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| B | Nebraska |
• Population (rank): 1,768,331 (38)
• Average per capita income (rank): $23,248 (29)
• Total state spending (rank): $7,702,325,000 (41)
• Spending per capita (rank): $4,356 (39)
• Governor: Dave Heineman (R)
• Took office: 1/2005
• Legislature (unicameral, nonpartisan): 49 members
• Term limits: 8 years (consecutive)
Most of the time, when governors want to have a conversation with their budget directors, it's about the crisis of the day, the problem of the week or the dilemma of the month. But not long after the end of the 2007 legislative session, Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman approached Budget Administrator Gerry Oligmueller to talk about problems he thought might crop up in the next six years.
This wasn't just an idle gesture. In 2006, voters made it clear that they were frustrated by the fact that Nebraska's tax burden is relatively high for its region. Although a ballot measure calling for a constitutional spending limit failed to pass, the message was unmistakable: The state had to start making careful plans to spend wisely and tax less or else citizens might take matters into their own hands.
Long-term thinking may be easier in Nebraska than elsewhere because the "unicameral" (the only single-chamber state legislature in the country) is officially non-partisan. "They all belong to a party, but the parties don't tell them what to do," says Oligmueller. The entire legislative process is more collaborative than in most other states; the governor's budget office consults with the legislative fiscal office before issuing instructions for the biennial budget.
Agencies submit their budgets to both the governor and the legislature at the same time, and their requests immediately become public documents. That degree of transparency, which is unusual, doesn't seem to bog down the process too much. The only real downside in Nebraska's approach to budgeting is that neither the legislature nor the budget office has made much progress over the past few years in the use of performance information to actually craft the budget.
The state has had greater success than most in chipping away at deferred maintenance in its general-facilities infrastructure, thanks to a cigarette tax-based funding stream. "We don't have tremendous resources," says Building Division Administrator Jeff Jensen, "but we really focus on maintaining what we have." The state hires inspectors who evaluate agency repair requests. Then a task force gets together and ranks priorities based on established criteria. The state's prioritization process for these minor projects rivals those of many other states for more major infrastructure improvements.
On the transportation side, Nebraska is less sophisticated — which is perhaps reflected in the fact that the relevant agency is still called the Department of Roads. The department's construction budget, which includes the amount it spends each year on major maintenance and new-lane construction, has been decreasing steadily because of declining revenues and increasing inflation — which makes critical planning difficult.
Because revenues have fallen, state transportation managers have focused almost entirely on preserving what's already there. They ascertain the level of funding necessary to maintain the current system — for next year, they have estimated $170 million. That leaves them with a relatively meager $100 million for new capital projects. But Nebraska is careful to align its spending with the latest federal design recommendations: Recently, for example, the state decided it no longer needed to convert highways from two-lane to four-lane status when they reach a threshold of 6,000 vehicles a day — waiting to reach 10,000 a day would meet the most recent standards. That change will save $1.4 billion over 20 years.
The work of a funding-distribution team, which is currently in the process of prioritizing and selecting projects based on need, will be critical. According to John Bartle, a professor of public administration at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, the Department of Roads would benefit mightily from more long-range planning in the face of a powerful highway lobby. "There's not a real strategic focus on how they use their money," he says. "There's a tendency to respond to legislative demands for 'we need to connect the roads from this town to this town.'"
For additional data and analysis, go to pewcenteronthestates.org/gpp.