2005
Week 4
January 28, 2005

Hi

New words I learned at school -- oops, at the legislature. That thought is supposed to make parents nervous. However, these are a mix of curious and scary.

CLAWBACK. As in, "The federal government is going to clawback some of the money it sends to the states for Medicaid payments."

For the first time in the history of the nation the feds are sending the states a bill. We did not order anything or ask for it. They simply cannot figure out how to pay a bill, with their deficits and all, so are billing the states. If we refuse to write a check, the bill will be deducted from their checks to us.

There will undoubtedly be more to come, but this clawback is on prescription drugs. They are improving payment for people on Medicare. This makes seniors happy, I guess, but the feds do not have the money for it and decided our Medicaid bills for seniors in nursing care will be less. So claw it back. Will it be an equal amount? Not likely. Quite simply, it is a new tax: tax the states.

The challenge is we do not know how to budget for it. We assume it may cost us $6 million more in actual dollars, but we will not know ahead of time and cannot plan for it. Argh.

STRANDED COSTS As in, "Your utility company has built a pipeline which they are not allowed to use, causing a stranded cost." It is a cost with no visible means of support. Don't worry about it being paid. You will pay for it. But no service is delivered to anyone, with some sort of pay back, so it is a stranded cost.

Useful term. I buy some techie piece that does not work or does not help me. Stranded cost.

The utility companies fight for turf and will install a pipeline very near a pipeline for a competitor, to try to cherry-pick some customers. We try to regulate this, because that raises public costs. We have said "Thou shalt not double-pipe." They of course have a very rational explanation about how they were trying to better serve their customers. But they may not use the new line.

FERAL PIGS We rooted out a day and more this week on feral (wild) pigs. In fact our main activity was chasing feral pigs. You picture a wild boar, which is included. But any pig that escapes the farm yard and wanders around some canyon for two years will be wild.

They are a huge nuisance, rooting up swamps, forests, cornfields, fences -- and eating rabbits, calves, birds, new born wild life. We have about 80 now and must wipe them out, as they multiply fast. So the bill is to have Game and Parks shoot them. A rancher wanted to include the right for land owners to shoot them. That would lead to a sport, as it is in Arkansas, with great environmental harm. These critters have no natural predator and cannot be contained by a fence. As a kid, I roped a loose pig once, but it is very tricky. You have to get the rope around the middle, between the legs, as their neck is a clean taper.

INDEFINITELY POSTPONE You have heard of this, but it is a curious term. Means to kill, but uses a lot more paper. As, I will indefinitely postpone your breathing for the next 24 hours, and then we will decide what your future is.

ENGROSS Eat way too much? Have officially achieved "fat"? Much too gross to talk about in public? Not. This is to "engross" a bill, which is to add refining, correcting amendments in some secret inner office before it is brought back on the floor.

FEDERALISM As in, "Federalism is fast becoming extinct." You do not hear the word much except in erudite political philosophy. Way back in 1800, Thomas Jefferson was a federalist, who insisted on states rights and did not believe that the feds could do anything except defense without permission from the states.

Well, along comes a lot of things that affect interstate commerce. Like an interstate highway system. State rights have slowly eroded. Make your own list.

It is a natural process. We grumble a lot about it in state government, but are losing. The humorous current note on it is that states rights have been considered a conservative battle cry but it is corporate business and Republicans who are taking them apart. Corporate business does not want to relate to 50 governors, 50 legislatures, and 50 sets of lobbyists. The issue this week is insurance. They want unified regulations. Which I understand, and know it cannot be stopped. But I do chuckle as Republicans lead the charge and a stalwart Democrat takes to the floor and cries out, "Who is going to protect the consumer? What is going to happen to the little guy? Where are our rights going to be protected when the regulations go outside of the state?"

The nervous reply: Nebraska will get one representative on the regional board. O my.

Good night, federalism. Please take the feral pigs and stranded costs with you, promising no clawback. Or we may indefinitely postpone your memory.

Hang in there

Lowen