Some of that is understandable. The night-time work typically comes at the end of the session, as the clock is running down. People want their bills passed. Tension is high, And people just get tired at night.

 Plus, as one sage observer once observed, it takes some time to make enemies. By the end of a session, senators pretty well know who has their back, and who has a rhetorical knife aimed at it.

 That was the case the other night when debate turned to the pension plan for state teachers.

 The state administers the plans for Nebraska school employees, as well as a separate plan for Omaha Public School workers. (That’s a strange arrangement that might lead to a merger someday, but that’s another story.) 

 This year, faced with a $108-million pension gap caused by the cruddy economy, State Sen. Jeremy Nordquist, the chairman of the Legislature’s Retirement Committee, worked out a compromise with teacher, school board and administrator groups.

 It seems like a pretty balanced deal: Current and new teachers would pay a little bit more toward retirement, so would school districts. And the state would kick in an extra $20 milion a year. Pension benefits for new teachers would be reduced slightly. The gap would be reduced and managed.

 The pension bill, LB 553, sailed through first-round debate. But on second round, at night remember, the boo birds came out.

 Nordquist, a leading Democrat in the body, was suddenly a dart board for a group of Republican senators. They didn’t like the deal, and wanted to put off and do more study of alternatives, like switching to defined contribution plans (think 401K) now common in the private sector.

 Aren’t you penalizing new teachers, Omaha Sen. John Nelson asked, by asked him to pay more and cutting their benefits.

 That brought a harsh rebuke from Nordquist’s Omaha colleague, Sen. Heath Mello, who called the plan to delay LB 533 the most fiscally irresponsible amendment of the session. He said it would leave taxpayers with a $108 million bill instead of $20 million, and leave teachers wondering if they’ll have a pension to retire on or not.

  Mello has toned down his criticism of GOP Gov. Dave Heineman this year after being elected chair of the powerful Appropriations Committee. But on this night, Mello took a shot at the governor, tagging him for not including any proposal in his budget to resolve the pension problem. That’s unprecedented and irresponsible for a governor, the senator said.

 Attempts to get a response from the governor’s office were unsuccessful. It was night after all. So we have no idea why he didn’t have a proposal. Maybe he was OK with delaying a decision. Maybe not.

 The furor eventually died down and the pension bill advanced easily. But the daggers were out on the legislative floor for a while, which might illustrate what’s ahead when the budget is debated.

 *   *   *

 An interesting fight is brewing over tax breaks for wind energy, pitting the big wind farm people against the small wind farm people.

 The Legislature just advanced LB 104, which would give a sales tax break for big wind farms, including a $300 million one planned near Allen, in hilly northeast Nebraska, by a Kansas company.

 But another wind bill is awaiting debate, LB 402, would help mostly small wind farms. It requires wind farms to jump through a few hoops to obtain a sales tax exemption, including requiring them to parts from Nebraska suppliers and line up local investors from Cornhusker Staters.

Two rural groups that have supported wind energy from the start, the Nebraska Farmers Union and Center for Rural Affairs, say they support LB 402, and not the big wind farm bill.

 The community-owned wind farms envisioned in LB 402 provide 2.3 times the jobs and 3.1 times more economic benefits, they said. Meanwhile, backers of the big wind farm bill say that Nebraska’s 6-year-old law to inspire smaller, community-owned wind farms hasn’t worked and the state needs a simpler incentive.

 It all sets up an interesting fight later in the session over whether the state can afford both bills. Each have hefty fiscal notes. Legislators may have to choose one over another.

 Gov. Heineman, a past supporter of wind energy, says he opposes the big wind farm bill, because it will benefit an out-of-state company. He’s supported tax breaks for out-of-state corporations in the past, such as Yahoo and Facebook, but on this one, not so much.

 Attempts to get his opinion of LB 402 were unsuccessful, like the attempt to get some response on the pension criticism.

Data centers are highly sought by Midwestern states, because they have a lot of things sought by such computer complexes: cheap electricity, cheap land and lack of catastrophic natural disasters, like hurricanes and earthquakes.

Iowa and Nebraska recently engaged in an economic development tug-of-war over a billion-dollar data center planned by Facebook.

