At a time when politics is becoming more and more partisan a panel of state lawmakers is being asked to take politics out of two top state jobs.

A public hearing is scheduled for next week when a push to make the State Auditor and Treasurer non-partisan or independent, not Democrat or Republican.

The legislation is backed by State Sen. John McCollister who tells News Channel Nebraska he can’t begin to imagine why the two posts, which keep track of state and in some cases local spending, should be anything but non-partisan.

When it comes to the Auditor the Omaha lawmaker says, “You’re just adding up numbers and checking facts and it’s not really a political kind of office.”

McCollister, a Republican, who has made more than his share of noise by talking down the Trump Presidency, is likely to run into Republican opposition as both jobs are currently held by the GOP.

Treasurer John Murante is running for a second four year term.

Lt. Gov. Mike Foley is running for his old Auditor's job —the current Auditor Charlie Janssen decided not to run again.

By the way, any move to make the Auditor and Treasurer non-partisan does not require a change in the Constitution. The office is partisan by statute (32.507) and a change in the law is all that’s needed to push the political parties aside.