NTF Worksheet: Legwatch16. 12-06.

 

NEBRASKA TAXPAYERS FOR FREEDOM WORKSHEET:

SUGGESTIONS FOR CUTTING THE NEBRASKA STATE BUDGET: FY 2008-09.

 

State senators in the 2009 Session face a looming $377+ million ongoing deficit, because revenues, despite increases in the sales, income, and other taxes, will not cover projected state spending, much of it on automatic pilot in future years.  Senators mismanaged previous budgets, causing this deficit.  They accrued a surplus of revenue in the ‘90s but spent recklessly.  Without drastic cuts, state spending will grow 7.1% through FY 2007, twice as fast as incoming revenues.  Medicaid and state aid to education will grow by 10% annually. Inundated by expensive propaganda, voters in 11-06 unfortunately voted down Initiative 423, a limit on spending, though only fundamentally restructuring government to curtail spending growth will restore accountability to state government. We have compiled this expanding list to show senators how to cut state spending without raising taxes.  Lobby your state senator with these suggestions:

 

GENERAL:

  1. Budgets should rise not because of higher costs but to fund better results of program spending.

 

  1.  Remove all funded programs from annual autopilot formula spending increases.

 

  1. Account for all unfunded liabilities to taxpayers in the budget.

 

  1. Legislative spending cannot exceed anticipated revenues in a fiscal year.

 

  1. Stop all advance appropriations, a loophole that encourages spending by making it appear free now.

 

  1. Governor can stop all other legislative business and force legislators to adopt solutions to a fiscal emergency.

 

  1. Set a sunset date of 10 years for all laws and programs not mandated by the Nebraska Constitution.  Such would force legislators to debate extending a program and force them to vote either way on programs that have failed. 

 

  1. Freeze legislative expenditures for 1 budget cycle and peg the following year budget to revenue received. 

 

  1. Force all state departments and agencies to cut their FY 2007-2008 budgets by 3%.  

 

  1. Require every state agency to implement zero-based budgeting, which mandates justifying all spending every fiscal year.

 

11.  According to present state law, state departments and local government subdivisions do not have to show in their budgets where they spend each dollar. Taxpayers deserve to know the location of each dollar.

 

12.  Stop all budget increases for agencies that fail audits.

 

  1.  Eliminate government entities not absolutely necessary for the functioning of state government, such as the Commission on the Status of Women, Mexican-American Commission ($1.3 million ’06), Equal Opportunity Commission, Arts Council ($1.35 million ‘06), Humanities Council ($183,000 ’06) Rural Economic Development Commission, which duplicates Dept. of Economic Development activities, library commission, film office, and state tourism office. Terminate the Rural Economic Opportunities Act, a program never used by anyone, saving $1.5 million.  In 2006, the Humanities Council wasted $20,700 on the leftist Chicano Awareness Center in Omaha and $3,910 on the Grand Island Multicultural Coalition.

 

  1. Mandate performance audits in every state dept. and agency to compare quality of services to monies spent providing them.  Budgets would increase or decrease according to meeting performance measurements.  In 2006, $2.6 million disappeared from state agencies, paid out to unknown parties.

 

  1. Require each state dept. and agency to set performance standards for budgeting through a measurement system and then measure and report results compared to targets.  Note precise outcomes expected to be accomplished and at what cost.  Reward success and penalize poor performance. 

 

  1. In exchange for performance accountability, offer programs and managers flexibility in delivering services.

17.  It now seems difficult to evaluate how the state delivers services and if they are efficient or duplicative. It is important to evaluate services and spending on a statewide basis. Tracking progress towards targets set for statewide benchmarks and categories of services could provide a way not only to identify areas of duplication in services but also more importantly to demonstrate efficiency data.  The public is curious about how much money state government spends to provide a specific service or achieve a statewide goal, regardless of the agencies involved. The Internet can provide to the public such spending information in an efficient and user-friendly manner. NE must develop a comprehensive online system that links its actual spending for every program to a statewide goal, with built-in performance measurement data.

18.   Principles of performance-based organizing: Statutes and regulations governing dept. and agency internal structures and conduct sometimes have a negative effect on their performance and limit their ability to manage for results, forcing them to focus less on results and more on administrative compliance. Though necessary to hold agencies accountable for their decisions, it is also important to grant them freedom to achieve results. Legislative bodies should define what functions agency managers should accomplish but grant managers flexibility in determining how to accomplish these tasks.

19.  Allow agencies to transfer funds and carry over a percentage of unspent balances at the end of each fiscal year.

20.  Grant agencies a percentage of payroll for additional employee compensation to reward workers and managers whose results exceed performance measures. Increase the amount and/or frequency of merit pay awarded by an agency that exceeds performance measures.

21.  Give bonuses to agencies that exceed their performance measures. 

  1. To achieve higher performance, reduce the number of bureaucratic rules and requirements imposed on state agencies and depts.

 

  1. Agencies that cut budgets or reduce paperwork by a specific percentage become free of specific state mandates.

24.  Establish a scorecard for each department and agency management of operations.  Blue star = all or almost all management objectives met.  Yellow star = some objectives met.  Red “X” = substantial improvement required.  Publish ratings in Nebraska newspapers. 

  1. Allow a private firm the exclusive right to provide a service within a specific geographical area.

 

  1. Allow departments to purchase support services such as printing, maintenance, computer repair, and training from government or private suppliers. Government providers of support services must operate as independent business units competing against private contractors for department business.

