Western Nebraska Taxpayers Association

Published Tuesday March 2, 2010
World-Herald editorial

This isn't to say that Nebraska leaders — the Legislature and Gov. Dave Heineman — haven't made significant cuts. A special legislative session last November cut spending and drew on various cash reserves to close a shortfall of $334 million...

....As Nebraska leaders have emphasized for months, the most troubling question is what the state will need to do to balance the budget for the two-year budget starting in July 2011.

The latest revenue estimate says that biennial budget will feature a shortfall of some $632 million. And unlike the present, there will be no more federal stimulus funds to cushion the budget shock.

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By JoANNE YOUNG / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Friday, February 26, 2010

Financial forecasters for the state saw their shadows Friday and predicted more of an economic financial winter for Nebraska that will last through the next 18 months.

"This forecast indicates that the state has more challenging times ahead," said Gov. Dave Heineman. "It is clear that the Legislature needs to enact additional spending reductions to get the budget back in balance."

The Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board dropped its forecast by $31.7 million for the next two years.

State revenue is forecast at $3.28 billion this fiscal year. Next year, it will improve to $3.405 billion.

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By Martha Stoddard
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU  November 22, 2009

LINCOLN — The sleepless nights in state government aren't likely to end now that Nebraska lawmakers have finished their special budget-cutting session.

Economists and state senators alike predict that budget woes in state government will continue into 2012 and possibly longer, even if the effects of the recession have bottomed out.

That means lawmakers will face more difficult and unpopular choices when they return in January for their regular session.

And there might be more to come in 2011, when they start work on a state budget without federal stimulus money to help balance the books. The current budget incorporates $490 million in stimulus funds.

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by Samuel McKewon
November 02, 2009


Gov. Dave Heineman Monday unveiled to the Nebraska Legislature and public what he called a “specific, detailed and responsible” plan to address the state budget's $333.5 million shortfall, calling for across-the-board reductions at most state agencies worth $80 million in savings.

The plan also transfers $37 million from various cash funds, includes $154 million in adjustments for programs including state aid to schools and Medicaid, and calls for a $35.8 million cut to the University of Nebraska system, although $10 million in lottery receipts will be shifted over to offset some of that pain.

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The Center for Public Integrity

By Caitlin Ginley | June 24, 2009

The Center has been reporting on disclosure requirements in state legislatures since 1999, and bases its rankings on a 43-question survey that measures public access to information on legislators’ employment, investments, personal finances, property holdings, or other activities outside the legislature. Center researchers obtain answers to the survey questions by examining state statutes and disclosure forms, and interviewing state ethics officers. Survey answers are assigned a numerical value adding up to a possible 100 points; the highest scores reflect the highest degree of disclosure. The Center defines a failing grade as a score of less than 60 points on the survey.

“Citizens have a right to expect a certain amount of basic and personal information about their elected officials,” said Mary Boyle, vice president for communications for Common Cause. Disclosure laws allow the public “to make a judgment about whether there are conflicts of interest,” Boyle said. When states have weak or nonexistent disclosure laws, she added, “the public knows less about an elected official.”