Heineman nixes NU spending, citing urgent need for tax relief
by Bob Hoig, Publisher
Midlands Business Journal
How many governors want to take on the education establishments in their state or, horror of horrors, the expansion designs of their state university.
Well, Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman, for one.
He deserves credit for it. He’s battling for the taxpayer.
Heineman said “no” in January to a plan by University of Nebraska officials appealing for $441 million for capital improvements.
Instead, he wants to budget for $327 million in income tax relief spread over three years.
Where might the NU expansion money come from?
Heineman mentioned, possibly, from the University of Nebraska Foundation, which raises private funds to assist NU projects and programs.
A recent comment from a foundation official placed its wealth at $1.7 billion.
The governor’s stand-by suggestion was for the university to rearrange its priorities for the duration of the current economic downtown. That is what small businesses and families do.
The University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha wants $370 million for a cancer research tower. The governor sees that figure well within the foundation’s ability to fund.
If past is prologue, convincing the foundation to help might be just the job for the Omaha World-Herald’s new owner, Warren Buffett.
Resistance is almost guaranteed because of the historic close relationships between past NU administrations and the two living former publishers of the World-Herald, recently retired John Gottschalk and before him Harold W. Andersen.
Why would Buffett break the pattern?
He probably won’t. But he’s an original thinker and a maverick, one who has avoided many of the traditional ties that bind town and gown, especially the extremely rich section of “town.”
One can recall the Warren Buffett of 1972, who then owned the defunct Omaha Sun Newspapers chain.
A feisty Buffett provided useful information to guide reporters to a perceived Boys Town pot of gold waiting beyond 132nd and West Dodge Road.
The story line was that a bunch of conservative old priests had saved more than $100 million from donations over the years and were doing nothing with the money.
Buffett’s labors led not only to the Pulitzer but coaxed the institution into opening a national hearing institute that is now a nationally-acclaimed model.
Heineman’s story line could parallel for the NU Medical Center’s cancer program what Buffett’s did for the Boys Town Hearing Institute. It brought forth stored up wealth for a useful public purpose, which, after all, is what foundations like NU’s are supposed to do.
The foundation seems to be in a bit of disarray because of the abrupt resignation of its CEO, Clarey Castner. Good as Castner was said to be at raising money, no one is irreplaceable. Few doubt that the foundation’s lofty reputation for raising private funds to assist university programs will remain intact.
Just over a week ago, a familiar figure entered the equation. John Gottschalk will serve as interim foundation president until Castner’s replacement is found.
How Senate ‘works’
Our eye caught a headline in the Jan. 29 Omaha World-Herald over an AP story: “Obama: Senate must change how it works.”
It had to do with how Congress and staff, scandalously, can profit from inside information to make money with investments.
Great idea, and timely.
Of equal interest to the work of the Republic is even more scandalous. The U.S. Senate hasn’t passed a budget for nearly three years, despite federal law that it be done yearly.
Budgeting, as the Wall Street Journal noted under a sarcastic editorial page headline, “No Budget, No Problem,” is more than a formality.
It is a formal blueprint that shows how the government will meet its obligations over the coming year, lays out a general fiscal framework for entitlements and sets priorities for spending and taxes, the paper said.
Such discipline seems to be the last thing Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Obama want to deal with.
February 10, 2012
