February 4, 2012

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Gov. Heineman says state will wait on health insurance exchange (AUDIO)

February 1, 2012 By

Gov. Dave Heineman insists Nebraska won’t default to the federal government in creating a state health insurance exchange, but the governor tells Nebraska Radio Network he wants to wait until the legal status of the federal health care law is determined.

In his State of the State address, Heineman declared that the state is moving forward with planning and designing a state health insurance exchange. He stated the state has worked hard for the past two years on that portion of the federal health care overhaul. Heineman asserted “…Nebraska will not default to the federal government regarding a health insurance exchange.”

Heineman, during an interview with Nebraska Radio Network, addresses criticism about waiting to create the exchange. He says it doesn’t make sense to move forward now.

“I think anybody with a little common sense wouldn’t make a major decision about this knowing that within 90 days of that decision, the United States Supreme Court could rule it unconstitutional,” Heineman says. “I’m saying; just use a little common sense here.”

The state has run on two-tracks regarding the federal healthcare law. It has been working to implement the mandates of the law even as it has joined with 25 other states to challenge its constitutionality.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear the challenge to the 2010 healthcare law during oral arguments in March. A decision could be handed down by the court in late June.

Heineman tells us that doing anything more than planning could prove to be a waste of time if the Obama Administration loses in court.

“So, I just say, ‘Hey, let’s wait for the decision, but let’s don’t us make a major decision till we know how the court has acted,’” Heineman says.

AUDIO: Brent Martin reports [:40]

AUDIO: Brent Martin interviews Gov. Heineman on a state healthcare exchange [2:20]

Filed Under: Featured Stories, Legislature & Government, News Tagged With:

Critics of child welfare system have their say in legislative hearing at Capitol

January 27, 2012 By

Critics of the move to privatize child welfare services in Nebraska provided the Health and Human Services Committee plenty of examples of a broken system, while providers insisted steps have been taken to address concerns during a hearing at the Capitol that lasted for hours.

The committee itself harshly criticized the current state of the system in a report issued late last year. It has made 18 recommendations for change, one of which proposes that the state take back the case management of foster children. The public hearing attracted a standing-room only crowd at the legislative committee hearing. It began early in the afternoon Thursday and ran until early in the evening.

Romney Reutzel Olson told committee members the move to privatization has hurt the system.

“I believe in collaboration. I believe in listening to each other to form a consensus about moving ahead into unchartered territory,” Olson testified. “That wasn’t done and voices of many were silenced. Now, we are faced with how to move forward when so much is at stake and so little is working the way it should.”

The largest provider of child welfare services in Nebraska, KVC, came under fire numerous times during the hearing. Betty Nisly was one of a number of foster care parents critical of how KVC has managed cases.

“Except for court hearings, there is no contact. They do not answer their phones. Their messages overflow, so they can’t accept a message on their phone,” according to Nisly. “And, foster care parents are left dangling in mid-air. We don’t know what the concerns are with the kids.”

Alicia Henderson with the Lancaster County Attorney’s Office said the state needs to take back case management.

“I would submit, and I think what I’m hearing here is, the problems all come from, we have outsourced the core business of maintaining the children of the state of Nebraska safely and having their well-being first in our minds,” Henderson stated.

The bill that would return case management to the state is LB 961, one of about a dozen bills carrying the committee’s recommendations this legislative session. Some of the recommendations do not need legislative approval. The committee and the governor’s office have been in negotiations about how to proceed. Gov. Dave Heineman has expressed reservations about implementing many of the recommendations, such as a return of case management to the state, the creation of a Children’s Commission and a new state department solely concentrating on child welfare services.

The committee report came after a state audit and a report from the legislature’s Performance Audit Committee issued reports critical of the planning and cots of reforms implemented the past two years.

Officials with KVC and Nebraska Families Collaborative countered the negative criticism, claiming they have taken steps to correct the problems. They say returning case management to the state would be a step backward.

Filed Under: Health & Medicine, Legislature & Government, News Tagged With:

Gov. Heineman pitches $326M tax cut plan to legislative committee (AUDIO)

January 26, 2012 By

Gov. Dave Heineman made his pitch for $326.6 million in tax cuts during testimony before the legislature’s Revenue Committee.

The governor has proposed a three-prong package (LB 970). The governor proposes expanding each of the four individual income tax brackets, plus lowering the rates of each bracket. The top corporate tax rate would drop to equal the top individual tax rate; decreasing from the current rate of 7.81% to 6.7%. The inheritance tax would be eliminated.

Heineman pressed his proposal to eliminate the inheritance tax, despite mounting opposition by county officials.