 

27.  Government pays for a service.  However, individual recipients receive redeemable certificates to purchase the service from the open market private sector.

28.  Conduct a comprehensive inventory of activities that the private sector could perform. Require          state agencies to identify commercially available services, open them to private competition, and    outsource them, if a competitor can perform the work for at least 10% below government cost. 

29.  Institute performance partnership efforts among government agencies to achieve specific results in program areas. 

 

  1. State auditor conducts a comprehensive inventory of commercial functions that the private sector could handle.  Governor requires agencies and departments annually to put out for competition a % of such functions.

 

  1. Allow state auditor to conduct periodic, thorough reviews of all functions of state programs, agencies, and departments, make recommendations to maintain, eliminate, privatize, redesign, or restructure them, and have authority to compel directors to give that office access to all data requested.

 

  1. Each public school district undergoes a financial management review every 5th year by state auditor.

 

  1. Reduce, eliminate, restructure, or consolidate into performing programs ones that are failing.

 

  1. Allow users of state services the convenience of accessing information and services through the Internet.  Gravitate customer service calls to Internet-based self-service.  IBM saved $750 million and Cisco Systems saved $506 million in 2000.

 

  1. Sell or lease to the private sector state-owned enterprises and assets like Mahoney Park, plus excess land and buildings.  State government can turn dormant physical capital into financial capital to reduce the deficit.   These assets then will add to the tax rolls.  Allow agencies to retain a share of monies earned from sales of non-productive assets rather than depositing all proceeds in General Fund.

 

36.  Utilize Internet auctions to sell surplus state property. Oregon state officials report that profits from their online sales have reached twice as high as those from traditional, local auctions.

 

  1. Privatize concessions in state parks in order to derive revenue from business and salary taxes. 

 

  1. Allow state government to retain ownership of select assets but turn over operations to private businesses for a lengthy number of years.

 

  1. Open public services to competition by private companies to save taxpayer money and improve service quality.  Private companies often can show savings by innovation, advanced technology, and commitment to customer service.  Exposed to competition, state employees/agencies often find ways to reduce their own costs. 

  2. Establish a web site for commerce between state and local governments, allowing cities and counties in groups to avail themselves of the state’s purchasing power by buying supplies and materials via Internet through prearranged state contracts with a variety of vendors.
  3. Require agencies and departments to buy most goods and services online.  A State of Texas study found that states spend 5.5% of procurement budgets on processing costs.  Online speeds transactions and reduces administrative costs and staff time.
  4. Buy fuel for state vehicles by advance contracts to save money when fuel prices rise.
  5. Offer a single point of contact where businesses can obtain all the documents and submit all of the information required to conduct business in Nebraska.

  6. Microsoft estimates the average cost of processing each state purchasing transaction falls from $60 to $5 by moving it online. In Victoria, Australia, electronic purchasing has allowed the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to reduce purchasing costs from $32 to $5 per order.

45. Reduce state employee travel and training costs through videoconferencing and e-training.

46. Build accountability and openness into the budgeting and planning processes.  Oregon linked the goals of its individual state agencies to a set of carefully defined and measurable state benchmarks in wide categories, with data on subjects ranging from crime to skills development. The data shows not only how the indicators have changed but also provide targets for the future.

47. Performance based contracting: Use outcome-based contracts that contain clear performance standards and incorporate financial incentives and penalties and advanced performance measurement techniques. Example: If a company fails to meet the contract requirements, including an improvement in student reading scores of at least 3 points on a scale of 100, the company receives nothing. An outcome-based statement of work, rigid quality control guidelines, and appropriate financial incentives all are essential to achieving success with performance-based contracts. 

48.  Current software can give the state the ability to negotiate and document contracts online. Templates for contracts can remain stored in the system, used by an agency to develop a new contract. These systems allow digital signatures or certificates to seal or accept contracts. 

49.  Contract with a private company to operate reverse auctions over the Internet to solicit bids for large purchases. In reverse auctions, sellers compete to offer the lowest prices for a commodity or service. By improving the flow of information among buyers and sellers, online marketplaces and reverse auctions make markets more efficient, inducing more competition among suppliers and reducing the costs of doing business with buyers. Internet auctions and marketplaces have computers that can conduct an endless series of analyses, comparing the bidding history of various suppliers with that of buyers and accept or reject bids based on that analysis.

50.  Establish state government waste commission to propose legislation to end wasteful and unneeded spending programs, bills that would receive preferential floor consideration and a roll call vote with no amendments permitted.

DEPARTMENT OF ROADS:

  1. Privatize work services now handled by the Department of Roads.  The roads dept. is the third highest dept. spender in the state.  The amount it has expended on salaries, benefits, overtime, and other personnel costs grew from 16.5% of total road spending in FY 2000 to 20.4% in FY 2002.  The 2000 figure was $92.9 million; the 2002 figure was $111.5 million.  Overtime costs increased from $3.6 million to $5.1 million in these 2 years.  Employee travel costs rose from a bit over $900,000 to almost $1.5 million.  Meanwhile, capital outlay spent on road construction, equipment, land, and other tangibles stood at $340.5 million in 2002 compared to $407.8 million in 2000.  In 2000, 72.6% of the dept. budget funded road work; in 2002, this figure dropped to 62.2%.  Operating expenses for this agency rose from $55.6 million in 2000 to $63.6 million in 2002, a 13% hike.  Impose tighter deadline incentives for road contracts, better job scheduling, and allowing attrition and retirement to cull the personnel herd. 

