UNMC shared in several successes this year in the Nebraska Legislature, said Bob Bartee, executive assistant to the chancellor.
“We owe a thank you to the numerous state senators who showed tremendous courage and vision as they voted on the bills that affected UNMC,” Bartee said Tuesday. “I thought that in strategic areas, we fared well during the session.”
The Legislature adjourned last week and won’t be back in session until January, unless a special session is called.
Bartee noted two legislative actions that were particularly beneficial to the Med Center.
- In mid-January, several lawmakers withstood an attempt to halt debate and advance a bill that would have banned the use of fetal tissue from elected abortions. The motion for cloture received 29 votes, four shy of enacting cloture.
- Late in the session, senators passed legislation that cut the University of Nebraska’s 2002-2003 budget by only an additional 1 percent. Other proposals for cutting the university’s budget ranged from 2 percent to 3 percent.
“Deeper cuts would have severely curtailed the momentum that UNMC has generated over the past couple of years,” Bartee said. “I also want to thank those senators who supported UNMC’s research into devastating neurological diseases, using tissue from elective abortions. Their vote on that issue was particularly courageous.”
In addition, Bartee noted several other passed bills that will positively impact UNMC.
State Sen. Chip Maxwell of Omaha sponsored legislation that will allow students in the M.D., Ph.D., program to have 10 years to stand for part 3 of their medical examinations. Previously, those students were allowed only seven years to achieve this. Sens. Jim Jensen of Omaha and Dennis Byars of Beatrice sponsored legislation that will allow for dentistry faculty to practice clinically, while they seek a Nebraska license, as part of their teaching at the university dental clinic. Both of those issues, introduced originally as their own bills, passed as amendments to LB 1082.
“The extra three years allotted to M.D., Ph.D., students allows them more time to develop their research; it is to their benefit to have that extra time,” Bartee said. “The legislation allowing international dentists to practice is common throughout the United States; it lessens the hassles that these international experts face when they come here to teach.”
In addition, legislation passed that will clarify the role of health researchers in contacting patients who are enrolled in medical registries. The legislation, introduced by Sen. DiAnna Schimek of Lincoln and drafted in conjunction with the Nebraska Medical Association, continues to assure the privacy of patients who participate.
Bartee said that several UNMC faculty and staff watched closely a bill that would raise the sales tax on cigarettes. Legislators ultimately voted to raise the cigarette tax 30 cents. Research has shown that those kinds of increases have deterred adolescents from beginning to smoke.
Bartee expressed thanks to all UNMC faculty, staff and students who, on their own, contacted senators about UNMC issues of importance this year. He also thanked the numerous community supporters of UNMC who expressed their support for UNMC on key issues.
Although the Legislature will not meet again until early January, UNMC officials will monitor legislative study resolutions, several of which are of interest to the Medical Center.