Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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"I believe I have the votes." Those six words have become the curse of the Nebraska Legislature. The buzzkill. The harbinger of failure. Sen. Kathleen Kauth of Omaha learned that on Day 56 of the 60-day session when her Sports and Spaces Act did little more than use up four hours of time when an attempt to end the opponent's filibuster fell two votes short. The measure fell off the agenda for good this year. Likewise, a last-ditch attempt to return Nebraska presidential elections to a...
The beginning of April brings us closer to the end of this year’s legislative session. There are many bills still left to debate and little time to consider all of the priority bills brought forward this year. The week began with the resumption of debate on the governor’s proposed property tax relief package: LB388 and LB1331. LB388 initially proposed an up-to-1% increase of the sales tax, from the current rate of 5.5% to possibly as high as 6.5%, and raising taxes and eliminating tax exe...
It's easy to understand but hard to remember that the one task of the Nebraska Legislature is to pass a balanced budget during the 90-day session and to make adjustments to and pass that budget again in the 60-day session. Mission accomplished again by the 2024 Legislature, which has a little more than a week of session left. The simple task often gets lost in the shadow of high-profile issues, such as this year's struggle to find a solution for skyrocketing property taxes. With all eyes on...
Nebraska residents should have easier access to public records under a bill that, in effect, overrules a recent Nebraska Supreme Court decision allowing the state to charge high amounts for retrieving public records. Gov. Jim Pillen signed Legislative Bill 43, adopting the First Freedom Act and new public record provisions, on Wednesday, March 27, after it unanimously passed in the Legislature, 39-0. The bill went into immediate effect due to an emergency clause. The emergency clause was added to an amendment inspired by Lincoln Sen. Danielle...
"If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all." – Thumper "The tongue of the wise makes knowledge attractive, but the mouth of fools blurts out foolishness." Proverbs 15:2 CSB Nebraska's unique one-house Legislature is back in the national spotlight again, for all the wrong reasons again. Last year it was a session-slowing filibuster accomplished by a couple senators who were upset with a bill restricting access to medical services for transgender youth. This year, it's a move seeki...
Last week, the Legislature gave final round approval to the two mid-biennium budget adjustment bills: LB1412 and LB1413. The two bills will increase the state budget by 2.7% in this two-year period, which is up from the 2.3% approved last year. The primary factor for this growth is due to an additional $94.1 million increase in state aid to schools, which accounts for actual education spending now that LB583 has taken effect. LB583 was passed last year as a revision to the TEEOSA school-funding...
This week, my personal priority bill, LB1301, was put before the Unicameral for the first stage of consideration. LB1301 would modernize our state’s existing laws relating to foreign land ownership. The bill would add greater oversight and tighten restrictions on so-called restricted entities or their agents, trustees or fiduciaries, referenced in two federal lists: the persons and entities designated by the Office of Foreign Assets Control and the six countries designated as foreign a...
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely is a proverbial saying reportedly coined by the English nobleman Lord Acton in 1857. How much power should be given to the executive branch of Nebraska state government is a topic for discussion by state lawmakers and political observers alike. Currently there are 18 code agencies, which answer to Governor Jim Pillen. The Legislature is considering measures addressing the situation. Sen Steve Erdman of Bayard wants History Nebraska (formerly...
The Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board met on Feb. 29, to review the forecast for the current fiscal year and the next fiscal year. The board increased the previous forecast for fiscal year 2023-2024 by $575 million and decreased the previous forecast for fiscal year 2024-2025 by $525 million, for a total net increase of $50 million over the two-year period. Most of the increase can be attributed to increased receipts from corporate income taxes relative to individual income taxes sinc...
Typically, at the end of the legal notices that run in the paper, I add the phrase, "The public has the right to know." You do. The premise is etched into our statehouse's north wall, "The Salvation of the State is Watchfulness in the Citizen." Now, more than ever, you should educate yourselves on the ins and outs of freedom of information laws. Now, more than ever, there's a need for citizens to become involved. This is Sunshine Week, a time to highlight the necessity of open government. In...
We are now two-thirds of the way through the 60-day session and have completed public hearings for the year. Senators will now meet in full-day sessions for floor debate. Discussion will focus on bills that have been given priority status either by a senator, a committee, or the speaker. The Legislature is scheduled to adjourn April 18. LB1087 by Sen. Jacobson would adopt the Hospital Quality Assurance and Access Assessment Act. This bill would have Nebraska join 44 other states in obtaining...
There are a lot of ins and outs in party politics during an election year. Who's in the race and who's out? All eyes have been on the Legislature where the big surprise came from Republican Julie Slama – rhymes with drama – announced she wouldn't seek a second term representing southeast Nebraska's District One because she was going to take her recently earned law degree another direction. But before the appointee of then Governor Pete Ricketts could relish the attention one more time, the ven...
