About two dozen people gave the Legislature's Appropriations Committee suggestions for spending the federal stimulus money flowing into the state during a public hearing Thursday.

Among their suggestions:

* Help Kearney Library with its plan to double the size of the library.

* Complete the U.S. Highway 281 expressway project, ten miles of four lane in Howard County.

* Allow more working parents to get subsidized day care by raising the income level to 130 percent of poverty, or $28,000 for a family of four.

* Help Metropolitan Community College renovate its center in Fremont.

* Give grants to nursing homes and hospitals for one-time projects, like an Alzheimer's unit or federally mandated sprinkling system.

* Help the state parks with its $25 million plus mountain of maintenance needs.

* And remember the University of Nebraska, where 600 people could lose jobs under the current state budget proposal.

NU lobbyist Ron Withem didn't actually ask for money from the stimulus package during the hearing. He simply asked senators to "consider the impact on higher education" of all the budget decisions.

The committee has penciled in a 1.5 percent increase for NU, but a growing budget deficit could force senators to change that.

The committee listened to several hours of stimulus ideas, though the Legislature has control over a very small portion of the $1.2 billion expected to come to Nebraska over the next two years. Much of the money will go to established programs, its distribution guided by already established federal rules.

The Legislature does have $52 million in discretionary stimulus funding, and additional federal funding for Medicaid will free up about $228 million in tax dollars over the two-year budget cycle, according to Appropriations Committee data. In addition, using education stimulus funding for state aid to schools could provide another $90 to $100 million in state tax funds.

Currently, committee members are considering using all that money to help plug the more than $500 million budget deficit, so they don't have to make additional cuts to state programs.

The state may have problems getting money under two stimulus programs.

The state is required to meet federal standards for building codes in order to receive about $30.9 million in funding used for energy efficiency and renewable energy activities. The state Energy Office is hopeful that a consultant's review of the state building code will determine the state code exceeds the federal requirement, according to Bonnie Ziemann, Energy Office deputy director.

The state will have to expand its unemployment insurance program in order to access about $44 million in unemployment stimulus funding. The expansion would allow more low-wage and part-time workers to get unemployment insurance, said Kate Bolz, with Nebraska Appleseed.

But it could raise the state's unemployment tax in the future, according to business representatives. State labor and business representatives will be discussing that issue next week, according to Ken Mass, who represents Nebraska AFL-CIO.

Reach Nancy Hicks at 473-7250 or nhicks@journalstar.com.