Senators getting pressure on death penalty repeal; licenses for "Dreamers" passed
By Fred Knapp , Reporter/Producer Nebraska Public Media
May 21, 2015, 5:47 a.m. ·
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Nebraska state senators were getting reaction Thursday to their vote to repeal the death penalty, as well as pressure on how to vote on overriding Governor Pete Ricketts promised veto. Meanwhile, the Legislature gave final approval to driver’s licenses for so-called "Dreamers."
After voting Wednesday to repeal the death penalty, Omaha Sen. John McCollister said he’s getting phone calls and emails from constituents on both sides of the issue. McCollister said he didn’t have strong feelings when he joined the Legislature in January, but hearing the testimony of murder victims’ families against the death penalty was compelling. He has also argued against it as a fiscal conservative, concluding it wastes tax money to pursue seemingly endless appeals when the punishment is not being carried out.
McCollister said some of his constituents are also talking about Wednesdays’ shooting death of Omaha police officer Kerrie Orozco while trying to arrest Marcus Wheeler for first degree assault. Wheeler was also shot and killed in the incident. "That has come up and it’s very unfortunate at any time something like that occurs, whether it’s at a time of a death penalty abolishment vote, or whether it occurs at any other time. (It) affects my thinking, but it’s not going to change my vote," McCollister said.
McCollister said he’ll still vote to abolish the death penalty when the Legislature decides whether to override Gov. Pete Ricketts’ promised veto of its repeal.
Meanwhile, Ricketts was trying to persuade senators who might be on the fence to support his veto. The repeal bill passed with 32 votes, and it takes 30 to override. So if the governor could peel three votes off of the repeal side, his veto could be sustained, and Nebraska would keep the death penalty on the books.
One senator Ricketts spoke to Thursday was Sen. Jerry Johnson of Wahoo. During debate, Johnson noted Ricketts had said his administration was procuring the drugs needed to carry out lethal injections, and wondered out loud about delaying repeal. Ultimately he voted for repeal.
After meeting with Ricketts Thursday, Johnson said he’s still considering what to do on the veto override. "I’m just looking at it right now. I’ve got a few days before it will come up," Johnson said, adding that it sounds like Ricketts will issue his veto Tuesday, and the override vote would be Wednesday or Thursday. "So we got some time to think through this," Johnson said. "And I just told him (Ricketts) when I left, I said ‘I’ll put it to prayer.’"
Ricketts spokesman Taylor Gage said the governor has not confirmed when he will veto the bill, adding that Johnson might have misheard him saying how much time he has to consider. That time expires Tuesday at midnight.
Another senator who talked to the governor was Mike Gloor of Grand Island. Gloor said he’s consistently supported the death penalty during his seven years in the Legislature. But when it came up for a vote on Wednesday, he voted for repeal. Gloor said he changed because he came to a realization. "We’re never going to put anybody to death in this state -- with the death penalty, without the death penalty. It’s going on almost two decades (since an execution). I don’t think we’re going to get the drugs. I think the legal battles that we go through seem to be increasingly unsuccessful," Gloor said. "If we’re not going to be able to enact it, why carry it, with the expense that goes on with it, given the thing that I hear from most about constituents is tax relief?" Gloor asked.
The county board of supervisors in Hall County, which includes Gloor’s hometown of Grand Island, has called an emergency meeting Friday to consider a resolution on the death penalty. Ricketts called Gloor to a meeting Thursday afternoon. Gloor said the governor argued he can make the death penalty work with the drugs his administration is getting. But Gloor said he’s heard similar arguments before. He said he and Ricketts had "a reasoned back and forth, but I didn’t give him a commitment" regarding his vote on the veto override. (For the latest edition of Capitol Conversations, with Sen. Ken Schilz of Ogallala talking about wrestling with his death penalty vote, click here.)
In other legislative news, senators give final approval Thursday to a bill authorizing drivers licenses for so-called "Dreamers" – young people brought to this country illegally when they were children. Nebraska is the last state not to offer drivers licenses to the group, who have been spared from deportation by executive action by the Obama administration. Ricketts opposes the bill. It passed on a vote of 34-9. As with the death penalty repeal, it would take 30 votes to override if the governor vetos the bill. (For Capitol Conversations with Sen. Jeremy Nordquist, a supporter of driver's licenses for "Dreamers," click here, and with Sen. Lydia Brasch, an opponent, click here.)