GOVERNOR DAVE HEINEMAN - toured the Holt County Court House including the dispatch center as part of a campaign stop in O'Neil1 on Monday.

Governor Makes Campaign Stop In O'Neill On Monday

Gov. Dave Heineman made a brief stop Monday afternoon for a campaign stop at the Blarney Stone Restaurant.

Gov. Heineman stepped into the gubernatorial position when governor elect Mike Johanns accepted a position as the secretary of agriculture.

Heineman, like his competitor for the job, Congressman Tom Osborne is seeking the Governor job for the 2006 race. Governor Heineman sees the need to stop the brain drain or exodus of college students out of the state to the bigger cities and higher paying jobs. Heineman cited as part of his plan the comprehensive job package recently passed to increase jobs in the state projected to create 50,000 jobs in the next eight years.

"Our plan takes in not only what is good for the larger cities like Omaha and Lincoln, but also the smaller communities like O'Neill," said Heineman.

One of the big topics at the luncheon was the issue of tax relief. "Our tax receipts have come back better than expected and we are looking to have a 375 to 400 million built up in the states security blanket, said Heinemen. The Governor stated that the relief would probably come in the form of personal income tax relief. "If we don't give the people some kind of tax relief it will be money spent by the state." If we are going to attract entrepreneurs and higher paying jobs to the state we need to make our personal property tax more attractive

to people looking at our state:

"I believe if I am a good governor that the people of the state will reward me by electing me governor."

The governor also discussed other hot issues such as water concerns with the possibility of more NRD districts being allotted fully apportioned in the near future and the concerns of state spending in regards to the disproportionate amount going to school districts as opposed to the cities and counties that they reside in.

The governor next moved on to a tour of the new addition to the court house led by supervisor Bill Tielke. The governor concluded his visit to O'Neill with a stop at St. Mary's High School and spoke to the student body.