In the beginning, it sounded like the social-networking giant would locate in Kearney, Neb.,  which had invested over $1 million on a shovel-ready site. But Altoona, Iowa, a suburb of Des Moines, won out. Maybe the nearby Adventureland amusement park will now be adding a social media ride.

It was a plumb for Iowa, but one has to wonder whether taxpayers are getting a great bargain from data centers. The state tax incentives from Iowa totalled $18 million spread over several years, and Facebook will create about 30 jobs. That’s a pricey $600,000 per job. And Altoona waived any property taxes from the company for 20 years.

That bang-for-the buck issue will likely come up Wednesday when state lawmakers finally start debating a bill to provide a new tax break for large wind farms that locate in Nebraska. The state has lagged behind its neighbors in attracting wind farms, despite abundant wind. LB 104 seeks to remedy that by providing a tax break offered by our neighbors: a sales tax exemption on the purchase of turbines, towers and other wind farm components.

But wind farms aren’t great generators of jobs, either. But they bring other benefits, like generous lease payments to local landowners, which can boost the economy in rural areas.

Iowa officials said that the more abundant wind farms in the state were attractive to Facebook, which has a goal of powering 25 percent of its data centers (which are huge consumers of electricity) from wind or other renewables. Nebraska, which has about 1/12th the wind power as Iowa, missed an opportunity, said the Sierra Club in a press release.

As for the state plane, some interesting politics afoot there. The Legislature’s Appropriations Committee initially rejected the idea of buying an old plane from the University of Nebraska Foundation for $2.2 million, citing less expensive options (like chartering planes).

But some votes switched, and now the plane purchase — a priority of Gov. Dave Heineman — has taken flight and is part of the proposed budget.

The governor needs a plane and a way to get to the remote corners of the state. But if you talk to plane people, they’ll tell you there are better bargains out there, for newer planes.

The background chatter is raising questions about whether the plane issue might be more about the trappings of office and helping out the NU Foundation than finding the best deal.

Tay DellaCroce came to the Capitol with his mother, a former foster child. She was among several former foster children lobbying for a bill to provide state help to future foster youth making the transition to adulthood. But lobbying and watching laws being made can be dull work for a 3-year-old boy.

So, when a senator opened the door from the Rotunda to the back of the legislative chamber, he slipped through and took off running. Sergeant-at-arms Ron Witkowski saw Tay dash by and gave chase down the center aisle. While most senators just  blinked in surprise, State Sen. Colby Coash of Lincoln sized up the situation and took off down the side aisle.

The father of a boy about the same age, Coash cut off the young door-dasher as he rounded the corner. He scooped up Tay and carried him back out of the chamber to the applause of fellow senators. The child beamed, while smiles and laughter broke out among the formerly serious adults in the chamber.

“All we do is educate, medicate and incarcerate.” – State Sen. Heath Mello of Omaha, commenting on the three big drivers of the state budget.

 But an April 1 press release sent out by the anti-Keystone XL pipeline group, Bold Nebraska, didn’t get a laugh from the Nebraska governor’s office.

 The fake press release stated that Gov. Dave Heineman had written a letter asking President Obama to reject the controversial pipeline because of the risk of damage to Nebraska’s vast groundwater resources.

 That would have been a complete about-face for the Republican governor who has been a whole-hearted supporter since TransCanada decided in late 2011 to reroute its 36-inch, crude oil conduit around Nebraska’s groundwater-rich Sand Hills area.

 Heineman, remember, called a special session of the State Legislature due to his objections over the initial route that crossed the Sand Hills.

 But with the route changed, he’s totally pro-pipeline.

 A spokeswoman for the governor labeled the Bold Nebraska spoof as “immature” and ‘childish.” 

 But a Bold spokeswoman said the press release was intended to make a serious point — all of the statements included in the press release were made by Gov. Heineman when he expressed his problems with the original Sand Hills route of the Keystone XL.

 ”He has completely flip flopped on his  word to oppose a pipeline crossing the Ogallala Aquifer,” said spokeswoman Mary Anne Andrei. “We will not let him forget his own words.”

  To be fair, the governor’s words included opposition to the pipeline crossing “a substantial portion of the Ogallala Aquifer.”

  The new route still crosses over a portion of the aquifer. Whether it’s a substantial portion is a subject for interpretation — and apparently April Fools’ jokes.