 

  1. Under a design-build contract, the state contracts with a single entity to provide road design and construction services.  Used selectively, such contracts offer numerous advantages over traditional approaches, including substantial time savings, simplified project management, superior cost controls, and a reduced need for contract modifications. Financial institutions approve of this approach.

 

53.  Performance-based contracts stress end results over the traditional contractual terms with detailed specifications and strict inspections of work in progress. In a performance-based contract, a government lists the performance criteria it wants achieved and gives the contractor the freedom to determine how to meet the criteria. For the contract monitoring process to succeed, the performance criteria must be objective and measurable.

54.  A pavement warranty is a contractual guarantee that a road will function appropriately for a specific period of time. Otherwise, the provider will replace or repair the road surface at no cost to the taxpayer. The current warranty used for most government-funded projects is the performance bond, which only guarantees contractor materials and workmanship during the project and for up to one year after completion.   

55.  Outsource responsibility for maintaining entire sections of our Interstate and state highway networks.

56.  Make contractors face fines for each day past time allotted in a contract for completion but allow them to win the same amount in bonuses for completing a project early.

57.  Reduce Dept. of Roads expenditures for handling and storing materials and supplies by using just-in-time purchasing practices, requiring suppliers to deliver materials and supplies where used when needed. This act should significantly reduce the amount of warehouse space needed and the resources required to receive, store, inventory, and distribute materials and supplies.

  1. Stop planting Scotch Pine trees along the Interstate and state highway systems, because the trees are not drought-resistant, cause injuries and fatalities if hit by drivers, and provide cover for deer to hide and then run out in front of vehicles. 

 

  1. Stop Dept. of Roads employees from leaving their vehicles running in winter, keeping vehicles warm until employees return to them. 

 

  1. End county designations on Nebraska license plates.  Nebraska paid $50,000 annually to a company for county stickers that did not stick to license plates, earning motorists traffic citations.  

 

  1. Issue vehicle license plates every 5 years instead of every 3 years.

 

OTHER AGENCIES:

 

  1. Delay the Game & Parks Dept. clearing park land of trees at Branched Oak Lake for pheasant habitat.

 

  1. Use donated monies given the Game & Parks Dept. for land acquisition instead to cut the deficit. 

 

  1. Consolidate large information technology data centers.

 

  1. Terminate the Nebraska public radio and television networks.  Commercial competition abounds in NE.

 

  1. End child care tax credits given businesses.

 

  1. Delay capital construction.

 

68.  Discounting public employee retirement funds, $3 billion in surplus monies rest in the state treasury.  (See the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report on file with the State Dept. of Administrative Services).  As of 1-02, about 50 state agencies held cash funds with balances over $500,000, e.g., the NE Corn Board hoards $792,000 for corn marketing.  Private financial services manage these funds, which, combined with pensions, top $8.8 billion.  These financial services contribute to election campaigns of state senators.  Also, public officials boast about hefty reserve funds to appear prudent money managers.  Decrease the deficit with this surplus.

 

69.  Limit the amount that tobacco wholesalers receive to apply tax stamps to 12c per pack, instead of 3.4% of the tax rate.  About 53 wholesalers received an 88% raise from the legislature from the higher tobacco tax, costing taxpayers $1.3 million more each year starting in 10-02. 

 

70.  End all special tax exemptions for railroads.

71.  Require all alien green card holders to file state income tax returns under single status, with no exemptions.  Those filing, faced with withholding, then must file a tax return to obtain a refund. 

 

  1. Provide a state bounty of $100 to anyone who turns in with proof a state employee, dept., or agency for committing fraud with taxpayer money, e.g., workers comp, welfare, bidding on contracts.

 

  1. The State Cash Reserve Fund, not committed to specific expenditures, holds $213.6 million as of 4-2006.  These monies our legislators supposedly use for emergencies. We have a fiscal emergency.

 

  1. Stop automatic extension of contracts bid out to private providers and segmenting contracts to make each segment fall under the $25,000 competitive bidding start line. 

 

  1. End funding for the NE State Fair.

 

  1. Sell rights to the Nebraska name, collecting millions annually from companies for the right to designate an “official” state product, like soda pop, candy, or other consumer item.  Corporations could pay to use our state symbols, like the state flag.

 

  1. Cut state aid to local governments.

 

EMPLOYEES:

  1. Consolidate state cell phone contracts and encourage competitive contracts.  Trim the number of cell phones given state employees and curtail their use.  Make employees reimburse the state for personal cell phone calls.

 

  1. State employees can use phones and fax machines instead of vehicles to communicate with other employees.  Use more carpooling.  Utilize the Internet for personnel meetings.  Replace expensive cell phones with beepers and pagers. 

 

  1. Limit administrative travel.

 

81.  Of the 15 highest-paid employees in the state in 2003, 12 were psychiatrists, who earn from $151,000 to $190,000 annually, plus fringe benefits.  Privatizing their positions could save thousands.  State employee medical directors do not earn as much as these employees. 

