Thursday Open Thread
Jan 18, 08:31 AM CST
NOTES AND NEWS FROM THE FLOOR OF THE UNICAMERAL ON WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17th, DAY 10 – 80 REMAINING
Bills Introduced
CLONING BAN: A comprehensive cloning ban that criminalizes the artificial creation of a human embryo as well as the transfer of such a product for research sends a “very strong signal that this state does not support promising medical research,” Sandy Goodman, executive director of Nebraskans For Research, said about a bill introduced Wednesday.
LB700 bans all human cloning, explained the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Mark Christensen of Imperial. It bans what is called therapeutic and reproductive cloning. “I don’t want either one of them,” he said.
Life starts at conception, he said, so a clone in a petri dish is a person.
The bill would not criminalize any current research in Nebraska, Goodman said. To date, there have been no embryonic stem cell lines created using this technique, he said.
“But this is the direction that medical research is going, so it will inhibit medical research institutions in the state,” he said.
PROPERTY TAXES: Sen. Bill Avery of Lincoln introduced a bill (LB511) that would exempt a percentage of homes’ values from property taxes. The exemption would be equal to 10 percent of the average assessed value of a single-family home in the county in which a given taxpayer lives. Avery also wants to reduce the value of ag land subject to property taxes from 75 percent to 65 percent. His bill is similar to a bill (LB366) introduced by Sen. Ray Janssen of Nickerson. Janssen is calling for a homestead exemption of $12,000 for each home and reducing the percentage of ag land value subject to taxes to 70 percent.
INCOME TAXES-SCHOOLS: A bill (LB487) from Sen. Norm Wallman of Cortland would allow school districts to fund their needs with income taxes, possibly reducing reliance on property taxes. School districts, however, couldn’t impose income taxes on their own. Voters would have to approve the implementation of school income taxes and the tax rates. A similar measure was introduced in the Legislature a couple of years ago.
CONCEALED HANDGUNS: Concealed handguns couldn’t be carried on college campuses, under a measure introduced by Sen. John Harms of Scottsbluff. The bill (LB491) would add language banning concealed handguns from the building or grounds of any private or public university, college or community college. Several universities in the state, including the University of Nebraska system, have posted signs banning handguns.
FIRE DISTRICTS: Rural and suburban fire districts could see their taxing authority cut. Sen. LeRoy Louden of Ellsworth introduced a bill (LB485) to the Legislature that would substantially reduce the property tax levies the districts could impose ��” from the current 10.5 cents per $100 of property valuation to 3.5 cents.
DEATH PENALTY: Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers introduced a bill seeking to eliminate capital punishment, as he has every legislative session since 1973. The bill (LB476) isn’t likely to get far. In a pre-session survey by The Associated Press, 29 senators said they support the death penalty. Six said capital punishment should be repealed. Nine were unsure or gave no answer and five, including Chambers, did not participate on the survey.
SUDAN GENOCIDE: Sen. Ernie Chambers introduced a bill under which the state would divest public funds from companies that provide “significant practical support for the genocide occurring in Sudan.” The legislation (LB468) is similar to laws passed in California and other states.
In Committee
PETITION CIRCULATORS: Dozens of people attended a hearing about Sen. DiAnna Schimek’s bills (LB39 and LB40) that would govern petition circulation. Opponents told the committee for Government, Military and Veterans Affairs that the bills would hurt the petition process, and that there is no way all-volunteer group can get enough signatures to get a measure on the ballot. Supporters said Nebraska’s petition process is becoming big business and people need protection from pushy circulators. One of the bills would prevent paying circulators by the signature, would require that they be Nebraska residents eligible to vote, and would require that campaigns report how much money was paid each circulator. The other bill would require that circulators wear identification badges with a number that could be accessed by the secretary of state’s office or law enforcement if there was a complaint.
Quote
“I think everyone has a duty themselves to behave safely. You can’t go out there and risk your neck and expect someone else to pay for it,” said Sen. LeRoy Louden of Ellsworth, who introduced a measure limiting cities’ liability when someone is injured while on public land for recreational purposes.
Coming Thursday
The session will convene at 11 a.m. today. Committee hearings will begin at 1:30 p.m.
Source: Lincoln Journal Star
– by eric | Send this to a friend
— Don Kuhns Jan 18, 11:32 AM CST #
As for “cloning” of cells, get your education from someplace other than bad Sci-Fi from the 1960’s. What of the “cloning” of cells from one’s own body, to replace some organ (I don’t know what organ, maybe skin?) which have been damaged on the “host’s” own body? Heck, I do not know what area’s of medical research, or for that matter, maybe even current medical practice, might find themselves in this “cloning” ban. Do you?
I underwent an experimental “autologous stem cell transplant” to stop my Multiple Sclerosis at UNMC. It has stopped the progression of my MS. My own stem cells were used to rebuild my immune system after it was eliminated by chemo and irradiation. Was this a treatment which a medical professional/researcher might not have taken a role in, given your legislation? Given the complexities of such medical treatments, I am amazed that a medical scholar, like Senator Christensen, can take time to serve as a Nebraska State Senator.
We have so many real, tangible, problems in Nebraska which could be addressed by our Unicameral. Why can’t we concentrate on those problems and leave the Sci-Fi worries to Saturday night re-runs. Such bills are akin to those which might quell free speech. It is not whether we are really protected from a “harm,” but whether the knee jerk reactions to protect us from the “harm” are greater than the “harm,” could ever be. Blood transfusions and transplants would be illegal if religious zealots made the rules and medical professionals were considered heretics and witch doctors. Let government govern, let religion be in the church, and realize your own conception of “life” might not be that of others. Keep the two separate.
By the way, I assume Senator Christensen will be supporting Senator Chambers efforts to stop Nebraska’s death penalty. Won’t he?
— jimdake Jan 18, 08:38 PM CST #