Posted on 04/17/2006 5:47:29 AM PDT by RavenATB
Tuition Bill Proves Nebraska Unicameral is Dysfunctional By Doug Patton
April 17, 2006
In 1937, the state of Nebraska initiated a legislative experiment. Convinced of the idealistic notion that voters would act as the “second house” of the Nebraska Legislature through the ballot initiative process, the state amended its constitution to institute a nonpartisan, one house legislature.
Seven decades later, there are very sound reasons why no other state in the union has followed Nebraska’s lead.
The Nebraska Unicameral in the 21st century is a dysfunctional mess. It is a single legislative chamber consisting of 49 state senators. No house members; just 49 senators. They are elected and serve on a non-partisan basis, so no effective party discipline is possible. At the polls, the voters are given no indication as to the political affiliation of these candidates. Because of the ideological nature of politics, most legislative races end up with Republicans running against Democrats, but occasionally, two Democrats or two Republicans end up running against each other. Primaries are free-for-all events with the top two vote-getters advancing to face each other again in the general election.
The system allows senators to hide behind a non-partisan label when it suits their purposes. In 2003, then-Gov. Mike Johanns vetoed a tax increase, only to have it overridden by the Legislature. With no additional checks and balances to slow down legislation, the override was successful.
It happened again last week when the Unicameral passed a bill giving in-state tuition to the children of illegal aliens at all three campuses of the University of Nebraska. When the bill hit Gov. Dave Heineman’s desk, he vetoed it, as he had promised to do. The Legislature overrode that veto, thereby making the bill law.
Twenty members of the Nebraska Legislature are term limited this year under a recent constitutional amendment passed by voters. As a parting shot, many state senators seem to have thumbed their noses at the taxpayers who subsidize the university system. My son has seen significant increases in his tuition as he has worked his way through the University of Nebraska at Omaha, where he consistently has made the Dean’s List. Now that he is about to graduate, he is being told that children of illegal aliens will receive the same tuition rates he currently pays.
This law is a misguided piece of work. There is not a true American with three brain cells to rub together who wishes ill toward children hoping for a better future. But this law does what most immigration law is doing. It is equivocation disguised as up-from-the-bootstraps opportunity, and it is indicative of why a unicameral legislative system does not work.
Two years ago, the Iowa House of Representatives unanimously passed a similar bill. Had that been the only legislative step in the process, liberal Democrat Gov. Tom Vilsack would have signed the legislation. But because Iowa has a partisan, bicameral legislature, U.S. Rep. Steve King, a former Iowa state senator, was able to shame enough of his former colleagues in the Republican-controlled Iowa Senate to kill the legislation.
Meanwhile, because of a flawed legislative system in the state of Nebraska, Mexican citizens born on the other side of the Rio Grande are now given preferable treatment over Americans born on the other side of the Missouri or the Mississippi. Like many at the federal level these days, members of the Nebraska Unicameral are trying to sell an odorous brand of political snake oil that claims to cure the ills of illegal immigration. Taxpayers are tolerant, but they are not stupid. From the claim that this legislation will help educate a new generation of immigrants, to the canard that it will actually help fill the coffers of the university system by increasing the number of students, clear thinking Nebraskans are not buying what is being sold.
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Doug Patton is a freelance columnist who has served as a political speechwriter and policy advisor to federal, state and local candidates, elected officials and public policy organizations. His weekly columns are published in newspapers across the country and on selected Internet web sites, including TheConservativeVoice.com and GOPUSA.com, where he is a senior writer and state editor. Readers may e-mail him at dougpatton@cox.net.
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You do know you have a bunch of racist scum out there ~ tractor driving Mexican citizens are given preference over American born "people of color" ~ shame, shame, shame.
Do you not have trees and rope in Nebraska?!
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
Don't forget that they also gave convicted felons back the vote this year.
gee, I wonder which party wanted that?
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
How many Democrats are there in Nebraska? 3?
Well considering Chuck Hegel is from Nebraska, the Pubbies aren't much better.
Let me guess. Politicians in NE (pop 1 million) like illegals because they mean more revenue sharing $'s from the feds. The allocation of $'s based on census #'s perverts our nation in many ways.
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