 

  1. All pay raises and benefits for FY 2006-07 totaled $17.6 million more for state employees.  $41 million in raises for the university system.  Most state employees work under union contracts.  State employee salaries and wages rose by 89% from 1996 to 2004. The state should re-negotiate their contracts and ask employees to work free for 1 day.  Press unions to renegotiate salaries downward by 3-5%, so that no state employees face layoffs.  Place a trigger clause in future contracts to cut salaries in the event of another recession hitting the budget.  The average state employee salary in NE in 2005 was $35,877, compared to $33,616 average salary in the NE private sector.  Private sector employees in NE earn significantly less than the national average for their job categories, but state employees make slightly more, according to the U.S. Dept. of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics.  The total number of state employees in 2005 would constitute the 5th largest city in Nebraska (32,472), increasing by 10% 1995-2005.

 

  1. Cap employment slots in state agencies.

 

  1. Terminate phantom positions created when agencies receive funding for a specific employment level yet never fill all slots.

 

  1. Reward intelligent, industrious individual public employees and depts. with financial incentives and rewards, like performance bonuses and productivity awards, for creative ideas to implement efficiencies and save money.

 

  1. Distribute a portion of cost savings that result from winning a competition with private sector companies to state employees who participate in this process.

 

  1. Link public employee pay to performance through performance contracts, bonuses, and productivity awards.

 

  1. Tie employee bonuses directly to success or failure in meeting slimmed budget goals. 

89.  Allow employees who meet agreed-upon performance measures to share in savings below the budget baseline. Because this system uses the most recent performance and budget data as the starting point each year, the effect ratchets down budgets while maintaining or ratcheting up service levels. Under performance-based pay plans, employees and supervisors must mutually define and agree on measurable job performance objectives linked to broad goals and mission. Employees then become evaluated on how effectively they accomplish their objectives and win rewards accordingly. Performance pay focuses employee attention on continual improvement.  It creates an environment in which all employees understand expectations, evaluation, and compensation for their work.

90.  Implement a Telework Incentive Act to reduce state employee turnover and increase productivity. Telework means working in an environment outside the traditional office setting. It provides a strong incentive in recruiting and retaining valued employees, improves morale and job satisfaction, and saves office and parking space.  Employees who reduce commute time and stress will balance work and family more easily and successfully. They appreciate working in a quiet, uninterrupted work environment.

91.  Taxpayers pay $1.56 for each $1 state employees pay into their retirement plans.  Lower the taxpayer percentage.

92.               There is $7.2 billion (2003) stashed away in retirement funding for state government workers, much of it taxpayer $$.  This pension funding can help erase the ongoing deficit. 


93.  The State pays 79% of employee health insurance.  Raise the percentage paid by employees.

 

  1. Mandate that state retirees pay a greater percentage of their health insurance premiums, which will increase by 22% during the next 2 fiscal years.

 

  1.  Roll back salaries of state constitutional officers, who received raises in 2002 and 2006, to previous levels.

 

  1. Privatize worker compensation insurance fund and open its market to private insurers. 

 

  1. According to the State Personnel Division (1999-2000), taxpayers spend $22 million on holiday pay every year for state employees, who enjoy 12 paid holidays annually, compared to 8 paid holidays for private sector employees.  Savings: $7.5 million annually by cutting 4 holidays. 

 

  1. Implement reductions in comprehensive fringe benefit packages through work rule alterations.  In 2006, 47c in benefits tied to each dollar of salary.

 

  1. Terminate the Commission on Industrial Relations, whose decisions routinely mandate higher labor costs for public employees.  Or, match its salary and benefit comparisons to those of the private sector for comparable jobs instead of comparing them to similar jobs in the very expensive regional major metropolitan cities.

 

HIGHER EDUCATION:

  1. The number of NE high school graduates will drop by 9.5% by 2012, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.  Therefore, we need not expend tax monies to accommodate unnecessary growth in the state university and college systems.  We should not expend tax money to recruit out of state students when so many Nebraska youth cannot afford expensive higher education tuition. Non-residents are less likely to remain here to work after graduation and pay taxes. 

 

  1. The university system complains about cuts in its budget, but it received a 4+% hike in FY 2006-07.  The 4-campus NU system consumes about 16% of the total state general fund budget (FY 2006-07).  State funding is about 1/3 of its total budget.  Under gubernatorial reductions, the NU system yearly budget still increased by 4.23% in FY 2001-2002 and 6.8% in FY 2002-2003.  The Legislature can reverse the unrestricted flow of cash to the University system by $20 million, the entire increase for FY 2002-2003.  The U. system received $415 million in the 2001 fiscal year (p.41 in the Blue Biennial Budget Book).  The legislature has increased the U. budget from $350 million in FY 1997-1998 to $571 million in FY 2006-07.  In the former fiscal year, 49,000 students attended the U. system; 45,122 attended in Fall 2004.  NU has won hikes in state spending for years, notwithstanding falling enrollment until 2002, when a 2.5% increase in students occurred.  From 1999 to 2003, taxpayers paid a $2,530 increase per student, from $7,143 to $9,673.  Yet, U.S. News & World Report in 2002 placed the NU system performance rating at between its 2nd and 3rd tier.  In 2006, NE spent more than every adjacent state except Wyoming in higher education appropriations per $1,000 of personal income and appropriations per capita.

 

  1. Lower the direct allocation expenditure from the General Fund to no more than $10,000 per enrolled full-time university student.

