Heineman vetoes gas tax boost

The portion of the state budget that would have required a fuel tax increase of about a penny per gallon was vetoed Wednesday by Gov. Dave Heineman. It was the only veto he made in the budget plan passed by the Legislature last week. He signed the rest of the spending bills, along with a bill changing the state school aid formula. The school aid measure, LB988, will mean a smaller increase in growth in state aid for the 2008-09 school to help close an estimated $60 million gap between spending and expected state revenues.

Together, the budget and state aid changes mean state spending for the two-year budget period ending June 30, 2009, will total about $6.8 billion. That amounts to 4.6% average annual growth in state spending. Lawmakers passed a budget requiring an estimated 1.2 cents per gallon increase in the state motor fuel tax on July 1 as a way to maintain current funding for road construction. Heineman expressed appreciation for the Legislature’s willingness to look at the road funding challenges. But he did not agree with their solution.

State Sen. Deb Fischer of Valentine said that if lawmakers don’t override the veto, the governor’s action means that much less money will be available for road maintenance and construction. She said the state road-building budget already faces a crisis. Meanwhile, the governor voiced hope that U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., and the rest of Nebraska’s congressional delegation, all Republicans, would be able to secure more federal dollars for the state’s road-building efforts.