Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First

Gubernatorial candidate Hassebrook talks wind energy, middle class in Kimball

Democratic gubernatorial Chuck Hassebrook touted the need for greater use of wind energy and the support of middle class Nebraskans during his stop in Kimball on Sunday afternoon. Hassebrook visited with a small contingent of residents during a meet and greet at the 1st Interstate Inn diner.

Hassebrook is one of three candidates in the race. The others are Republican Pete Ricketts and Libertarian Mark Elworth Jr. Election day is Nov. 4. One of the three candidates will replace Gov. Dave Heineman, a Republican, who was term-limited and could not run again.

Hassebrook said the race will be the closest in a generation because of his career working with rural and middle class residents. He spent 36 years at the Center for Rural Affairs, and was the center's director for 18 years. He currently lives in the rural community of Lyons in northeast Nebraska.

"Unlike a lot of Democrats, I can draw real support in rural Nebraska," he said. "I'm the only Democrat elected to the University of Nebraska board of regents in the last 30 years. I was elected from a very Republican, rural district, because the people, rural Republicans, voted for me because they knew I'd fight for them and work for them and work for their well-being. Bringing that now to the governor's race is a key dynamic. I think I can draw much more rural support than Democrats normally draw, and that's a really key difference.

"I think the other is, who's going to fight for middle class families? My opponent has a history of fighting for tax relief for those on top, cutting the income taxes for the top 1 or 2 percent. I've been out there fighting for ordinary, rural folks. I've done a lot of work over the years on property tax relief. My tax approach is providing property tax relief for modest income homeowners and family farmers and ranchers. I think I've always been the one to fight for the middle class, and that's the big difference in this race."

One of the most important things to do throughout the state is support small business development, he said.

"There's a whole new generation of small business opportunities out there today, particularly selling goods and services over the Internet to the most lucrative markets in the world," Hassebrook said. "If we make our state one of the best places in America to start a small business, rural Nebraska has the opportunity to tap into hundreds of thousands of business opportunities. That's a big priority for me, providing some tax credits support and money and financing for small business."

The candidate also said another untapped resource is the state's wind energy.

"We have the third greatest potential of any state in the union to generate electricity from wind," he said. "But we're way behind our neighbors because of lack of leadership in the governor's office, and I want to provide that leadership to get some incentives in here for wind development and also to work with the private firms to build the transmission lines so we can become major exporters of renewable electricity to big cities west of here. We've got enormous potential to make that happen, but it hasn't happened because it hasn't had anybody in the governor's office who will make it happen. I will."

Looking at agriculture, Hassebrook said it is important to better support the state's ethanol industry.

"I want to beef up support for our ethanol industry and agriculture generally," he said. "We have the second leading ethanol industry in the nation, but we're behind most of the neighboring states in supporting our ethanol industry...We have fewer blender pumps than most other states that produce a lot of ethanol. The state government doesn't even use E15 in its state cars, so I want to change those things and use high blends of ethanol in the state fleet to beef up the market for E15 and then I want to work with our Corn Board and our ethanol industry to really get more blenders pumps in the state so people can use higher blends of ethanol."

E15 is a 15 percent of mixture of ethanol in the gasoline, which is the highest many say should be used.

Hassebrook said the property tax situation for agriculture in the state must also be fixed, and the state should stop pushing certain costs to the counties.

"We have to address the property tax situation for agriculture. I'd reduce the valuation of agricultural land from 75 percent to 65 percent of market value," he said. "I would stop the state from pushing costs down to the counties, and that's been a big deal in recent years. The state has stopped reimbursing the counties for housing state prisoners, and they've stopped reimbursing counties for collecting state tax revenue. We need to address that, and I'm going to stop doing that.

"And then we need to develop new sources of revenue to reduce our reliance on property taxes. One of those new sources of revenue is wind. A 200 turbine wind farm can generate $25 million in revenue in local taxes over its life, to take the place of property taxes. It's really important for us to develop our wind, both because it will create thousands of good jobs across greater Nebraska, but also because it will generate hundreds of millions of dollars in local tax revenue to take the burden off property taxes."

Many recent college graduates have also left the state. Hassebrook said one way to help lure them back or to keep them here is to encourage entrepreneurship.

"One of the best ways to keep bright, energetic young people is to support them in pursuing their entrepreneurial dreams, their dreams of owning their own business some day," he said. "Often times young people will leave right out of college to find a spouse, often times to go to a city where there's a lot of young people, like them. But when it comes time to raise a family, often times, that's when they're particularly interested in coming back to rural Nebraska. And if we can support them in launching their own business, I think that's a real drawing card to attract those young families who grew up here, back when it's time to raise a family."

Hassebrook said voters should choose him over the other two choices in the race because he would fight for rural and middle class Nebraskans.

"I'll fight for the middle class and I will work to create a better future in greater Nebraska - small towns, small cities, rural areas and all of Nebraska - for our kids and grandkids," he said. "I've spent my life fighting for the middle class and working to create real opportunities out in small towns, small cities and rural communities across this state, and that's what I'll do as governor. That's why people should vote for me."