108S LR1CA Proponent Comment On Record

John Skretta

5905 O Street

Lincoln, NE 68505

District 28

Proponent

Representing:

Lincoln Public Schools

Chairperson Brewer and members of the Government, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee:

The Lincoln Public Schools appreciates Senator Blood’s proposal LR1CA, which proposes a Constitutional Amendment to prohibit the state from imposing additional programs or services or expanding the scope of existing programs or services without fully reimbursing cost of said programs to the political subdivisions tasked with carrying out said programming. Thus, LR1CA would prohibit the imposition of further unfunded mandates. 

The LPS Board of Education annually adopted Legislative Guidelines that reflect the district’s long held belief that program mandates must have sufficient resources to be operationalized or that they will inevitably compromise the efficacy of existing initiatives due to resource limitations. Specifically, in our third standing Legislative Guideline we assert that mandated state and/or federal programs must have financial resources adequate to fund the requirement, or that they be optional for districts.

We reiterate our proponent stance for LR1CA and thank the Committee for its consideration of this important measure.