reporter
When the second round of campaign
finance reports are submitted Monday, John
Breslow still could top the list of campaign
spenders in the 1998 governor’s election.
This year’s gubernatorial campaign has
been the most expensive in Nebraska history,
and past reports show that the Republican can
didates lead the Democrats in fund-raising
and campaign expenditures.
According to reports submitted to the
Department of Accountability and Disclosure,
the Breslow campaign raised more than
$195,000 between Jan. 1 and April 7.
Of almost 160 private cash donations for
more than $100, the largest was for $25,000.
He also contributed $375,400 to.his own
campaign during that period and borrowed
$625,000.
Lincoln Mayor Mike Johanns raised more
than $235,000 in campaign contributions and
contributed $125,000 to his own campaign,
including a $100,000 loan.
The Nebraska State Education Association
donated $15,000 to the Johanns for Governor
campaign, topping the list of public donors. -
Rep. Jon Christensen received more than
$60,000 from the Amway Corporation, his
former employer. It was followed by First
Bank of Nebraska, which gave nearly
$20,000, and Ready Mix Concrete of Omaha,
which donated $ 15,000.
Christensen also reported his campaign
received nearly $530,000 from private dona
tions.
Democratic candidate Jim McFarland
received the least amount of campaign money,
with just under $18,000 in campaign dona
tions.
The Bill Hoppner for Governor campaign
raised more than $125,000 in cash donations,
including a $15,000 donation from the NSEA
and $15,000 from the Nebraska State
Transportation Political Education League.
Candidates are required by law to submit
reports to the state government detailing all
campaign contributions and spending.
An annual report was submitted by all can
didates for 1997 as well as the latest spread
sheet covering Jan. 1 through April 7.