From the Desk of
Senator Brad Ashford
Nebraska Twentieth Legislative District

Dear District 20 Friend:

Thank you for visiting my website. I appreciate you taking the time to know more about our work in the legislature and what my priorities were for this session.

There are four issues that have taken much of my time and I believe they are important to the state and my district.

Student Truancy

The legislature recently enacted one of my highest priority bills and an issue I have worked on for quite some time. The issue is student truancy, or unexcused absences in Nebraska's public schools.

One of the first signs that can predict a path of trouble for many youth is their absence from school (other than for parent-excused absences and illness). For many students without the support and encouragement all kids need, the absences can evolve into a pattern of gang activity, lawlessness and dropping out of school altogether. In Nebraska last year, there were 23,000 students that missed 20 or more school days and nearly 82,000 that missed more than 10 days. This has been an issue for years and has been often been ignored.

As a follow-up to legislation we adopted in 2010 on this issue, the new law will require school districts to create a plan to address this issue in their districts and provides for information-sharing among involved officials such as child welfare staff, state education leaders and the courts.

I was pleased to lead on this effort during this session and to also work closely with Governor Heineman on the legislation. Truancy is an issue we can measure and reducing it will lead our youth to more productive employment and educational pursuits.

Labor Reform

Last year business leaders asked me to examine the way Nebraska resolves public employee labor disputes and to consider alternatives that would be more fair, balanced and transparent.

Nebraska is unique in that we have a Court of Industrial Relations (CIR) at the state level that serves as an arbiter for public employee wage disputes when an employee union and the employer – such as a city or county government – are at impasse on contract negotiations. As a former CIR judge myself, I knew changes needed to be made to bring balance back to this process.

During the past 12 months, we have evaluated numerous changes to the CIR and believe we are now on the right course to provide a system that is more fair to the taxpayers yet allows public employees to continue their right to collectively bargain on wage, pension and benefit issues.

The new law, which was approved by the legislature on a vote of 48-0, seeks to address situations that lead to spiraling pension costs for public employees (especially in Omaha), encourages employees and employers to reach a negotiated settlement, provides more accurate wage comparison data and increases transparency.

I am pleased that the reform legislation was the result of input from business leaders, public employers, and public employee organizations. Unlike Wisconsin, Ohio, and other states, we can resolve these matters in a deliberative and collaborative manner. The final product preserves collective bargaining and adds cost-saving measures that will benefit taxpayers and provide predictable standards for public employers and employee organizations across the state.

Local Option Sales Tax

State law currently limits the local sales tax that cities can assess at 1.5%. It is important to note that a vote of the public is required to establish this tax regardless of the rate, as well as any subsequent increases.

Because of seemingly endless increases in property taxes and the impact that the economy has had on revenue generated for local government through various sources, I have advocated for the ability of cities to increase their sales tax but only through a vote of the people. This proposal would allow voters to change the tax rate up to 2% from the current 1.5%. This legislation would not result in an automatic tax increase, as voters would need to make the final decision.

The reason I believe strongly in this is the same reason I believe in local control. If the voters of a community want to reduce property taxes by a certain amount and change the sales tax rate to offset that, then they should have that right. If a community wants to vote to fund an important local project or effort, they should have the right to look at revenues other than property taxes.

Make no mistake, for a sales tax increase to have any chance in any community, local leaders are going to have to make the case for it and why it's important. If they don't, voters will reject it. That is local control and that is what I believe in.

Balancing the State Budget

Like most states, we are working through a budget process severely affected by the recession with declining revenues and in many areas, increasing needs.

At the start of the legislative session, there was a projected budget gap of $943 million over our two-year budget timeframe. Through a combination of spending cuts, tapping the state's reserve fund and in some cases eliminating programs, the legislature adopted a budget for the next two years that does not increase taxes. I am pleased that in this time when so many families are having employment and economic hardship that we are able to resolve our budget issues without new taxes. We hope and expect that the economy will turn around and the revenue picture will brighten at the state level.

Again, thank your for interest in my work in the legislature on your behalf. It is an honor and pleasure to work for the citizens of district 20.

Please feel free to contact me at any time at (402) 471-2622 or by email at .

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Brad Ashford