After the completion
of the 96^ Legislative
session, many
Nebraskans may be left
wondering what exactly got
accomplished.
The big issues were addressed,
but did anything come of it?
allowed on federally recognized American-Indian
reservations in the state.
The resolution never made it out of the General
Affairs Committee.
But not everything monumental failed, as sena
tors took some steps to help education.
Members of the Legislature passed LB 1003,
which will establish an education savings plan for
parents who want to help their children and grand
children go to college.
Sen. Ed Schrock of Elm Creek introduced the bill
to help his grandchildren go to college, he said.
have gone to renovate Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery
because of a veto by Gov. Mike Johanns.
Senators passed a bill that would have given $3.6
million to the Sheldon over the next three years.
Johanns vetoed it.
Lincoln Sen. LaVon Crosby said she was dis
heartened at the governor’s veto.
“I was very disappointed and hurt when the gov
ernor stabbed me with the red pen,” she said.
The university also lost out on health care this ses
sion.
I
Senators discussed the abolition ot the death
penalty and state lottery -both significant issues - but
neither bill made it anywhere.
Another bill aimed at the death penalty, which
would have changed the form of execution from elec
trocution to lethal injection, also was postponed
indefinitely.
Sen. DiAnna Schimek of Lincoln attacked anoth
er big issue by sponsoring and prioritizing a resolu
tion that would have allowed Nebraska’s voters to
decide whether casino-style gaming would be
Contributors will be able to put money in an
account for future students from the time they are
bom until their 17th birthdays.
Those investing in the savings plan will receive
10 percent of the total money deposited in the account
back for the student who attends school in Nebraska
to use.
“Other colleges are recruiting here, and I want to
keep students in Nebraska,” Schrock said in January.
Despite efforts to help education, the University
3f Nebraska-Lincoln lost out on money that would
rtao me Din passed, uinl would have been given
$ 1.25 million to help employees pay for health care.
Because the bill failed, UNL students could see
an increase in student fees.
In the past, student fees have seen an increase
because of a decrease in state money received.
Even though monumental legislation wasn’t
passed this session, senators will be looking into
many of the issues this summer through various task
forces designed to offer solutions.
- Veronica Daehn and Jill Zeman
Bills calling for an increase in teacher pay and banning aborted
fetal cell research in state institutions grew quickly and died quicker
Despite efforts in the Legislature this session, edu
cators across the state continue to lag behind other states
in teacher pay.
Senators failed to pass a bill that would have
increased public-school teachers’ salaries by a collective
$72 million.
But they did appoint a task force to study the issue.
Come Oct. 1, the task force’s deadline, there could
be relief in sight for the dwindling number of Nebraska
MiKe warren/un
PEG TRUMBLE (front), Laurie Fraser and Mary
Herrington, who all work at Lincoln East, listen to
the opening remarks made by Duane Obermier, pres
ident of NSEA, at a rally Jan. 31 for a bill that would
give the state’s teachers a raise.
-TEACHER PAY —
by Veronica Daehn
teachers.
Hastings Sen. Ardyce Bohlke is chairwoman of the
task force that will begin work June 8.
She said the group already has enough information
on teacher pay.
They need to focus on exactly what solution to offer,
she said.
“I want the task force to focus on new directions, not
just the rehashing of old material,” said Bohlke, chair
woman of the Education Committee.
In January, Bohlke introduced a bill that would have
given Nebraska public teachers a collective $72 million
pay raise over two years starting in 2002.
Another bill would have set aside $20 million this
year for a teacher-pay boost.
Education Committee members failed to pass the
bills out of committee and onto the floor for debate. But
they did pass LB 1399, the bill that created the task force.
Committee members added two provisions to the
bill. One would have given nationally certified teachers
a $7,500 annual bonus.
Nebraska currently has eight certified teachers.
The other would have provided for a loan forgive
ness program for teachers who work in Nebraska.
In floor debate, senators killed the part of the bill that
would have given bonuses to nationally certified teach
ers.
