Dubas stifled from having district office

State Sen. Annette Dubas won't have an office in the district this summer like she did during last year's legislative interim.

Although the office was widely popular with constituents, it was frowned upon by legislative higher-ups.

"There were some concerns raised when I had the office in my district last year from the Executive Board and from some people down here at the Legislature because we aren't given any extra money to run offices outside of our Lincoln office," Dubas said. "We basically have to rely on our campaign funds to support anything that we do like that outside of our office."

Dubas didn't request any funds to operate the district office, which was located at 2608 Old Fair Road in Grand Island.

It was donated and she used a legislative laptop and her own cell phone.

She found the district office to be far more popular with constituents while the Legislature was out of session than her Lincoln office.

"I had an extremely positive response," Dubas said. "I wanted to have an office in the district for ease of my constituents, if they had an issue they wanted to visit with me about."

She spoke often with constituents on the phone, but found face-to-face meetings to be of help on more detailed or personalized issues.

" . . . it's kind of hard to have (private) conversations in a restaurant or some place like that," Dubas said.

But the district office raised eyebrows in Lincoln.

"We've never sanctioned district offices," said Sen. Patrick Engel of South Sioux City, chairman of the Legislature's Executive Board of the Legislative Council.

"I know in her case she had an office donated, but if you're going to have district offices, eventually you're going to wind up with equipment and rent and then you're going to have to have additional help in the Lincoln office. It just complicates things," Engel said.

Dubas, a farmer from Fullerton, said the district office actually simplified things for her constituents and for her.

"My work is in my district during the interim," Dubas said. "Having to drive to Lincoln was an inconvenience for me when my work is actually in my district."

Dubas' District 34 represents Hamilton, Merrick and Nance counties, along with portions of Polk and the eastern part of Hall County, including part of Grand Island.

"There are no policies that prohibit district offices, but obviously, we fund staff and provide resources for the Capitol offices," said Clerk of the Legislature Patrick O'Donnell.

That Capitol office includes two staffers for every senator and up to four staff for senators who serve as committee chairmen or chairwomen. It also provides all the necessary equipment, including computer support.

O'Donnell said legislative offices are not budgeted for individually. They are budgeted for collectively. Having personal staff in legislative offices is something not every state provides, O'Donnell said. Nebraska does it to make the Legislature accessible.

"We like to think we've got state-of-the art accessibility  -- at least via Internet access," O'Donnell said, "and the ability for people to interact with their legislator here (in Lincoln)."

A key concern with Dubas' district office is that she had her legislative aide working from the district office -- largely because her legislative aide is from Grand Island.

"Nobody is saying Sen. Dubas did anything wrong," O'Donnell said. We're just a little uneasy about if we have 48 other legislators come in and say, ’We want district offices now.'"

"The problems posed to us when we go outside the building -- do we, should we, provide equipment outside the Capitol -- and the answer is no. We haven't in the past. We don't budget for that," O'Donnell said. "How do we reimburse staff who might live in Lincoln and work in the district, or vice versa? There's some travel-associated issues.

"It's a budgetary thing as much as anything," O'Donnell said. "It's also a liability issue."

"If a staffer slips and falls in a district office, does the state have liability? I don't have the answer to that," O'Donnell said.

There's also concern about perceptions. The Legislature is sensitive to senators using their resources for carrying out the people's work -- not conducting "electioneering" activities.

O'Donnell reiterated that Dubas did nothing wrong -- what she did was just not traditional.

Hall County Supervisor Pam Lancaster didn't personally use Dubas' district office, but she's aware of Hall County residents who did. Some of those residents have shared their concern with Lancaster about the senator ceasing to have a district office.

"Sen. Dubas has absolutely been wonderful listening to counties, working on county issues, being accessible to people -- all of that," Lancaster said. "I think it's a shame that anyone would try to stifle her ability to discuss issues with her constituents, and that includes a portion of Hall County, so it directly affects us."

O'Donnell said there have been situations in the past in which senators, as a small businessperson such as a lawyer, may have had an office in a home district and had legislative staff come up to spend a day or two a week working. There was no expectation of providing public resources in those cases, he said.

"But it hasn't been a permanent situation like Sen. Dubas did," O'Donnell said. "Sen. Dubas' situation was a little novel for us."

Dubas said she is working with the Executive Board and Speaker (Mike) Flood to determine if there are more flexible ways to use staff during the interim.

"I've got some ideas of what I want to do this interim. I just haven't put them into play yet," Dubas said.

"We didn't say she couldn't do it. We just said we were going to take everything under advisement and come up with a plan, and then she decided not to do it on her own," Engel said. "It will be studied now. We've set up a committee. If they want to go this way, there will be more expenses."

"I think people should let Sen. Dubas know what they are feeling and thinking and she can bring that message back to the management committee," O'Donnell said. "It's nothing that's cemented here, but it is a budgetary item and we would look at that and the cost associated with that before the Executive Board would take action on that."