Sure, his speeches touch on Nebraska policy issues and the legislation at hand. But he ranges far and wide when making his points and, the more time he wants to use, the farther and wider his speeches wander. The result can be entertaining and educational, at least for those not pushing legislation he opposes.

On one recent day, Chambers recounted slightly fractured versions of the Biblical stories of David and Bathsheba and of Samson and Delilah to illustrate the allure of unwise relationships. Later, as he offered a last-minute amendment to a bill, he quoted from Billy Joel: “Friday night I crashed your party/Saturday I said I’m sorry.”

Another day he gave a synopsis of the novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray. About its author, he told listeners: “Oscar Wilde had several names between his first name and his last name but I’m not going to tell you. Look it up.”  (For the record, they are Fingal O’Flahertie Wills.) A later speech included a description of the pushmi-pullyu, an animal with heads on both ends, from the Dr. Dolittle children’s book series.  

He’s been known to quote from old Westerns, monster movies, country songs, television commercials and more. He can talk about the commercial and legal underpinnings of slavery, the necessity of resocializing mistreated animals and the Dalton Brothers of Western history. Favorite references include Little Orphan Annie and Daddy Warbucks, from the comic strips, and Gen. ”Stonewall” Jackson of Civil War fame.  

 If you’re a state trooper, pinned down by gunfire, trapped inside of a building, and have no way to call for help on your radio, that’s a problem.

  A real big problem if you’re wounded and need medical assistance.

 And a big problem if you’re trying to help rescue a nearby hostage.

 That’s essentially what happened last June when state troopers and local deputies and police moved in to halt a hostage situation at an Alliance drug store in which the owner was taken hostage by a drug addict with an AK-47, who shot at everything that make a sound or moved.

 A cop got shot when he initially answered the call. A deputy and a trooper got shot later when the gunman heard sounds. The hostage got shot as he ran for freedom.

 Luckily, a couple of troopers pinned down in an adjacent building didn’t get shot, though they had to resort to using their personal cell phones in an attempt to find out what was going on. Unfortunately, cell phone batteries run out. They left them with no communications.

 Now, after a second and a third dangerous incident in which the state’s new $17.3 million didn’t work properly, state leaders are starting to pay keen attention.

  One of the latest incidents inspired the state troopers union to file a formal grievance. Their contract says they won’t be required to use unsafe equipment. And there’s a real fear out there that someone could get killed the next time the radio system doesn’t work.

 There’s a multitude of reasons the system fails at critical moments.

 It’s more complicated, and the pushing of one wrong button can block several people from talking. It’s new technology (ever got a new cell phone? These radios are much more complex) that takes some time to get used to. And it’s a different system than used by almost all local cops and deputies, so you can’t talk to them, unless there’s some work done to accomplish that.

 So the state has rightly ordered more training to eliminate user error.

 But there’s also some technical problems with the system, with signal “repeaters” in cruisers and the placement of antennas and radio consoles.

 Maybe the biggest technical problem is that each tower on the system can handle only three frequencies or “talk paths” at a time. So if NPPD is fixing a power pole, a trooper is checking the background of a speeder, and a dispatcher is relaying a message, guess what, if you have an emergency, you get a busy signal because all three channels are taken.

 There is an override “emergency” button to clear a channel, but during a recent hectic chase, a trooper failed to find that button as a murder suspect was firing at his car. A pretty understandable mistake during a stressful incident.

 While the state has three channels per tower, the 911 system in Douglas County has 20 channels. During a recent three-alarm fire in Omaha, three channels were dedicated alone to fighting the blaze.

 The trooper’s union, along with some state senators, are asking for more information to determine if the system lacks capacity and needs more frequencies. It appears to be a bigger problem in heavier traffic areas, like eastern Nebraska, and during an emergency situation, like a shootout or wildfire, involving multiple agencies.

 But Gov. Dave Heineman, who used to head the committee years ago that reviewed options to replace the state’s old, out-dated radio system, says it’s too early to seek more money for the radio system.

 More training, he said, should be pursued first. State officials are also pursuing equipment adjustments to improve signals. They say they’re willing to work on solutions.

 That’s a good sign, but troopers are hoping there’s some urgency, and action, in that pledge.

 After all, one said, who can predict when the state faces another emergency, another devastating tornado or monster blizzard. You need a radio system that works at times like that.

