Heineman looks back on governorship, Ricketts looks forward

When Pete Ricketts is sworn in as Nebraska’s governor January 8, he’ll succeed Dave Heineman, the longest-serving governor in Nebraska history.

Dave Heineman has served 10 years as governor – two when he moved up from lieutenant governor after Mike Johanns left to become secretary of agriculture, then two elected four-year terms. Asked what he thinks his greatest accomplishment is, Heineman said he looks at the big picture.

“I said from day one we were going to focus on the education of our children and jobs. And what I meant by that was I want every child, regardless of their background, regardless of where they grew up, that we were going to give them a great education here in Nebraska, and then we would create jobs for our young people and middle class family,” Heineman said. “By any measurement we are stronger today than when I took over.”

Heineman points to things like Nebraska’s 3.4 percent unemployment rate, third lowest in the nation, and its nearly 90 percent high school graduation rate, among the nation’s highest. And there is another thing he’s proud of. “When I took over, we were one of the top-ten highest tax states in America, according to the Tax Foundation. We were 45^th out of 50 states. Today we’re 29^th.”

The state’s rise in those rankings reflects the governor’s efforts to cut taxes, particularly income taxes. The Tax Foundation weights income taxes about twice as important in its rankings as property taxes, although many Nebraskans say property tax is what bothers them most.

Heineman says income tax rates need to be more competitive to attract companies and provide jobs. And while Nebraska gets about half its school funding from property taxes, compared to a national average of about a third, he says there’s a reason for that. “The reason that we put so much emphasis on the property tax for our local schools is because we believe in local control. We’ve always believed in that in Nebraska. And the more you ask the state to do, sure as I’m sitting here, the state’s going to demand more from local schools. And we’ve always respected local autonomy and that our schools are best run at the local level,” he said.

Heineman has also stressed holding down state spending, to the point that some critics maintain he has created significant problems – for example overcrowding prisons and creating pressure for hundreds of inmates being released too early. Heineman rejects such criticism, blaming prison officials for the early releases.

Another controversy during his administration involved the Beatrice State Developmental Center, where mentally disabled residents were abused and the state lost federal funding. That funding has now been restored.

There was also a failed attempt to privatize management of child welfare statewide, but Heineman says the one remaining private contractor in the Omaha area is doing a good job.

Asked if there are things he wished he could do over, he said simply, “Every day there are challenges. One of the things in this job that’s going to happen -- mistakes are going to get made and you’ve got to take the responsibility in a different direction, whatever that may be.”

And Heineman offers some simple advice to his successors. “First of all, be yourself. Don’t try to be like anyone else. Really listen well. Get to know as much about an issue as you can, then trust your instincts and do what’s right for Nebraska,” Heineman said.

In less than a month, that will be the job of Pete Ricketts, who says the transition is hectic. “It’s been like drinking from a fire hose – there’s just a lot, a lot of things going on. And Gov. Heineman’s been fantastic and his administration in cooperating with my team to make that as smooth a transition as possible,” Ricketts said.

“I spend most of my days either in budget meetings or interviewing candidates for the different positions that we’ve got to hire for the cabinet. So it’s been as hectic as the campaign trail, but without as much travel,” he said, laughing.

Ricketts has solicited private donations to finance a nationwide search, which has already started, for new directors for the departments of Health and Human Services, Correctional Services, and Economic Development. The former business executive says there are some differences from recruiting people for the private sector. “When I’m going out to attract people, I don’t have a big benefits package that I can attract talent in with. So I’m really looking for people that have that heart for service,” he said.

Asked what his first priority will be, Ricketts is clear. “The first issue that we’re going to focus on is property taxes. As I put 64,000 miles on the car driving around the state, the number one issue I heard from people is ‘our property taxes are too high.’ So that’s going to be my number one issue. I’ll be working with the Unicameral to bring about that property tax relief, and it’s absolutely going to be my top priority,” he said.

Asked what he’ll propose for education, Ricketts points favorably to a program in Michigan. “This was legislation that allowed companies to work with school districts to actually put together curriculum for the kids in high school. To hire those kids part time, and then pay for their post-secondary education and hire them directly out of that, full time.

“That’s an idea from one of the other states of how they addressed this that did require legislation. So what we are going to do is look around the country and see what are the best ideas out there and how would they fit in Nebraska?” Ricketts said.

What does he expect or hope will change in the next four years? “At the end of the four years I hope people look back and say, ‘Pete Ricketts has been a great governor. He’s helped us be able to address some of the issues with regard to where we’ve had agencies like Corrections or HHS where we had to improve what we’re doing there. He’s addressed the issues with regard to property taxes and generally created a place where Nebraskans have been able to grow. Where we’ve created more and better paying jobs; we’ve kept more of our kids here, and oh by the way, I think he deserves another term,’” Ricketts said, laughing.