Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Sorted by date Results 26 - 48 of 48
Senator Tom Briese, a long-time proponent of property tax relief in the Nebraska Legislature, introduced LR21 CA last week. LR21 CA would require the state to fund all K-12 classroom expenses. In introducing it, Briese said, “For far too long, the State of Nebraska has shirked its obligation to provide for the free education of its students. Instead, the state has continually chosen to pass on the bulk of the cost of public education to its property taxpayers. In fact, Nebraska is nearly last in the country in the percentage of K-12 education f...
Last week, the Nebraska Unicameral convened the 107th Legislature. On the first day, we elected officers. Sen. Mike Hilgers of Lincoln was unanimously elected speaker and I am very glad to have him serving us. I was honored to be re-elected as chair of the General Affairs Committee, a post I have held the last two years. The General Affairs committee handles subjects as wide ranging as breweries and distilleries, gambling, tobacco, intellectual property, libraries and cemeteries. I have enjoyed...
Senator Tom Briese introduced a bill Tuesday to carry out an efficiency audit of state government. LB213 would require an outside audit of all state agencies of Nebraska government, looking for efficiencies that can save the state money and improve services to Nebraskans. Briese said, “I’ve introduced this bill to complement and build upon the great work of the Ricketts administration in making our state government more efficient. As elected officials, I believe we have a solemn responsibility to the taxpayers to be good stewards of their dol...
The legislative session will begin Wednesday, Jan 6. On that day, newly-elected members will be sworn in and the speaker, chair and vice chair of the Executive Committee and committee chairs will be elected. What happens after that may depend on the status of the pandemic. Under normal circumstances, we would then introduce bills for 10 days, do some preliminary work including adoption of rules and committee assignments, with committee hearings beginning around the second week But this year,...
The Antelope County results are in for the 2020 general election. County clerk and election commissioner Lisa Payne noted 3,615 voters out of the 4,570 registered in the county cast ballots before and on Tuesday, Nov. 3. The people who turned out for the election voted for candidates who were running for positions at the local, county, regional, state and federal levels. "We counted 1,340 early voters, leaving 2,275 voting in person on Election Day," Payne said. "I did not hear of any problems...
General election results, from Nov. 3, 2020, for Antelope County, include: President Tilden 1st: Trump/Pence: 87 Biden/Harris: 15 Jorgensen/Cohen: 0 Write-in: 1 Tilden Precinct: Trump/Pence: 101 Biden/Harris: 9 Jorgensen/Cohen: 1 Oakdale: Trump/Pence: 152 Biden/Harris: 18 Jorgensen/Cohen: 3 Neligh P: Trump/Pence: 154 Biden/Harris: 10 Jorgensen/Cohen: 2 Neligh 1: Trump/Pence: 234 Biden/Harris: 21 Jorgensen/Cohen: 2 Neligh 2: Trump/Pence: 163 Biden/Harris: 21 Jorgensen/Cohen: 6 Brunswick:...
Antelope County residents who want to request ballots for early voting in the 2020 general election soon will run out of time to do so. The deadline for requesting ballots by mail or fax a request to vote early in this year's general election – scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 3 – is 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23. County residents who want to request ballots in person to vote early, must do so by 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2, at the county clerk's office inside the courthouse in Neligh. All ballots for early vot...
The current legislative session officially concluded on day 60, which was Thursday, Aug. 13. We concluded the session by hearing remarks from the six term limited and outgoing senators and passing several bills through final reading. One bill we passed was LB 1107, a comprehensive package of property tax relief and business incentives. The focus on property tax reform this past session began as the Revenue Committee’s LB 974. It was a combination of foundation aid for all school districts in N...
The last two weeks in the Legislature have seen a flurry of activity, as senators worked hard to get a great number of bills passed in a short number of days. There were some heated debates on the floor and emotions ran very hot for a few days, with contentious issues turning into some personal squabbles between senators on either side of those issues. With so much to accomplish in such a short time, perhaps this should be expected, but I am always hopeful that cooler heads will prevail and we...
The Legislature passed the budget bills this past week, containing their recommendations for adjustments to the biennial budget that was passed last year. Now it will be up to the governor whether he signs the legislation or uses his line-item veto authority. Earlier in the week, senators gave second-round approval to the budget bills after a lengthy debate. An amendment to LB 1008 was offered by Omaha Senator Machaela Cavanaugh to direct how the remaining funding from the federal Coronavirus...
The Nebraska Legislature reconvened on July 20, after a break of more than four months due to the pandemic. When we recessed, we had 17 working days remaining to debate and pass legislation, and those days have been moved to late July through early August in order to complete our work. While things could always change again, we are currently slated to work through the 13th of August to finish out the 60 working days of our session. In the intervening weeks and months, many Nebraskans have had...