Gov. Mike Johanns vetoed the loan forgiveness pro
gram in his crusade to balance the budget.
But the task force remains, and Bohlke said she
expects a workable solution to come out of it.
“We are going to do something about teacher pay,”
Those young people are
being hired away by... a
bunch of other states that
pay more
Jim Griess
Nebraska State Education Association executive director
she said. “We have the statistics. We know we rank low.”
Jim Griess, executive director of the Nebraska State
Education Association, said there are 10 meetings
scheduled throughout the summer until late September.
By Oct. 1, the task force will draft a final proposal
and meet with the Education Committee, Griess said. —
There is a definite problem with teacher pay in the state,
he said.
“We’ve got to address the issue of teacher salaries,”
Griess said. “Those young people are being hired away
by ... a bunch of other states that pay more than we do.”
Nebraska is not only losing new teachers, Griess
said, but currently employed ones as well.
“There are teachers in the middle of their careers
who want to plan for retirement or send their kids to col
lege,” he said.
Griess said the Education Committee will tour the
state in late October to gather more feedback omthe task
force’s proposal.
-FETAL CELL RESEARCH
news analysis by Jill Zeman
After riding the ups and downs of
Nebraska’s debate this year about the aborted
fetal tissue research conducted at UNMC,
many citizens are left with one question.
What happens now?
It has turned into a race against the clock for
University of Nebraska Medical Center
researchers, as promises of a new legislative bill
banning the research have already surfaced.
The research is aimed at Alzheimer’s and
Parkinson’s diseases and possibly could lead to
new treatments.
Dr. Sam Cohen, UNMC chairman and pro
fessor of pathology and microbiology, said the
search for alternative sources is well under way,
although no breakthroughs have been made.
Researchers are looking at the possibility of
using tissue from rapid autopsies, which need
to be conducted two to three hours following
death, and miscarriage tissues.
Like the aborted fetal tissue research, both
procedures require consent forms, Cohen said.
No one has established a methodology for
using miscarriage tissue as a replacement for
aborted fetal tissue, so to pioneer that would be
an outstanding achievement, he said.
Since late November, activists have
stormed the political arena by declaring their
support or abhorrence of the research by writ
ing letters to senators, making phone calls, stag
ing demonstrations and testifying in legislative
committee hearings.
But in late March, much of the activism
came to a halt when Sen. John Hilgert of
Omaha withdrew his bill that would have
banned research using aborted fetal tissue at
state institutions.
The bill, highly touted by many of the state’s
anti-abortion groups, already had been through
a lot.
Members of the Judiciary Committee spent
more than five hours on Feb. 23 listening to
individuals praise, condemn or provide infor
mation about the bill. After all that, they were
unable to agree on the issue, voting 4-4, which
left the bill deadlocked in committee.
Hilgert and Sen. Kermit Brashear of
Omaha filed a motion Mar. 14 to pull the bill
from committee, which requires 25 votes; 28
senators voted in support.
It was necessary for the bill’s supporters to
pull the bill, otherwise it would have been killed
in committee.
The bill’s advancement to the general file
spawned concern from Omaha Sen, Ernie
Chambers, who vowed to stall the bill with an
eight-hour filibuster, which, because of the
short 60-day legislative session, could have
spelled disaster for supporters of the bill.
Hilgert, faced with Chambers’ promised
filibuster and the uncertainty of having the sup
port of the 30 senators needed to advance the
bill to the second round of debate, abruptly
withdrew his bill March 28, which delighted
defenders of the research, stunned anti-abortion
groups and surprised much of the public.
After withdrawing his bill, Hilgert said Sen.
Dwite Pedersen of Elkhom planned on intro
ducing similar legislation next session if abort
ed fetal tissue is still used for research at
UNMC. So, for now, the debate has taken a hia
tus until the next legislative session.
Now, after all the time spent by emotion
ridden protesters, activists and senators dis
cussing and analyzing the issue, there seems to
be more “what ifs” than solid facts.
—-----1
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