LINCOLN — Gov. Jim Pillen should drop his raid on the Nebraska Environmental Trust and should reconsider policies that appear to require not one, but two, new state prisons, a legislative panel was told Monday.

Pillen’s proposed state budget would divert $14 million over the next two years from the Environmental Trust, which is funded by State Lottery proceeds, to a state water resources fund.

Critics said it would divert funds from worthy recycling and conservation projects to government efforts to comply with state water compacts, projects that should be funded with state tax dollars.

One testifier called it a “blatant disregard” for the intent of the Environmental Trust and possibly a constitutional violation of the Trust’s intent, which is to “conserve, enhance and restore the natural environments….”

“Too often, over the past years, some of the (Trust’s) money has been used to fill holes in the state budget and given priority ranking over worthwhile projects,” said John Bender of the Friends of the Nebraska Environmental Trust, a citizens group.

Audubon Nebraska, the Nature Conservancy and a retired Lincoln attorney all testified against the withdrawl from the Trust.

The fund shift from the Trust, which amounts to more than a third of the lottery funds it gets to grant out each year, has been defended by the Pillen administration as a “good fit” to cover millions of dollars of projected commitments for water projects.

Critics of the plan said they agreed that projects funded by the State Water Resources Cash Fund were worthy but said they should apply for a grant from the Trust like everyone else.

Spike Eickholt of the ACLU of Nebraska testified against the governor’s proposal to complete funding of a new, 1,512-bed state prison.

Eickholt said the $96 million allocation is just the start and that a recent prison facilities study projects that another 1,500-bed prisoncosting more than $300 million will be needed before 2030.

“This commitment should not be made without significant criminal justice reforms,” he said, to adopt lower-cost, more-effective alternatives to sending low-level offenders to prison.

Monday was the first day the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee held public hearings in its job of crafting a state budget for the next two fiscal years.

Lee Will, the governor’s budget administrator, testified in favor of the Pillen budget, saying the plan holds the line on state spending and prioritizes tax cuts and an increase in K-12 educational spending.

With a $543 million budget surplus, and $1.6 billion in the state’s cash reserve fund, Will said there is plenty of money to sustain the governor’s spending plans, which include the new prison and setting aside $574 million for the Perkins County Canal.

Joey Adler Ruane from the OpenSky Policy Institute disputed that, saying the plan doesn’t appear to be fiscally sustainable and may require cuts in state services in the future.

He also said the proposed 1.3% spending growth over the next two years is inadequate at a time of high inflation. The 2% budget increase for  the University of Nebraska, Adler Ruane said, is “unlikely to sustain” the university system.

Besides Will, the only other testifier in favor of the governor’s budget was Mitchell Clark of First Five Nebraska, which advocates for early childhood education programs.

Clark said the organization supports Pillen’s plan to provide an extra $166,000 a year to the State Patrol to speed criminal background checks required for child care workers.

Checks that used to take seven to 10 days now take about 25 days, Clark said, which is slowing the hiring of child care employees at a time when there is a shortage and a 40% turnover rate.

He said there has been a recent, 20% increase in the need for such background checks.

Monday’s hearing was the first of many the Appropriations Committee will conduct over the next few weeks in developing its budget. Later hearings will focus on budget requests by state agencies.

This story was originally published by Nebraska Examiner, an editorially independent newsroom providing a hard-hitting, daily flow of news. It is part of the national nonprofit States Newsroom. Find more at nebraskaexaminer.com.