Well this sucks:
http://journalstar.com/...
As debate looms on legislation that could lead to Nebraska getting a $300 million wind farm, Republican Gov. Dave Heineman reiterated his opposition Monday to the tax breaks that could pave the way for the project.
A bill (LB104) by Omaha Sen. Steve Lathrop would remove a barrier to the development and export of wind energy in Nebraska.
The measure would provide a sales tax exemption for the purchase of turbines, towers and other wind-farm components -- which Iowa, Kansas and Oklahoma have used to create a wind-energy boom. Meanwhile, Nebraska has lagged behind, ranking 26th of the 39 states that generate wind energy, despite having the fourth-best wind resources in the country.
Lathrop said Nebraska could gain a $300 million to $400 million project -- by TradeWind Energy of Lenexa, Kan., if his bill is passed. The project would fall under the Nebraska Advantage Act, which was passed in 2005 and is meant to encourage companies to expand and create jobs by offering them tax incentives.
To date, some 320 companies have applied for Nebraska Advantage credits and created 20,500 new jobs.
But Heineman said he opposes Lathrop's measure because the Legislature is preparing to study how best to overhaul Nebraska's tax system.
"I've made it very clear that Nebraskans deserve tax relief first ... before you ought to be considering a bill like that, and especially providing special tax breaks for a Kansas company so they can ship Nebraska energy" out of state, Heineman said during a conference call with reporters. "You ought to ask him why that makes sense."
Nebraska lags in the production of wind energy. Iowa, for example, generates more than 13 times as much wind power as Nebraska — 4,536 megawatts to 337. And Nebraska ranks last among its neighboring states. - Lincoln Journal Star, 5/20/13
To me, this is just a sign that Governor Dave Heineman (R. NE) is getting ready to run for retiring Senator Mike Johanns (R. NE) seat:
http://journalstar.com/...
Last week, the governor sounded very much like a candidate when he spoke to a private gathering hosted by business lobbyists in Lincoln, I am told.
Heineman has been talking with former governors who moved on to the Senate and apparently discovered it's not as bad as he had feared. Or, perhaps, more accurately stated, not quite as bad.
It's been difficult to try to determine what the governor will decide to do.
We all know he clearly prefers to be in Nebraska, that he is not attracted to the political environment in Washington, that he never really has aspired to be in the Senate.
But Heineman could have dismissed the idea of a Senate bid long ago, as he repeatedly did prior to the 2012 Senate campaign, clearing the path for others to enter the race.
Something has kept him from saying no this time.
Don't know yet what it is, but perhaps that something is yes.
Four of the previous six governors before Heineman have been elected to the Senate.
Oddly, only Jim Exon moved on directly from the governor's office.
Bob Kerrey, Ben Nelson and Mike Johanns followed.
What I would hear occasionally from them was that the governorship was better. But, of course, that's an executive position with considerable authority compared to being one of 100 legislators, starting at zero seniority.
Last week, former Republican State Chairman Mark Fahleson created a Facebook page urging Republicans to draft Ben Sasse for the Senate race in case Heineman ultimately decides to say no.
"For most of us, Gov. Dave Heineman is our first choice," Fahleson wrote.
"If Dave chooses not to run, for those of us who care deeply about our country, Ben Sasse is the answer."
Sasse, a former U.S. assistant secretary of health and human services, is president of Midland University in Fremont. - Lincoln Journal Star, 5/19/13
Jeff Fortenberry, Pete Ricketts, Shane Osborn and Don Stenberg have also been floated as potential GOP candidates.
The wind power legislation was a big priority for State Senator Steve Lathrop (D. Omaha):
http://www.mccookgazette.com/...
The bill, LB104, offered by Omaha Democrat Steve Lathrop, a potential candidate for the post Heinemann will vacate in a couple years, would provide state tax incentives for companies that create sources of renewable energy. Lathrop said Nebraska is the fourth largest producer of wind energy but lacks economic incentives for companies to invest in the state. He said the state has wind energy potential and is facing a time-sensitive opportunity that can significantly grow Nebraska's economy.
