March 14, 2005

Dear Fellow Nebraskans:

The first round of bills passed by the Legislature recently arrived on my desk for signature. Among the 34 bills were two that held particular importance for me. The first was LB 54, which was the first bill I had the privilege of signing into law.

The bill re-establishes the eligibility for benefits of those veterans who receive a general discharge under honorable conditions. Eligibility had been suspended as a result of a legal opinion issued last year, and I felt very strongly that ensuring support for our veterans was the right thing to do. At a time when Nebraskans are fighting for our country, we are constantly reminded of the sacrifices of our service men and women and their families. They deserve our deepest gratitude.

Protecting access to benefits such as homestead exemptions, county and state veterans’ aid payments had been a longstanding policy in Nebraska. The bill also allows applications from eligible veterans to be processed for residency in one of Nebraska’s four veterans’ homes. I am very pleased the Legislature was able to move this bill quickly in order to help those veterans whose benefits had been put on hold pending revision of state statute.

State agencies have maintained a file of applications submitted by veterans with a general discharge under honorable conditions. I have directed agencies to expedite the processing of these pending applications. This bill will directly affect four pending veterans’ home applicants and will ensure that the 31 applicants for veterans’ aid, if approved, will receive their payments retroactive from the time their request was received.

While the week presented an opportunity to sign my first piece of legislation, this first round of bills also contained a proposal I did not agree with. I returned LB 53 to the Legislature without my signature, asking state senators to reconsider the measure. The bill automatically restores the voting rights of convicted felons two years after completing a prison sentence.

I had strong objections to the idea of automatically restoring voting rights. It is unwise public policy and constitutionally suspect, given that our State Constitution already has a process by which felons may have their voting rights restored. The current process of submitting a pardon request allows the Board of Pardons to weigh the merits of each request on a case-by-case basis, which I believe is the appropriate procedure and one that is consistent with the views of citizens as expressed in our Constitution.

The veto was overridden by the Legislature and LB 53 will now take effect 90 days after the close of this year’s session. I’m disappointed that the veto was not sustained, but I have said many times that there are issues about which the Legislature and I will disagree and we have done so professionally.

Nearly 800 bills were introduced at the start of this year’s legislative session. Each requires consideration by a legislative committee and of those, only a portion will reach the floor of the Legislature to be voted on by senators. Fewer still will pass.

Legislative debate and the accompanying discussions that occur in communities across the state will help to determine our collective priorities, and there is still work to be done in this session. I value input from leaders here at the Capitol, across the state, as well as the ideas and opinions of citizens, and will continue to give careful consideration to each bill that comes across my desk in the weeks to come.