 

  1. A 3% across the board cut in university system departmental expenditures.

 

  1. Defund the University Diversity Initiative that spends tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars on events such as Gay & Lesbian Month, a regional feminist conference touting topics such as bisexuality, witches, and female oppression and a symposium on gay and lesbian issues, linked directly to a week of legislative lobbying on gay rights, and which included a bold attack on traditional values by a lesbian political activist keynote speaker, who returned home with several thousands of $$ in speaker fees. 

 

  1. End funding for a hate crimes coordinator at UNO.

 

  1. Defund the UNL diversity artist residency program.

 

  1. End the university commissions on women and minority issues. 

 

  1. There exist a few classes not crucial to a quality liberal arts education, with few students enrolled, like the Portuguese language program.  Eliminate these low priority programs.

 

  1. End the waste of millions on projects that have no connection to academic quality or research, like $3 million for a hydraulic indoor track at UNL. 

 

  1. Do not spend savings from administrative cost reductions elsewhere in the University system. 

 

  1. Cut the board of regents annual budget by 10%.

 

  1. Redesign the academic organization of the university, a centuries-old system that shows duplication in our multi-campus system.  Most of the university budget pays for personnel costs.  In colleges and hundreds of departments, many overlapping administrative positions and secretarial staff could face elimination.  Combining colleges across the 3 undergraduate NU campuses could eliminate many dean positions and department staff duplications. 

 

  1. NU personnel enjoy a lower cost of living than at most schools we use for comparison. Thus, salary level recommendations we should adjust when making comparisons.  UNL employees averaged 4.6% pay hikes, and Medical Center employees received 4% average wage hikes.  UNO faculty raises averaged 6%, and UNK faculty raises averaged 7%!!   These 2002 hikes rose above the increase in the state cost of living.  The number of NU employees who earn 6-figure salaries doubled from 256 in 1998 to 2002, the university payroll growing 22% during that time. 

 

  1. Remove from the NU health benefit package the coverage for contraceptives, which the board of regents approved in April, 2001.  Savings: between $1.5 - $2 million dollars.

 

  1. According to the state auditor, the University Foundation holds $1 billion in undesignated donations.  This money could have covered the entire UN-L system budget FY 2004-2005, freeing millions to erase the deficit and erase the need for a tuition hike.  The Foundation spent less than 9% of this largesse ($87.3 million) on university programs in 2006, although total gifts to the Foundation that year totaled over $127 million.  The Foundation in 2003 purchased country club memberships and 160 SUVs, Cadillac Escalades, and Oldsmobiles for almost a dozen top administrators and 100 coaches and their wives. The Foundation afforded Pres. Smith $700,000 in a discretionary fund to spend as he wished. 

 

  1. Require each college professor to instruct a full 15 credit hour class load during each semester, thus  reducing the number of teaching assistants and instructors/professors. 

 

  1. End the tenure system for university faculty members, making it easier to fire incompetents.

 

  1. Make university staff give a percentage of their consulting fees, earned because of their university positions, to the university.

 

  1. Top UNL administrators received 27% pay and benefit raises in FY 2001-2002.  Pres. Milliken gained a new salary for 2006 of $270,000, up from $254,800 in 2003.  Included in his stash is a country club membership, gas, service, and insurance for a vehicle, $2,000 per month for housing expenses, housekeeping services, and 11% of his total salary for deferred compensation. Provost Lee Jones received a 9.9% raise, to $188,000; his successor earned $200,000 in 2003.  Vice-pres. Richard Wood won a whopping 10.3% salary hike, to $150,000; he earned $156,000 in 2003.  UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman earned $220,000, a 22% pay raise; in 2003, he garnered $228,800.  UNO Chancellor Nancy Belck earned $170,000, a 9.3% raise; in 2003, the figure rose to $176,800.  The UNK chancellor earned $162,000, a 9.5% hike; Doug Kristensen amassed $168,480 in 2003.  NU Athletic Director Bill Byrne received $229,472.  His and base salaries for other NU coaches do not include incentive bonuses, proceeds from clothing contracts, and radio and TV show deals.  Peg these raises instead to the rate of inflation.  Source: UNL.

 

  1. Randy Ferlic, chairman of the NU Board of Regents, wants to offer up to $600,000 annual salary to attract a new university president.  Eliminate this position and allow campus chancellors to manage the U.

 

  1. End the practice of university athletic department contract buyouts that cost $850,000 for 5 fired and retired UNL assistant football coaches.  Renegotiate raises given the new staff.  UNL hired a new athletic director in 12-02 for a beginning salary of $300,000 annually, over $70,000 more than that paid to his predecessor. 

 

  1. End the free maid service, country club membership, lawn care, snow shoveling, and $5,000 yearly expense account given the UNK Chancellor.

 

  1. Stop paying for country club memberships and golf outings for university officials. 

 

  1. Stop university bonuses.  Top administrators receive bonuses worth $850,000 for remaining in the system for 7 yrs.  In 2002, NU football coaches received $156,163 in bonuses.  Former Coach Frank Solich received $36,876, a bonus higher than some people earn in annual salaries.

 

  1. Defer agreed upon pay raises at every university and college campus until the Legislature completes its FY 2007-2008 budget cuts. 

 

  1. Stop negotiating university union contracts that guarantee specific salary rates of increase. 

 

  1. Cut the university bureaucracy.  Each campus need not have its own chancellor with staff.  Each dean at UN-Kearney need not have an associate dean.  This campus lost 4,000 students in 4 yrs., yet the number of administrators has mushroomed.

