LR 542: AD HOC COMMITTEE MEETING

June 29, 2010State Capitol Room 11139:00 a.m.

NOTES

ThesearepersonalnotestakenbyShelliDawdy,whowaspresentinthemee7ngroom.Itisnotanoﬃcialtranscript.Thenoteswerereviewedbyanotherci7zenwhowaspresentfortheen7remee7ng.Atanypointwheretherewasadiscrepancyintheinforma7onrecollected,thatfactisnotedandthediscrepancyexplained.Thepurposeofthesenotesistosharewithothersinforma7onabouttheStateofNebraska’sbudgetandpoten7alac7onsthatmaybetakenbytheLegislatureandtheGovernor’soﬃce.Inaddi7on,boththeauthorofthesenotesandtheaendeewhoreviewedthemarecoremembersofGrassrootsinNebraska ,agroupwhosemissionistopromoteareturntoCons7tu7onal,limitedgovernment.GiNhasbeendevelopingaproject,NELibertyWatchmen

,tomonitorlocal,county,andstategovernmentforthepurposeofinformingci7zensandadvoca7ngforlegisla7vemeasuresthatlimitgovernment’ssizeandimpactontheindividuallibertyofci7zens.Therehasbeenane ﬀorttakentoavoided itorializingorcommen7nginthesenotes.Analysiswillbedoneseparately.

Theroomwasfullforthismee0ng.ThosepresentincludedSpeakeroftheUnicameralMikeFlood,alloftheCommi>eeChairs,someresearchersandotherstaff.AlsopresentwereMichaelCalvert,headoftheLegisla0veFiscalOfficeandandaMr.Berdquist,whoseposi0onwasnotclear,butapparentlyalsopartoftheLegisla0veFiscalOffice.Thebulkofprovidedsea0ngwasreserved(twolongrows).Byreportofalobbyistwhoisaregulara>enderofsuchmee0ngs,thereservedrowswereforagencystaff.Theremainingseatswerefullandtherewereindividualsstanding.TherewerethreeTVcamerasinuse,althoughnoneappearedtobeNET,asthehearingwasnotairedthroughthemechanismontheNebraskaLegislaturewebsitewherethepubliccanwatchlivebroadcastsoftheLegislaturefloorac0on.Themee0ng’sdirectpar0cipantswereseatedintheroundwiththeCommi>eeChairsinorderaccordingtoitemVIII.star0ngalmostdirectlyoppositeSpeakerFlood.

Themee0ngstartedon0me.Spectatorswereprovidedwithaprintedagendawhiledirectpar0cipantshadanaddi0onaldocumentthatwasreferencedregularlythroughoutthemee0ng.

I.Welcome

(Flood)

LR542waspassedduringthelegisla0vesessionconcludedApril14,21,inan0cipa0onofabudgetshorWallforthebudgetthatcoversthebienniumofJuly1,211-June3,213.[Thehistoryoftheresolu0oncanbeseenontheNebraskaLegislaturewebsiteHERE,(rawlink:h>p://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=1122)thebillcanbeviewedand/ordownloadedatthefollowingloca0ons:Scribd:HERE(rawlink:,andNELegislatureHERE(rawlink:h>p:// nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/Current/PDF/Intro/LR542.pdf ]

II.Purpose of LR 542

(Flood)

•Role of ad hoc committee and role of standing committees

Thisadhoccommi>eeiscomprisedofthechairsfromeachstandingcommi>ee(seelistofthesecommi>eesHERE).Standingcommi>eesaretoworktowardstarge0ngprogramsandservicesforreduc0onorelimina0on.

•LR 542 Outcomes (10% Options List)

Attheendoftheprocess,eachcommi>eechairissupposedtohaveanop0onslistcomprisedofservicesandprogramsthatwouldallowforcungby1%.

•General Fund vs. cash fund issues•LR542 process vs. Appropriations’ budget process

LR542wasameasurepassedinrecogni0onofanan0cipatedshorWall,aerhavingexperiencedashorWallthattriggeredtheneedforaspecialsession(inNovember29).LR542‘spurposeistoprovideanorderlyprocessforhandlingtheshorWalloveraperiodof0mesothatsolu0onsareavailableatthebeginningofthenextlegisla0vesession.

III.

Financial Outlook and Steps to Determine Proposed BiennialShortfall

(Calvert and Berquist)

MikeCalvertiswiththeFiscalOﬃce.

LR542ADHocCommi/eeMeengNotes,June29,2010Page2

•Financial Status

Therearenooﬃcialrevenueprojec0onsavailableforthebiennialbudgetyearscurrentlyunderdiscussion(7/1/11-6/3/13).Theusual0meofforecas0ngforthatperiodisdoneinthepriorOctober.Therefore,alloftheinforma0oncurrentlyavailable,includingthattherewillbeashorWallanditsextent,arebasedonaseriesofassump0onsandusingdatafromthepast.Thecurrentdiscussionsarethereforebasedonwhatonehopesarereasonableassump0ons.CalvertaskedSpeakerFloodwhetherhewas“comfortable”withanopenstatementregardingthe“rainydayfund”.Floodhavingindicatedintheaﬃrma0ve,Calvertnotedsomelevelofcertaintyregardingtheuseof$27millionfromthatfundforthepurposesofreducingtheshorWall.

Note:

Duringthisdiscourse,itwasnoten0relycleartotwoofuswhetherornotsomeofthenumbersmen0oned,i.e.proposedamountsofcutsincludedthe$27millionornot.Oneofusthoughtthe$27millionwasbeingcalculatedintheamountsquotedandtheotherdidn’tthinkitwas.Itseemstherecollec0onbetweenthetwoofusonthispointmaybemorereliablefromthepersonwhobelievestheamounthasnotyetbeentakenintoaccount,astherecollec0onincludedthatMr.CalvertwasexplainingawillingnessonthepartoftheAppropria0onsCommi>eetotapupto$27millionofthecashreservefund.

Furthernotes:

OneofusrecollectsBerdquistsaythatthea1%increaseinbudgetrequestsbytheagencieswasanassumedandtheprojecteddeﬁcitwasbasedonthat.3%MinimumReserveNebraskastatuterequiresthattherealwaysbea3%minimumreserveintheGeneralFundaccount.The3%isapparentlybasedontheaverageannualbudget,whichis$3.4billion.Thecurrentamountrequiredis$221million.

•Cash Reserve Fund•90 - 10 Budget Process - General Fund Only

BudgetrequestsfromagenciesaredueSeptember15.Theagencieswillbegiveninstruc0onsandanopportunitytoreviewtheLR542mechanismandprocess.Calvertexplainedthattheplanistodoamodiﬁedzerobasedbudget;agencybudgetswouldbudgetat9%oftheirpreviousbudget.Theirjobispriori0ze

LR542ADHocCommi/eeMeengNotes,June29,2010Page3