 But already, politics is creeping into the discussion of LB 613, the bill to authorize the study.

 To wit:

 – Fullerton Sen. Annette Dubas introduced the annual bill to provide a sales tax exemption on ag machinery repair parts, a proposal that gets shot down year after year. She didn’t expect it to advance. But, in a major surprise, it did.

 So now Dubas is in the awkward position of pushing a bill (since prioritized by North Platte Sen. Tom Hansen) that will compete for dollars with her own priority bill, one that will increase reimbursements for foster parents. 

 On Monday, Omaha Sen. Beau McCoy said that Dubas had put a “hold” on the ag-parts bill so that it would not come up for debate. Not true, said Dubas, as well as the Speaker of the Legislature, Sen. Greg Adams. Though it is true that Dubas does have a say, as the prime sponsor of the exemption, when the bill comes up.

 – McCoy was in Washington, D.C., over the weekend, getting a political plum — a chance to speak at the annual meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference. McCoy, who was named one of CPAC’s ”Ten conservatives under 40,” indicated that he wanted to be governor someday.

 Rightly or wrongly, when someone openly states an ambition for higher office, every legislative move they make after that is analyzed for its influence on that ambition. McCoy, of course, chose the tax study bill as his personal priority.

 – When it comes to political ambition, Fremont Sen. Charlie Janssen is in the spotlight, too. He’s announced his run for the GOP nomination for governor in 2014, when Gov. Dave Heineman leaves office.

 Janssen already got a dart, along with McCoy, for pushing for a vote this year on providing income tax breaks on Social Security and military pension checks.

 Several senators assumed that the tax study would look at whether it was wise to offer the tax break for retirees, as well as the tax break on farm machinery parts. Then the Legislature would vote on it next year. Not this year. That difference of opinion is churning up major friction among lawmakers.

 – Heineman, who observers believe appears more likely than not to run for U.S. Senate in 2014, is one of the state’s best politicians, and he’s already played a couple of cards in the tax debate. He’s criticized a bill to offer a tax break for wind farms, one that just happens to be sponsored by Omaha Sen. Steve Lathrop, a possible Democratic candidate for governor and one of the governor’s top critics.

 Heineman also said he’d like to see a vote on the tax breaks for seniors and military vets this year — a politically popular position. He wants the priority to be on helping citizens rather than “out-of-state” companies, like a Kansas firm eyeing a new wind farm in northeast Nebraska, if they get a tax break.

 – And don’t forget Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers. He is expressing anger that his tax proposal — to rescind a law adopted last year to allow cities an extra half-cent of sales taxes — wasn’t advanced by the Revenue Committee.

 But his venom is based on his view of taxation. Chambers hates sales taxes, because, he says, it taxes “the poorest widow” at the same rate as “the richest magnate.” 

 ”Something is wrong with society” when that’s the case, Chambers said.

   The tax study is clearly headed toward an expansion of the sales tax base, either by taxing more services or removing some out-dated exemptions. More sales taxes means property taxes or income taxes, or both, could be reduced.

 Bottom line: this week’s debate on a tax study is just a mild, political prelude to debates coming next year over actual reform of state taxes. And next year is an election year.

A couple of senators committed pop comedy Friday during the Revenue Committee’s hearing on a proposal to end the sales tax exemption on soft drinks.

As Lincoln Sen. Bill Avery introduced LB 447, Sen. Tom Hansen of North Platte noted his colleague’s voice sounded a little raspy and suggested Avery might need something to wet his whistle. Hansen reached under the table and produced a half-empty, two-liter bottle of root beer.

Later, Sen. Charlie Janssen of Fremont excused himself from the hearing, came back in a few minutes and loudly cracked open a can of pop while someone was testifying against the bill. Both gags got some laughter.

But beneath the effervescence lurked some heavy statistics about obesity in Nebraska.

Dr. Adi Pour, health director for Douglas County, testified that 28 percent of Nebraska adults are obese. The percentage is closer to one-third for youth in Douglas County. Unless our waistlines stop expanding, nearly six in 10 of us will be clinically obese by 2030.

Given links between excessive weight and heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes and cancer, the issue isn’t so easy to laugh off.

A recent analysis by Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation predicts Nebraska will spend $3.35 billion annually on weight-related health problems if the obesity rate continues to climb as projected.  But if Nebraskans could reduce their body mass index (BMI) by just 5-percent, the state could save close to $3.7 billion in the next 20 years.