“Despite of all the noise on this issue, it is good tax policy to repeal the inheritance tax,” Heineman told the committee. “This repeal completes the elimination of the death tax.”

Four years ago, the state eliminated the estate tax. Heineman said the state has cut its budget to absorb the $115 million in lost revenue.

Elimination of the inheritance tax, though, is a different matter. Counties collect the inheritance tax. County officials say its elimination will devastate budgets already stretched thin from the economic downturn. Douglas County officials estimate its elimination would cost the county $9-to-10 million. Lancaster County officials projected revenue of $6.8 million from the inheritance tax this year. Some counties in western Nebraska use revenue from the inheritance tax for an emergency fund or to pay for capital improvements.

Some critics of the governor’s proposal have questioned whether the state can afford it, a contention the governor took on during his testimony.

“Some will argue the state can’t afford tax relief, but that’s simply not true,” Heineman stated.

Heineman contended the state needs to lower taxes to remain competitive economically. He said the cut in corporate taxes would spur job creation and that overall tax relief would make Nebraska more attractive for individuals and businesses.

Heineman told committee members the critics are obscuring the benefits of the package.

“The choice for us is clear: tax relief for hard-working, Middle Class Nebraskans or more spending for special interest groups.”

AUDIO: Brent Martin reports [:45]

AUDIO: Gov. Heineman testifies before the Revenue Committee [12:30]

Filed Under: Featured Stories, Legislature & Government, News, Taxes Tagged With:

Gov. Heineman expects to reach agreement on child welfare (AUDIO)

January 26, 2012 By

Gov. Dave Heineman expects to reach agreement with the legislature on some fixes to the child welfare system.

In the State of the State address, Governor Heineman acknowledged child welfare reform hasn’t gone as planned.

“It hasn’t been implemented as well as anyone would like,” Heineman said in his State of the State address. “But, I don’t want to return to the failed practices of the past.”

It seemed like a mild statement about a system that has been under harsh criticism from the state auditor and two legislative committees.

Heineman says that wasn’t the intent of that statement in the speech.

“I didn’t mean it as a mild statement. I meant it as a very strong statement that, in fact, Health and Human Services (Department) has not implemented this reform in a way that any of us would like, especially me,” Heineman tells Nebraska Radio Network in an interview.

Heineman calls child welfare a complex, complicated and difficult issue since it spans all three branches of government. He says he wants a coordinated and comprehensive approach to resolving questions about its financing and how well it is taking care of the children under the state’s supervision.

The legislature is in a 60-day session. While that might be too short a session to reach agreement on all 18 recommendations made by the Health and Human Services Committee, Heineman expects to reach agreement on “a good share of it.”

The Health and Human Services Committee holds a hearing this afternoon at the Capitol on two of its major issues, creating an Office of Inspector General for child services and changing provisions of case management.

AUDIO: Brent Martin reports [:40]

AUDIO: Gov. Heineman discusses child welfare issues with Brent Martin [4:05]

Filed Under: Featured Stories, Legislature & Government, News Tagged With:

Pair of farm groups come out in support of getting rid of inheritance tax (AUDIO)

January 23, 2012 By

A couple of farm groups have come out in support of Gov. Dave Heineman’s proposal to eliminate the inheritance tax.

Both the Nebraska Farm Bureau and the Nebraska Cattlemen have endorsed the proposal, saying it could interfere with ability of a farm family to hand down an operation to children.

Executive Director Michael Kelsey with Nebraska Cattlemen says he understands the argument that if you eliminate the inheritance tax from the county tax rolls, it could put pressure on counties to increase property taxes.

“If you will, that could be the battle,” Kelsey tells reporters during a conference call with the governor. “We don’t do those things that way in Nebraska. We sit down around the table and we figure out solutions on how to move everyone forward in a win-win situation.”

Still, the proposal made by the governor in the State-of-the-State address would hit the bottom line of Nebraska counties, which collect the taxes. The governor’s office says the state has lost $115 million in the past four years from the elimination of the estate tax and simply made budget cuts to deal with the loss in revenue.

Heineman says the principle debate should focus on how Nebraska governments should tax their citizens.

“Forty-two other states do not have an inheritance tax,” according to Heineman. “That speaks volumes about where Nebraska ought to be and we ought to be the 43rd state without an inheritance tax.”

The president of the Nebraska Farm Bureau, Steve Nelson, argues that an increase in property evaluation should make up for any losses in inheritance tax revenue. According to Nelson, property taxes collected by the counties have nearly doubled since 2000.

AUDIO: Gov. Heineman, Nebraska Farm Bureua and Nebraska Cattlemen discuss eliminating inheritance tax [5:35]

Filed Under: Agriculture, Legislature & Government, News Tagged With:
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