 

  1. End several NU public service functions, like public broadcasting, overseas cultural programs, and health services.

 

  1. End all career services at university campuses.

 

  1. End the $30,000 university recycling program.

 

  1. End the $41,283 university landscaping education program.

 

  1. End the $3 million project to build a storage facility for rarely-read volumes in the university library system.  Sell these books instead. 

 

  1. In our Internet information era, we do not require a 13% yearly increase in University library book purchasing spending. 

 

  1. Privatize the University Building, Grounds, & Custodial services and dormitory food services. 

 

  1. A 10% cut in university staff travel expenses would save the system about $500,000 annually.

 

  1. Forbid state agencies and departments, like the university system, from hiring and paying lobbyists to lobby the legislature for more funding. 

 

  1. End University of NE Medical College radio and TV advertising.

 

  1. Regionalize university programs in coordination with universities/colleges in neighboring states, like our veterinary students now attending college in Kansas.  Such endeavor might entice graduate students from neighboring states to permanently reside in Nebraska, adding to our educated work force and tax base.

 

  1. Save almost $1 million by terminating the postsecondary coordinating commission that oversees state colleges.  University staff can make its decisions.

 

  1. Consolidate the state college board of trustees with the NU board of regents to improve higher education cooperation and eliminate duplicative staff, as recommended by the Strauss Commission. 

 

  1. Merge the university system and state colleges to lower costs by teaching more classes long-distance and thus eliminating unnecessary classroom duplication.  The number of students taking classes by Internet and satellite doubled between 1998-99 and 2000-01.  All academic departments are developing long distance courses (NU Board of Regents meeting 7-02). 

 

  1. Cut the 5.5% pay raises given top administrators and faculty in the state college system.  End the $7,000-$14,000 housing allowances for these administrators.  Some of these colleges are smaller than Nebraska high schools. 

 

PUBLIC EDUCATION:

  1. Nebraska school district enrollments have flattened on average for years.  2004 Average Daily Membership, the number of kids enrolled in a district on a given day in the fall, stood at 278,887.  The Average Daily Attendance, the actual head count of kids in school, stood at 263,932.26.  On any school day, students enrolled in districts but not in school would equal one of the largest school districts in NE.  Each day, taxpayers pay districts for absent students.  Spending per pupil for Average Daily Membership totaled $8,013 (2005), and districts receive some of this amount from state aid, regardless of actual attendance.  Thus, taxpayers spend millions for kids who are not in school.  Costs per pupil have risen 55% 1995-2005.  Pay school districts on the basis of Average Daily Attendance. 

 

  1. Place a cap on state aid to education, as most state monetary expenditures fund public schools and postsecondary education institutions, e.g., salaries and pensions.  State aid now totals 22% of the state budget, rising by 29% in 6 fiscal years to $82.8 million in FY 06-07.

 

  1. In 1990, the state legislature passed the Option Enrollment Law for K-12 students.  This law permits students, for curricular reasons, to opt out to other school districts, which then become reimbursed by the State, as the students do not reside in their new districts.  Projected cost for this non-essential program in 2003: $34 million.

 

  1. Save millions, including the 2006 $1.8 million hike, by ending early childhood education programs.

 

  1. End the textbook loan program to private and parochial schools.

 

  1. End state incentive monies for free and reduced-price school meals.

 

  1. The growing cost of providing special education to an increasing number of Nebraska children in public schools, with some children unnecessarily in the program for behavior problems, is ravaging public school budgets.  In the 2000-2001 school year, NE taxpayers spent $205.2 million on special ed instruction and $16.8 million on special ed transportation, a 60% and 51% increase in 8 yrs.  Special ed consumes about 1/3 what we spend on salaries for classroom teachers.   Source: NE Dept. of Education. Shrink the categories of students eligible for special ed programs and expenses. 

 

  1. End forgiveness of student loans for public school teachers.

 

  1. Repeal the Rule of 85, which allows public school teachers with 30 years of service to retire early at age 55.  This rule allows teachers to retire with full pay and then assume another teaching or administrative position in the education field at full salary and benefits.  One retiring Omaha Public Schools principal received 66% of his $90,000 salary, $59,400, plus his new salary as principal at Millard North High School. 

 

  1. Consolidate educational service units and terminate them in metro areas, e.g., Douglas County, that do not need their services.

 

  1. Consolidate top administration levels among or between neighboring school districts, e.g., one superintendent and asst.-superintendent for more than 1 contiguous school district.

 

  1. School districts that have high per-pupil costs that demand increasing amounts of state aid should consolidate.  School consolidation eventually could save taxpayers up to $100 million yearly.1

 

  1. ESU3 and others have on staff vision consultants, occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech pathologists, psychologists, special ed teachers, and other personnel extraneous to the main purpose of education and have personnel duplicated within individual school districts served by ESUs. 

 

  1. Require school districts to spend at least 70% of their salary budgets on those who actually have student contact, salaries based on classes taught.  Administrators teaching classes would earn pay for teaching in a teacher shortage situation. 

 

  1. Press the NE Dept. of Education to repeal regulation mandates on local school districts under Rule 10 (school accreditation) and Rule 51(special education).  These mandated costs force school districts to seek additional state aid to help balance their budgets.

