In 2009, those who promulgated LB 285 — the Nebraska version of the Adam Walsh Act — filed a Statement of Fiscal Impact that erroneously claimed the bill would have no budget impact. That was just plain untrue.
A major argument in favor of LB 285 was that Nebraska would avoid having 10 percent of its federal Byrne Grant money withheld. That amounted to about $129,000. Meanwhile, the state would spend $2.9 million just to get started implementing LB 285, according to the U.S. Justice Policy Institute. Who knows how many millions have been wasted since LB 285 became law?
The State of Nebraska should add up the cost of LB 285 a decade after its passage — and not just the money that was sucked out of state coffers. What about all of the expenditures at the county level? What about the hours of law enforcement professionals’ time wasted maintaining a registry that has zero law enforcement value? Someone, somewhere ought to track this information down.
Then, we would have proof that the LB 285 Fiscal Impact Statement, like everything else said to justify passage of the law, was a lie.