Yesterday, two days before a legislative hearing at which several people, some from as far afield as California, were scheduled to testify, Senator Mark Christensen pulled the plug on LR233CA, a constitutional amendment that would have implemented the basic text of the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative.
Sen. Mark Christensen of Imperial said Monday he was forced to abandon the measure (LR233CA) in part because fellow lawmakers had threatened not to support his other bills if he did not do so.
Because those other bills — including his priority bill, which would allow natural resources districts in the Republican River basin to borrow money from the state to pay irrigators — are critical to his district, Christensen said he was left with no choice but to withdraw the affirmative-action measure.
He wouldn’t name the senators who threatened not to support his bills, but said they numbered “more than a handful,” and that they had surprised and disappointed him by “selling out” politically.
This is the level of political thuggery that, unfortunately, we've come to expect from so-called liberal politicians both locally and nationally. They know they can't afford for the NCRI to be voted on on its merits, so they threaten its supporters. Of course, they can't do a darn thing about the petition drive, and so the entire enterprise merely reinforces the poor reputation of the Nebraska Unicameral legislature.
At the same time, having spent several hours preparing to testify, I can't help feeling let down by Senator Christensen. If he didn't know going in that this would happen, he's too naive to be in the legislature.
This will be my personal blog devoted to passing the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative. Check back for a personal, idiosyncratic view of a drive to change the Nebraska State Constitution.