158.  Develop a School District Financial Accountability Rating System. This system would impose no additional reporting burdens on school districts yet show easily understandable district financial ratings. It will be an early warning indicator for school districts heading toward financial troubles and highlight commendable financial practices in districts where administrators work hard to maintain public trust.

159.  Continually rework formulas for state aid to school districts to compensate for mandates. Give each school district x number of dollars to work with, each deciding how to spend the money.

  160.  Public school district employees in 2006 paid only 7.98% of their retirement contributions.  The state should pay less and force these employees to pay a higher percentage.


SOCIAL SERVICES:

161.                      Temporarily defund the Nebraska Housing Trust Fund, which funnels $4 million annually to subsidize housing for the poor. 

162.           From 1995 to 2005, the number of food stamp recipients has decreased, but costs have increased by 38%, partly because NE offers food stamps to illegal aliens.  End this non-federally mandated program.

 

163.                      Reform the state Medicaid system to permit clients to choose among multiple providers, customize benefits according to patient needs and circumstances, and target benefits to the really needy. Allow recipients to obtain vouchers or refundable tax credits to buy personal insurance through independent brokers from a variety of state plans, e.g., medical savings accounts, fee for service, and managed care.  Institute recipient buying pools. The state can apply for a federal waiver to accomplish such. 

 

164.                      Place all welfare recipients in managed care with pharmacy, physician, and hospital lockin provisions.

 

165.                      Use vouchers for subsidized day care, mental health, drug treatment, housing, and job training. 

 

166.                      Cut state welfare programs offering assistance to those living at up to 185% of the designated federal poverty level. Tightening eligibility for welfare payments and closing loopholes could have saved $18 million in FY 2002-2003.  Medicaid accounts for 42% of the growth in our state budget and 19.4% of the total 2006 general fund budget.  Annual welfare spending rose by 60%!! from FY 2003-04 to FY 2004-05, 19+% for Medicaid. 

 

167.                       Cut welfare programs benefiting illegal aliens.  Several programs may serve illegal aliens on a temporary basis, because federal law requires the HHS Dept. to provide temporary Medicaid coverage to specific individuals who do not qualify for ongoing coverage because of their alien status.  Such coverage falls under the Emergency Medical for Aliens program or under the temporary Presumptive Eligibility Medicaid program for children.  If an individual who is not a legal alien receives benefits, we must service him under program guidelines established by either federal or state law.  (Source: NE Dept. of Health and Human Services).

 

168.                      After passage of the 1996 federal welfare reform law, Wyoming boasted the largest welfare caseload reduction by instituting pay for performance, compelling recipients to comply with work requirements and other stringent provisions for personal responsibility before receiving a monthly check.  Grants automatically decrease for those who fail to comply for legitimate reasons.  Failure to cooperate for 2 months earns termination of services.

 

169.                      Stop printing welfare application and other forms in foreign languages.

 

170.                      Require re-evaluation of eligibility for the Kids’ Connection health insurance program every 6 months instead of every 12 months.  The average NE worker earned $33,616 in 2005.  Applicants for this welfare program can earn almost $60,000 per year.  Its budget will increase by 20% in the next 2 fiscal years.  Companies urge employees to enroll their kids in Medicaid instead of the employer group insurance plan, saving these companies money on premiums.  Legislators never intended Kids’ Connection to become socialist universal health care coverage.

 

171.                      End all child care subsidies for poor families.

 

172.                      Facilitate the speedier adoption of children residing in foster care homes.

 

173.                      End dental, optical, podiatry, and acupuncture coverage under Medicaid. 

 

174.                      Institute private pharmacy contracts to manage Medicaid drug consumption and impose drug co-payments.

 

175.                      Promote use of generic drugs.

 

176.                      Obtain rebates from pharmaceutical companies for using their drugs in bulk.

177.Authorize long-term care and mental health facilities to use automated drug dispensing systems that package and label single doses of drugs as needed. The use of such machines would reduce waste and allow nursing staff to spend more time caring for residents.

178. Combine purchase of health services and prescription drugs by all state agencies to negotiate better prices.

179.                      Seek pharmacy benefit managers and supplemental rebates to make the Medicaid drug program more cost-effective.

180.           Eliminate the $750,000 now funding a state AIDS program. 

181.            Stop welfare energy assistance for utility deposits. 

 

182.                      Freeze cost of living adjustments received by welfare service recipients.

 

183.                      Place families requesting welfare services on waiting lists.

 

184.                      Utilize data brokers to instantly verify income and assets of Medicaid and other service applicants.

 

185.                      Utilize audit recovery programs to detect and cut fraud, waste, abuse, and mistaken payments.

 

186.                      Terminate the NE Commission on Public Advocacy.

187. Encourage the provision of more affordable insurance for small businesses and individuals by carefully monitoring the impact of health care mandates on health insurance premium costs and helping small businesses buy low-cost insurance through reducing the impact of state mandates on the cost of insurance.

188. The expanded use of telemedicine could allow more disabled children and their families to receive expert medical consultations while staying in their home towns, thus reducing travel costs and avoiding the physical toll of traveling.

189.  Lobby to change federal tax law to eliminate tax discrimination against the unemployed and workers whose employers do not offer health insurance. Federal tax law excludes the cost of employer-provided health insurance from taxable wages. Tax credits would encourage individuals without health insurance to purchase it. Change federal law to expand Medical Savings Accounts to allow individuals more choices to purchase health care.  Such measures would decrease pressure on Medicaid. 

