In the News Omaha Chamber is Anti-Lid Henry J. Cordes / World-Herald Staff Writer. September 20, 2006 The Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, which eight years ago backed a drive to limit state government spending, has come out against a similar spending lid proposal on this year's ballot. The vote was unanimous among about 50 chamber board members who considered the issue at a meeting last week, said Pete Festersen, the chamber's vice president for public policy. Festersen said that controlling state spending and taxes remains a concern and priority for the chamber. But the Omaha chamber board members found much not to like about proposed Initiative 423, he said Tuesday, including concerns that it would raise property taxes and hurt such critical economic drivers as K-12 education and the state's universities and highway system. The chamber officials also didn't like the fact that an out-of-state group has pushed the measure without any input from Nebraska interests, Festersen said. The chamber will continue efforts to work with the Legislature and governor to come up with a mechanism to lower taxes, he said. "There was considerable discussion that this is the right problem but the wrong solution," he said. David Nabity, a former Republican candidate for governor and spokesman for the Stop Overspending (SOS) initiative, said he didn't understand the logic of the chamber's reversal of its 1998 support for a constitutional spending limit. He said the chamber is bowing to political pressure in opposing Initiative 423. If anything, taxes should be an even bigger concern with the growth of state and local government over the last decade, Nabity said. "If it was a good thing to do in 1998, it is absolutely the best thing to do in 2006," he said. "This limit is the only way we're going to see tax relief in the future." The Omaha chamber has joined a growing number of education, business and farm groups opposing Initiative 423. Among business groups, the State Chamber of Commerce and the Nebraska Telecommunications Association also have come out against Initiative 423, citing similar concerns about the impact on property taxes and K-12 schools. The Nebraska Bankers Association and the Nebraska Realtors Association are expected this week to announce their opposition. In 1998, the Omaha chamber spearheaded the drive for Initiative 413. Much like the current proposal, it would have limited revenue growth to the rate of inflation plus population growth. The chamber led the petition drive to put that measure on the ballot, and Omaha business leaders spent millions to try to persuade voters to approve it. However, the proposal fared miserably at the polls, voted down two-to-one statewide and losing in all 93 counties. Festersen said he doesn't think the beating that the chamber took in 1998 had an impact on its decision this year. There are key differences between the two proposals, he said. The 1998 measure would have limited both state and local spending, he said. The fact that the current proposal only limits state taxes makes it likely that more government costs would be shifted to the local level, thus increasing property taxes, he said. The 1998 measure also was much more detailed in how it would work. The current proposal leaves far too much for the courts to decide, he said.