OSBORN HAILS SIGNING OF LB 619 & 620

Lincoln, NE - Nebraska State Treasurer Shane Osborn released the following statement regarding Governor Dave Heineman’s signing of LB 619 and LB 620. The bills were introduced by State Senator Pete Pirsch on behalf of the Treasurer’s Office:

“I would like to thank Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman for signing into law LB 619 and LB 620. These two bills represent the kind of common-sense legislation that I have been championing over the years and frankly, I believe they’re initiatives people expect from their government. Now, there will be immediate uniformity for state agencies looking to recoup fees stemming from bad checks, and mandates electronic transfers for child support payments."

“As elected officials, we can no longer permit the tradition of allowing bad debt to accrue, which places an additional burden on responsible taxpayers. Governor Dave Heineman and Omaha State Senator Pete Pirsch are to be commended for their outstanding efforts throughout this process and I truly appreciate the hard work demonstrated by their staff.”

“Today, I’m proud to report that our efforts have yielded incredible results. Our accomplishments are even more remarkable when, while the other Constitutional offices had their 2007-2008 budgets increased by an average of 4%, we received a reduction of 4.55%– the sharpest decline in operating budget of any other office.”

LB 619: Provides that any time the State Treasurer assesses a returned check charge or a charge for an electronic payment that is not accepted, against a state agency, the agency may then pass that cost along to the payor of the check or the person who authorized the electronic payment.

LB 620: Allows the State Treasurer's Office to electronically collect insufficient (NSF) returned checks for state agencies and mandates that the State Disbursement Unit (SDU) must use automated procedures, electronic processes, and computer-driven technology to the maximum extent feasible, efficient, and economical for the collection and disbursement of support payments. Additionally, LB 620 provides that if an employer has more than fifty employees and has an employee with a child support order, then the employer shall remit their child support payments electronically.