Hansen to discuss parents, petition process

by North Platte Bulletin Staff - 3/13/2009

More help for parents and workers are among new state laws that Sen. Tom Hansen is working on at the Legislature, and Hansen hopes to help defeat a bill that would make it tougher to circulate Constitutional petitions.

Hansen will hold a Town Hall meeting from 9 a.m. until noon Saturday, March 14 at the Holiday Inn Express in North Platte. The meeting is sponsored by the Lincoln County Farm Bureau.

Hansen invites everyone the meeting for a cup of coffee and a visit about issues before the Legislature. Other issues facing the Legislature include the death penalty, immigration, livestock concentration, irrigation and others.

Petition

The right of citizens to petition the Nebraska government to change state laws is guaranteed at the beginning of the state Constitution.

The petition process has been used to institute term limits – limiting senators to eight consecutive years in the Legislature – as well as other changes, including the creation of the Unicameral Legislature itself in the 1940s.

A year ago, the Legislature made the process more difficult, requiring circulators to be paid per hour rather than per signature and to be eligible to vote in Nebraska.

Petitioners must obtain signatures from 7-10 percent of all voters in Nebraska, depending on the type of petition. If they get that many signatures, the proposal goes on the ballot and can be approved by the voters in an election.

Petitions are rarely successful. Such changes add more burdens to an already difficult process of petitioning the government, said Doug Kagan, chairman of the Nebraska Taxpayers for Freedom.

"Our taxpayer group has been active in several past initiative petition campaigns, such as term limits and tax relief," Kagan said.