GOVERNMENT REGULATION:

190.          Implement regulation reform to save dollars in monitoring costs.

 

191.          Remove state mandates on local government subdivisions, e.g., multicultural education classes, mandated property valuations.  State costs to monitor compliance with these mandates will disappear. 

 

192.          In anticipation of future monies coming from tobacco company legal settlements, NE, like several other states, could sell bonds to gain immediate funds to erase part of our anticipated deficit.  Bond houses would not sell to cover more than 50% of the remaining monies due under the settlement. 

 

193.          Nebraska has received $50 million of the $1.2 billion tobacco settlement monies.  This $50 million does not appear in the state budget.  $5+ million supposedly paid for teen smoking prevention, but only $5 million of that amount went into the general fund temporarily to pay down the deficit, and the rest paid for new health programs outside Medicaid.  Some of the $50 million went to the UN Medical Center and Creighton U. for medical research, not necessarily tobacco use research.  Much of this $50 million paid for NEW spending.  None of it remained in the general fund.  Source: NE Dept. of Revenue 4-02.  The rest of this $50 million and future $50 million increments from the tobacco settlement should pay off the deficit. 

 

CORRECTIONS:

194.          Cut our state prison recidivism rate.  According to the State Dept. of Corrections in FY 2004, the recidivism rate stood at a whopping 22.7%. The number of parole revocations rose from 244 in 1999 to 340 in 2005. Budget information FY  2005 posted on the dept. web site at www.corrections.state.ne.us states that we spend $22,091 per convict per year in NE, costs scheduled to increase 6% during the next 2 fiscal years.  The average convict population is 4,127.  Adding the costs of parole and other expenses, the dept. budget reached $188 million (2004), a 101% increase in 8 yrs.  A faith-based approach to incarceration cut the recidivism rate among prisoners in one Brazil prison to 16%, compared to 84% for all other Brazilian prisons.  This study, by a U. of Pennsylvania sociologist, examined prison management by an affiliate of Prison Fellowship International, which utilizes religious volunteers, programming, teaching, life-skills training, and spiritual mentoring to gain impressive results. 

 

195.          End softball fees paid for prison inmates.

 

196.           End satellite TV programming and free cable TV in individual cells.

 

197.          Close the prison system law libraries, which inmates use for research for their endless appeals.

 

198.          End free education classes towards gaining high school diplomas, free college classes, free telecourses,  “cultural awareness programs,” music, crafts, painting, and athletics.

 

199.          Institute work details at prisons for inmates, to help pay their costs. 

 

200.          The Tecumseh prison laundry solicits private business and competes with private enterprises.  Stop this interference in the marketplace and allow private businesses to handle prison laundry services.

201. Accelerate alternatives to incarceration for some nonviolent criminals. Increase the chances for successful rehabilitation of substance-abuse addicts, thereby lowering their recidivism rates. Several states fund substance abuse treatment as an alternative to prison. Wisconsin allows judges to order felony drug offenders with no weapons violation or previous record to receive treatment, attend classes, and obtain job and parental counseling.

202.Move elderly and seriously-ill prisoners to alternative settings.  Incarcerate them in nursing homes designed to serve an inmate population. Federal funds could defray most of these nursing home costs. Convert state mental hospitals.

 

203.Change state law to permit sale or leasing of the Hastings Correctional Center to a private company. 

 

204.                      Allow counties and cities to contract with private prisons.

 

205.Jailed teens in the fancy state correctional facility in East Omaha cost NE taxpayers $59,212 each annually FY 2005, about twice as much as an Ivy League education and almost 9 times greater than what a typical NE school district spends per pupil per year.  FY 2005 spending at this youth facility is much higher than the $33,377 per person annually at the NE prison at Tecumseh, $33,223 per inmate at the Diagnostic & Evaluation Center, $29,417 at the NE Correctional Center for Women, $27,544 at the Lincoln Penitentiary, and $24,221 at the Omaha Pen.  High costs in East Omaha accrue, because the inmates, from early teen years to almost 22, receive remedial academic assistance, English as a Second Language instruction, college classes, pre-employment training, sex education, parenting skills, computer basics, special counseling for the socially impaired, and pre-release counseling. The average of 78 youths incarcerated there have 77.5 staff members to monitor them (Source: NE Dept. of Corrections web site 12-06).  Cut the perks!

 

206.                      Dissolve the NE State Court of Appeals.  Most states have appeals courts, but they have much larger populations than Nebraska.  Appeals court judges earn 95% of the salary of state supreme court judges.  Besides these 6 hefty salaries are salaries for court administrators, clerks, court reporters, and staff attorney, court technology and storage, photocopying, per diems, travel expenses, etc.  Having an appeals court made sense in the 1980s, when caseloads spiked, but caseloads leveled off.

 

207.                      End court interpreter services, saving $30,000 (FY 2006).

 

208.                      Save $1.2 million (FY 2006) by ending provision of free legal services.

 

Research and documentation for this worksheet done by members of Nebraska Taxpayers for Freedom. This material copyrighted by Nebraska Taxpayers for Freedom, with express prior permission granted for its use by Citizens for Local Control, Cherry County Taxpayers, Dawes County Taxpayers, and other groups in the Tax Freedom Network.  12-06.    C


1 Prof. Ernie Goss, Economics Dept., Creighton University.