Legislature faces daunting tasks ISSUES from page! Time also promises to be a thorn in the senators’ sides when they create a budget for the state. Final revenue projections will not be available until the end of February or the beginning of April, which puts an additional squeeze on senators who will be bogged down in redistricting woes, Wehrbein said. A final budget is supposed to hit the floor for debate on April 20th, he said. Budget forecasts paint a dreary picture that shows the state being several hundred million dollars in the red, Bruning said. Fueling this budget shortfall, he said, are proposals for increased teacher pay and a request from the University of Nebraska for $50 million more than it received last year. To pay for these increases and to shore up the budget, Bruning said, tlje Legislature will consider several different measures including expanding the sales tax to cover services and possibly relaxing property tax levies. But, he said, most senators are leery about adjusting property taxes so the revenue will most likely come from elsewhere or other government programs will have to be trimmed. Beyond the massive redistricting and budget issues, Wehrbein said the Legislature will also face controversial topics when it debates lowering the blood alcohol content at which drivers are considered legally drunk from .1 to .08. The federal government has mandated that states drop their BAC levels if they want to receive federal money for road maintenance, he said. Wehrbein said the BAC controversy has created intense debate in the past. Wickersham said he anticipates conflicts over the controversial research at the University of Nebraska Medical Center using tissues from aborted fetuses. Last year, he said, several senators voiced intense opposition to the research and prom ised more conflict this year. None of the senators interviewed by the Daily Nebraskan were willing to speculate on how these issues would be resolved. But Bruning said he did know one thing for certain: “There will be many spirited debates.” New senators take over committee seats \ SENATORS from pagel sary experience to navigate through the difficult budget process. But she said new senators with different perspectives also can improve the Legislature’s budget and bills., “New eyes, on the issues are good, too,” Brown said. Freshman dominance also spilled into the process of elect ing committee chairmen. In three of the four competi tive races for committee chair men positions, a veteran sena tor lost to a less-experienced member. Senators are elected to com mittee chairmen positions by a vote of the entire 49-member Legislature. The influential Education Committee, which played host to this year's most intense chair manship battle, fell into the hands of the least-experienced senator. Sen. Ron Raikes of Lincoln, elected to the Legislature in 1997, beat out Sens. Elaine Stuhr of Bradshaw and Nancy Thompson of Papillion who both had more experience under their belts. Raikes saidthe competition for the position was intense and that all the candidates had solid campaigns. Raikes cited his interest and experience in school finance issues, which will be important in this session with teacher pay at the forefront of legislative issues, as a factor that may have tipped the hat his way. With such a divisive issue on the table, Raikes said, his fellow senators also might have elected him because of his moderate stance on the issue. The chairman of the Education Committee, he said, will be in charge of reconciling •the conservative and liberal positions. "A moderate can get a feel for both sides,” he said. As the dust of the committee battles settled, members of the Legislature embarked on the task of introducing this session’s bills. Several key bills have emerged since senators began introducing legislation on Thursday:: ■ Sen. Chris Beutler of Lincoln introduced a bill to rec oncile opposing sides in the debate concerning research at the University of Nebraska Medical Center using tissue from aborted fetuses. LB304 would prohibit groups from selling and trans ferring fetal tissue. The bill also mandates that the Medical Center stop using aborted fetal / tissue as soon as alternative sources have been located. In addition, the bill provides for a system to monitor the use of the tissue. ■ Sen. Pam Redfield of Omaha plans to tackle unwant ed e-mails that clog Internet accounts. Her bill, LB26, would let Internet users sue for damages when unsolicited e-mails or e mail viruses damage their accounts. “We want to stop unsolicited e-mails from jamming boxes full,” she said. Redfield said when these emails shut down systems because of too much volume, they hurt users financially and hinder law enforcement offi cials who need to use the vari ous email systems. ■ Nebraska’s method of exe cution will be changed from electrocution to lethal injection if Sen. Ion Bruning of Sarpy County gets his bill passed. Many courts seemed poised to rule that death by electrocu tion is a cruel and unusual pun ishment, he said. By passing LB62 now, Bruning said, the Legislature will avoid future work. Bruning said he supports the death penalty but believes that electrocution might be unnec essarily painful. “There is no need for extra suffering,” he said. ■ Several bills addressing teacher pay were announced during the last week. The Education Committee introduced a bill that meets all of the recommendations of a Teacher Pay Task Force estab lished by the Legislature last year. LB305’s most far-reaching suggestion is to provide teach ers with salary stipends ranging from $2,000 to $5,000. Raikes, chairman of the Education Committee, said the committee’s bill will be one of many dealing with the issue. ■ Late night beer drinkers will rejoice if a bill from Sen. John Hilgert of Omaha passes. LB231 proposes to allow bars to keep their doors open until 1:30 a.m. instead of 1 a.m. ■ Cell phone users might have to ditch their telephones when driving if a bill introduced by Sen. David Landis of Lincoln is passed. LB42 would mandate that anyone who was using a cell phone when involved in a car accident would be automatical ly held partially responsible for the collision. But,^andis said, courts ^ would examine each situation individually so people involved in accidents that had nothing to do with cell phones would not be forced to hold the guilty card. "We’re looking for a reason able way to address this issue,” he said. Passing a bill isn't as easy as it seems BILLS from pagel it’s heard and voted on by the committee. Committees vote to either pass the bill to General File, kill it or take no action on it. General File is the first time the bill, with amendments, hits the floor for debate by the entire Legislature. In General File - the most crucial step for a bill - legislators can decide whether to pass the bill to Select File, amend it or indefinitely postpone, or kill, the bill. If the bill passes General File status, it is sent to Enrollment and Review to be checked for technical errors. In Select File, the bill is debated by the entire Legislature once again and is either passed, amended or killed. If it passes, it moves to a Final Reading. o, In a Final Reading, the bill is read aloud by the Clerk of the Legislature where it cannot be debated. The governor then has five days to approve the bill, veto it, line-item veto a particular por tion of the bill or do nothing with it. If a bill is vetoed by the gov ernor, senators can override the veto with the support of 30 sen ators. A bill generally becomes Nebraska law three months after the Legislature adjourns unless it has been granted emergency status. There’s not enough time for every bill to be heard on the floor. Because of this, senators are given one bill they can desig nate to receive “priority” status within the first 45 days. Priority bills are the first ones heard on the floor. But not all the legislators’ time is spent debating bills. During an odd-numbered year or during every biennial session, the Legislature gets new senators, prepare^ the state's budget, assigns new com mittee chairmen, and elects a new Speaker of the Legislature. But for now, the events of the next few days are what’s on sen ators minds. Legislators will debate the rules for the legislative session, hear Gov. Mike Johanns’ State of the State Address and continue gaining support for their respective bills within the week. ■ NO APPOINTMENTS NEEDED* 117th OIL * Includes: * •Oil. oil filter, up to 5 qts oil * •Lubrication of zerii fittings I •Check ft fill automatic ■ transmission, power ■ ■ steering, washer fluid. mm •Check ftfM tire pressure I‘Check antifreeze, air filter ■ wiper blades * •Vacuum interior _—. ™ * Environmental Disposal Foe Included | Coupon expires May 31,2001 * ft i a the DAILY NEBRASKAN jj py|m ¥|llf Iflr S^lj| I# rf ill* alvE^llrlrr r ^ ^ || [^fjfJ1®!^ 'm[||J Hy „[1 * 1 jji fj jJ1 J ( Ji j f» J |[j [I J i fl ‘I g l i fjf p! [ (| ' f r| H i 1 1/, i 'll P| h\ !