On Monday of this week, Speaker Scheer announced the Legislature would return from our extended adjournment on July 20. I believe that this is an appropriate time to allow the curve in Nebraska to flatten and to give senators and staff time to prepare to finish our session for this year. I am grateful for the time laid out before us to work on how the Legislature can best set up the state for success as we emerge from the conditions we have been under. The top item on my list of priorities...
In what may well become Antelope County's first election by mail resulted in voter turnout of 47.62%, according to county clerk Lisa Payne. Of the 4,488 registered voters in the county, 2,137 individuals cast their choice for candidates, with 1,751 early voting ballots. Three hundred eighty-six were cast at polling sites across the county. Incumbent Eli Jacob, of Clearwater, received 153 votes for district two commissioner, while Bob Krutz, of Orchard, finished with 132 votes. Donald Lallier, of...
By now, all registered voters in Nebraska should have had the opportunity to fill out an application for an early (absentee) ballot. That application should be mailed to your county’s Election Commissioner, which for most folks reading this will be your county clerk. Once you have your ballot, please be sure that it is received by your county offices by May 12. I’d like to take this opportunity to encourage all of you reading to exercise your Constitutional right to vote. I won’t use this space...
In the last two weeks, it feels, in some ways, as though nothing has really changed, but in some ways, things seem to be changing by the minute. I reached out to some friends in the agribusiness and small business communities and compiled some information for small business owners relating to resources available to you. Businesses, including farms, with less than 500 employees, qualify for Paycheck Protection Program Loans, to keep employees on payroll, under the $349 billion Small Business...
The Nebraska Legislature remains adjourned until further notice. However, just over a week ago, we reconvened for three days to approve an emergency request from the governor to help fund the state response to COVID-19. The bill appropriates $83 million toward medical needs, protective measures, equipment,and programs related to the virus. It passed unanimously. That’s a statement I can rarely make, especially in these polarized times. I am proud to say legislators from across the aisle came t...
COVID-19, the novel coronavirus, has begun to dominate the headlines. To say that events are unfolding rapidly on a global, national, state and even local level, would seem an enormous understatement. We are in uncharted waters, with many unknowns. But the goal needs to be to reduce the spread and impact as best we can, in order to protect the most vulnerable among us. That means adhering to the recommendations of our experts on issues such as hygiene and social distancing. Besides the obvious...
The Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board met Feb. 28, to review their forecast for the current and next fiscal years. The board increased the previous forecast by $115 million for fiscal year 2019-20 and by $25 million for fiscal year 2020-21, for a total increase of $140 million over the two-year period. Most of the increase can be attributed to year-to-date actual receipts, as revenues from November through February were $111 million above the October forecast. The $115 million...
In the town halls I’ve held across the 41st district, as well as visits at the Capitol in Lincoln, many of you have brought up housing. Rural workforce housing is among the top issues holding Nebraska back from our true economic potential. Certainly, the high burden of property taxes across Nebraska is having a negative impact on the availability of rural housing: not only are property taxes high in our small towns, but the ripple effects of high property taxes on the economy are felt hard in r...
The Revenue Committee’s property tax/education funding reform bill, LB 974, was brought out of committee on a 6-2 vote last week. LB 974 will inject additional state dollars into education funding. By the third year of implementation, it will provide more than $200 million per year in additional funding to our schools to provide property tax relief for hard working Nebraskans. It will accomplish this by requiring the state to provide over $2,000 per student in foundation aid by that third y...
In the last two weeks, a lot of things have happened at the Legislature in Lincoln, and at the same time, very little has happened. A number of good bills have advanced: supporting victims of human trafficking, providing an income tax break to military retirees and others. But we haven’t had the opportunity yet to give an up-or-down vote on any of the bills dealing directly with property tax relief. The session is still young and I am hopeful that we will get something meaningful moved forward t...
On Wednesday, Jan. 15, Governor Ricketts presented his State of the State Address to the Nebraska Legislature. The beginning of his speech focused on the events of last year. Although there was much devastation, he emphasized how Nebraskans responded with determination and generosity. A recent federal report pegged the losses stemming from last year’s weather at more than $3.4 billion. This figure does not include all the damages to the private sector, creating hardship for many homeowners, busi...
I first want to extend my wishes that everyone had a Merry Christmas, and a nice holiday season with family and friends, as well as to wish a healthy and prosperous New Year to everyone. The 2020 legislative session convened at 10 a.m., on Jan. 8. The first several days of the session will consist mostly of bill introduction. Bills can be introduced during the first 10 working days of the session, which this year will run until Jan. 23. Debate on carryover legislation - bills from last year...