His bill was amended by a Revenue Committee proposal, adopted 27-0, that essentially replaced the bill with provisions of LB501, a bill originally introduced by Senator Galen Hadley of Kearney. As amended, the bill would expand the definition of qualified business to include renewable energy producers in the existing incentive tiers. It also would define sources of renewable energy to include wind, solar, geothermal, hydroelectric, biomass and transmutation of elements.
Sen. Jeremy Nordquist of Omaha said the discontinuation of federal production tax credits at the end of 2013 adds a sense of urgency. He noted that developers have to get projects started by the end of the year to get tax credits. Nordquist and Senator Jim Scheer of Norfolk urged colleagues to advance the bill to help get the developments started.
Nebraska has 11 operating so-called wind farms, ranging from two turbines built by the Lincoln Electric System north of the Capital City in 1998, to the 54 operating near Petersburg in Boone County. Eight projects are on the books, including 120 turbines planned near Elgin by the end of 2014 and a massive project -- 1,000 wind turbines __ planned for Banner County in Nebraska's Panhandle.
In July 2010, Heineman wrote that wind energy has a bright future in Nebraska. These developments and future ones reflect Nebraska's commitment to clean energy, energy independence, rural economic development and the Good Life for all Nebraskans. In October 2012 he went on record thanking Edison Mission Energy for developing and operating its third wind energy project in Nebraska. He said that the company's continued investment in our state and our natural resource enhances Nebraska's portfolio of providing renewable energy sources. - McCook Daily Gazette, 5/8/13
Heineman knows that there's a bright future for wind energy in Nebraska but is refusing to put Lathrop's legislation into action because it's a winning issue for Lathrop. Lathrop's name has been floated for both a candidate for Governor and Senator next year. Of course Lathrop would have a tough fight ahead of him in a red rural state like Nebraska but Lathrop sounds like an ideal candidate for Nebraska Democrats. Lathrop has been fighting to expand Medicaid in Nebraska:
http://www.omaha.com/...
Nebraska's rural hospitals could be forced to close down or cut services if the state does not expand Medicaid, an expansion proponent said Wednesday.
State Sen. Steve Lathrop of Omaha took time during debate about another bill to warn about what could be at stake if the controversial expansion measure remains stalled.
“There is a downside to not doing this,” he said. “It will be significant for rural Nebraska.”
As envisioned in the federal health care overhaul, expanding Medicaid to cover more low-income people was to be part of a tradeoff with hospitals.
Providing coverage through Medicaid to people who were previously uninsured would provide hospitals with additional revenue. That revenue would then help offset reductions in federal Medicare and Medicaid payments, most of which were enacted as part of the Affordable Care Act.
But that revenue now depends on legislative action because a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year made the expansion optional for states.
The Medicare and Medicaid changes are expected to cost Nebraska hospitals a total of $159 million per year, according to Nebraska Hospital Association Vice President Bruce Rieker.
Changes pending at the federal level would mean losses of another $61 million a year.
Lathrop used an uncommon legislative move to raise the Medicaid expansion issue.
The expansion measure, Legislative Bill 577, has been pulled from the legislative agenda after supporters could not find enough votes to break a filibuster.
So Lathrop filed a motion to bracket, or table, an unrelated bill, then used his speaking time to address the Medicaid issue.
He said he did so because he felt strongly that lawmakers had not debated the potential risks of failing to expand Medicaid, especially the risks to rural parts of the state.
Other senators who spoke Wednesday criticized expansion opponents for their uncommon moves.
The opponents had sought to keep LB 577 from returning for debate by collecting signatures of lawmakers who agreed not to vote for a cloture motion to end the filibuster. - Omaha World-Herald Bureau, 5/2/13
Whether he runs for Governor or U.S. Senate, Nebraskans would greatly benefit with Lathrop in a higher office. Nebraska might be a state worth keeping an eye on. Especially if there's a crowded GOP primary.