How much weight are we talking about? For a 6-foot person weighing 200 pounds, a 5-percent drop in BMI would translate to about 10 pounds.

Avery’s bill proposes directing the $11 million in annual revenue collected from a soda pop tax to school wellness programs that teach kids better eating and exercise habits. The programs have produced encouraging results in Lincoln and Kearney by doing simple things like taking sugary pop and snacks out of vending machines, sugary treats out of classrooms and incorporating exercise throughout the school day, not just in P.E. class.

Members of the soft drink industry say they’re being demonized for a complex problem. They say soft drinks make up less than 10 percent the diets of Americans who now people spend many more hours sitting in front of a screen than doing physical activity. And despite a 12 percent decline in full-calorie beverage sales and a 21-percent drop in total soft drink calories produced for the marketplace over the last 10 to 14 years, obesity rates continue to climb.

Avery said unlike food and milk, soda isn’t necessary for survival and it contributes to health problems. Like alcohol and tobacco, it should be taxed. The purpose of such a tax would be less about cutting pop consumption and more about providing revenue to help teach younger generations how to avoid obesity-related health problems before it’s too late.

Clearly, one of the messages that popped to the surface was that obesity will cost us all unless we can figure out some solutions soon. Here’s a link to our story on the hearing.

 On a hot August night back in 1999, I can recall standing on Interstate 80 — which had been closed to traffic — as the 1,500-ton Great Platte River Road Archway Monument was hauled into place atop massive, bulldozer-like crawler machines.

 It was a spectacle to be sure. Dignitaries from across the state gathered as the $60 million Arch was slowly crawled across the four-lane interstate. Beverages were served, cannons were fired, and yearly attendance of 1 million was predicted.

 This hunk of steel and prairie trail history, it was said, would finally realize a long-time dream of the state: to lure travelors off I-80 to stop, shop and stay a spell in Nebraska. Finally, we Cornhuskers would have an attraction we could boast about, like Mt. Rushmore or the Rocky Mountains.

 But I remember thinking this was a lot of trouble, and expense, just to place a museum over the Interstate. I wondered quietly what could be accomplished if millions weren’t wasted on locating this steel, fort-like structure above the Interstate. What kind of amazing museum, you had to wonder, could be created if it was located at a historic spot along the Oregon Trail instead of a routine bend in the road outside of Kearney?

 Wouldn’t that be better?

 I wish I’d been wrong in those thoughts, but it turns out maybe there was something to that.

 The Arch, which local skeptics called “the double-wide in the sky,” never provided the “wow” factor needed to lure travelors off I-80. Motorists, it seems, had better things to do with their time — like get where they were going — than tour through a fairly expensive museum about pioneer history.

 Don’t get me wrong. A trip through the Arch was fairly cool and I don’t doubt that folks really tried hard to make it a wonderful tourist site. But once I visited, I never felt the urge to go again.

 And when you watched the slow trickle of visitors walk through the high-tech exhibits, they seemed most fascinated by the lowest tech exhibit of all — a window in which you can look down on traffic passing underneath the Arch.

 The architecture wasn’t all that fascinating. The best feature of the Arch was the shining steel sculpture atop the roof — the flying horse and the corn fence. But it wasn’t enough to convince people to interrupt their travels for a side trip.

 Now the Arch is bankrupt. Even after a massive refinancing of its debt, it didn’t come close to earning enough revenue to pay the bills.

 I’m sure some people will blame the poor access to the Arch for its troubles. It was a 2-mile drive to get to the place. But if something is cool enough, people will take the time and drive there.

 Now, a new I-80 interchange is almost completed at Kearney, which is only a few yards away. But it won’t help. Heck, it blocks a view of the Arch as you approach it from the East. Those travelors will keep driving, just as they’ve done in the past.

 The story of the oversold, covered-bridge like facility isn’t all bad.

 It was encouraging to see people take a risk to improve tourism in Nebraska. The Arch cost the state very little — it was a privately financed museum. Those investors took a bitter bath.

 But next time, when the state has a chance to attract mega-millions for a new tourist attraction, let’s hope they put the money into making an amazing attraction. Don’t waste so much money putting it in an unusual place.