LINCOLN — Nebraska lawmakers reversed course Wednesday on state budget language that would take family planning funds away from Planned Parenthood.
The senators voted 25-19, with four abstentions, to maintain the controversial clinics’ eligibility for federal Title X funds.
The vote came after leading senators pleaded with their colleagues to remove the “poison pill” language from the state budget package.
“This is not a pro-life issue,” said Speaker of the Legislature Jim Scheer of Norfolk, of the budget bill.
“This is a budget,” he said. “I am quite perturbed this was slipped into a budget bill.”
Lawmakers ended the day by advancing key pieces of the budget package to the final stage of consideration.
The package calls for general fund spending of $8.9 billion over the two fiscal years ending June 30, 2019, an annual average growth of 1 percent.
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It draws $173 million from the cash reserve, or “rainy day” fund, and avoids tax increases.
Some lawmakers argued Wednesday that the package did not do enough to cut government spending and warned that tax revenues would remain in a slump.
State Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard predicted that the Legislature will have to come back for a budget-cutting special session this year. He was among 18 senators who voted against advancing the main budget bill.
But it was the Title X funding that occupied most of second-round debate on the state budget, just as it had during first-round debate.
The issue concerned language that Gov. Pete Ricketts, for the first time ever, had included in his budget proposal and the Appropriations Committee added to their budget plan with little discussion.
On Wednesday, Appropriations Chairman John Stinner of Gering apologized for not thoroughly reviewing the language and its implications in committee. He proposed an interim study, with the goal of having legislation introduced next year.
The language would have steered Nebraska’s $1.9 million annual share of federal Title X funds away from Planned Parenthood and three independent clinics based in Tecumseh, Grand Island and North Platte.
The four providers collect 50 percent of the state’s Title X funds, which pay for contraceptives, cervical cancer screening, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases and related services to low-income women and men.
Twice during the first-round debate, lawmakers had voted against changing the budget language. The result was the same during a first vote on Wednesday, despite Scheer’s appeal and Stinner’s proposal.
The tide turned after Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte said he wanted to leave abortion politics out of the budget and to focus on government spending and taxes instead.
“I am a fiscal conservative,” he said. “I didn’t come here for social fights.”
But others continued to support some type of budget language setting priorities for Title X funding.
Sen. Joni Craighead of Omaha proposed an amendment that would have prioritized clinics with comprehensive health services for funding but allowed money to go to other clinics if needed to provide access to services.
It was not clear which clinics might qualify under that amendment.
The budget package closes a budget gap that stood at nearly $900 million in January, making cuts to some budgets, slowing other spending growth and tapping several cash funds.
Appropriations Committee members made additional cuts and transfers Tuesday to bring the proposal back in balance after updated revenue projections came in $55 million lower.
The biggest change was a vote to shrink the state’s budget cushion from 3 percent to 2.5 percent for the two-year period. The size of the cushion, also called the minimum reserve, is set by law.
That change drew criticism from the governor, who called it a risky budget move.
“Instead of setting priorities and making needed cuts to spending, Appropriations Committee members have placed the state’s finances on shaky ground,” he said.