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your district, how would you vote? If you would vote contrary to the party position, wouldn't that minimize your impact on legislation and negate any effort on your part to run for higher office?
ANSWER: All my votes will be determined by my review of the available information and what I believe is the best public policy for the STATE OF NEBRASKA, not what is best for my district, for a political party or in fact my future political aspirations. The formation of good public policy is why I want to be elected. If that is not what people want in there representative then I am not the candidate they should elect.
6. Having observed the legislative process, what one thing would you like to do to streamline or improve the process?
ANSWER: The formulation of state laws that govern our daily activities is not a pretty nor a quick process. Nor should it be. In the legislative process it is necessary to balance the majority desire to enact legislation with the duty to protect the constitutional rights of not just the minority but also the majority who may be unwittingly giving up certain rights in a moment of emotional turmoil. Creation of Legislation is not like making soup you can't just throw it out if you don't like the taste. Once a law is enacted the repeal thereof becomes difficult because every law creates stakeholders of the status quo who do not want to lose the gains they may have made. Even when those gains may be ill advised as far as policy for the State of Nebraska as a whole. What streamlines or improves the legislative process is the involvement of citizens who are working for the best interest of the State as a whole and ultimately are willing to vote when called upon to do so and are willing to take the heat when the flames of self interest are inflamed.
7. Gambling has been an issue in this state in an effort to boost local and state economies. How do you feel about expanded gambling in the state?
ANSWER: Gambling, just like any other single business enterprise is not the answer to local and state economies. Gambling as a recreational activity, or entertainment, has more social problems than the attending of a movie or going to a football game. However, those social problems are not so large and alarming that they should override the question as to whether or not other forms of gambling should exist in Nebraska. There is currently gambling in Nebraska and quite honestly the State of Nebraska has some of the worst advertising for gambling. I am not opposed to having casino style gambling in Nebraska. I am however opposed to the ongoing process which we have in place for the lottery. It is inappropriate that our state government is paying for advertising enticing more and more people to play the lottery. Government should not be running a gambling hall it should regulate, govern and tax but not operate one.
8. LB775 has been called good legislation from the large corporations which utilize the provisions of the bill and called horrible legislation from opponents of the measure. Setting aside your personal view on the matter, do you believe the state taxpayers have a right to see the effects of the corporate tax breaks on the companies utilizing the legislation?
ANSWER: If you are asking whether or not the state should measure whether or not laws such as LB 775 have a positive, negative or neutral impact on the State of Nebraska. The answer is yes. One of the ways to study that impact is to have access to the books of those organizations receiving subsidies from laws the like of LBB775. Access should be granted to government not to individual citizens. The evaluations made by the government should be available to all and there should be a narrative of what documents were used to evaluate the law.
9. If the state were to legalize gambling in some form and the result was $100 million each year to the state, as an example, to what programs would you distribute the funds if the decision were entirely yours to make?
ANSWER: Gambling in many forms is already legal in the State of Nebraska. The revenue from gambling sources should be placed into the General fund just as income tax and sales tax revenues. Those total revenues should be dispersed during the budget process based upon those programs that the State has a constitutional requirement to provide or based upon any federal mandates that must be provided. Speaking of federal mandates, those mandates that require the providing of a service in order to qualify for federal funds are not ones that I would place as a high priority. Bad public policy does not change into good public policy just because the Federal government is holding a check over the states head. After funding those constitutional programs and federal mandates, I
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