This week saw the Legislature in session for only three days to conclude public hearings on more than 600 bills and resolutions introduced this year. It is also at this point in the legislative session when only bills with priority status make the agenda. Every senator is authorized to designate one bill as his or her personal priority bill. Committees are allowed to select two bills, while the speaker of the Legislature can designate up to 25 bills as speaker priority bills. Since committees...
Three of the four kids in my family were born on the same day in December over a span of 14 years. The "other" one was born on March 1. To appease her, my older sister and brother and I told the March-born she was special because she shared a birthday with the State of Nebraska! (I'm pretty sure it didn't work.) So, happy belated 157th birthday Nebraska. And happy 82nd to my late sister. Too much cake and party hats? Where are we now? Let's take a look. A is for agriculture. Still more counties...
It has been just over one year since I was sworn in as the public service commissioner for the 31 counties of District 4. I wanted to share another quarterly update on the work over the past three months. Many reading this likely may not have heard much of the happenings and work of the PSC. The Nebraska PSC is an elected, five-member statewide board that oversees several industries which affect our everyday lives, including broadband internet and telecommunications, the 911 network and...
This week marked the halfway point of the 2024 legislative session, meaning the remaining time will be spent on senator, committee and speaker priority bills. Given the time left in the session, I will be focused on my priority bill for the year, LB1301. LB1301 would adopt the Foreign-owned Real Estate National Security Act, put guardrails and protections in place on foreign ownership of ag land and help safeguard sensitive military installations from threats posed by foreign adversaries. I...
With the short session of the Nebraska Legislature slightly more than half over, repeat after me: When it comes to taxation, it's all about whose ox is getting gored. The governor wants a 40% reduction in property taxes by the end of the year. I'm in! Cut me a check. Sorry. That's not how this works. The cuts will be made and somehow credited to your tax bill by the county, which will somehow find a way to use it up before you see it. Just watch. Even more sorry. The state must pay for the...
Ed. Note: Sen. Dorn’s letter to the editor is in regards to an editorial by J.L. Schmidt, statehouse correspondent for the Nebraska Press Association. A recent editorial in this publication showed no understanding of the constraints on city governments regarding rundown properties, citing LB 45. While it would be most desirable for all property owners to keep their properties in peak condition, that is not the reality; thus, communities across the state are left with buildings which continue to deteriorate. Let me start at the beginning of h...
Much of this week’s activity focused on broadband and the Nebraska Department of Transportation, along with some controversy relating to education policy. The Transportation and Telecommunications Committee heard three of my bills this week. LB1038 would make a small change to the membership requirement of the Nebraska Information Technology Commission, which develops and reviews our state’s information technology plans. The commission currently has nine voting members and one member from the...
Wait, what? Governor Jim Pillen has reversed his opposition to a federal summer grocery program that would aid around 150,000 children of low-income families. Pillen succumbed to a lot of outside pressure from a bipartisan group of state lawmakers, a bill introduced by one of them to request the aid and another state senator who made it his priority to ensure it would be debated in the remaining days of the legislative session. Back in December he proclaimed that he didn't "believe in welfare."...
This week, I presented my priority bill for this year before members of the Agriculture Committee: LB1301. This bill would adopt the Foreign-owned Real Estate National Security Act and bring our antiquated foreign land ownership statutes up to date. Our statutes were first enacted in 1889 and many sections were last updated only in 1943. The bill would modernize these statutes by restricting federally-designated foreign adversaries from owning agricultural land, empowering the attorney general...
I'm sure that a year ago the Revitalize Rural Nebraska Grant Program proposed by Sen. Myron Dorn of Adams and passed by the Legislature sounded like a great deal. Administered by the Department of Environment and Energy, it's intended to provide money to help towns under 5,000 populations with the cost of clearing away rundown buildings. Some consideration is allegedly given to historic properties. But there's nothing really being done to address the root cause of the dilapidation. Dorn's heart...
LINCOLN--In week six of the 2024 Nebraska Legislative Session, Nebraska lawmakers continued discussion on LB 1339, a bill that would allow school districts to authorize employed security personnel, law enforcement and members of the U.S. Armed Forces to lawfully carry concealed handguns on school grounds. Initially introduced on Jan. 17 by Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon, LB 1339 has garnered attention from both sides of the aisle in the Legislature as well as many Nebraskans and organizations. Speaking on behalf of the Nebraska Council of School Adm...
We are now over a third of the way through this short session of the biennium. This week focused on hearings and debate on railroads, daylight saving time, kratom, hemp-derived THC and many other issues. The Legislature has spent its days engaged in debate and committee hearings as per usual, yet that does not mean we have avoided filibuster this session. LB31, put forward by Sen. Jacobson, would require railroads to have a minimum of two individuals on their crews. Three days of debate were...
Chief Justice Michael Heavican delivered his annual State of the Judiciary address this past week. As part of a longtime tradition, I was selected to be a member of the committee to escort the Chief Justice into the legislative chamber; I felt it was a great honor and privilege to be able to serve as a member of his escort committee. In his address, Heavican noted that judiciary staffing has returned to a pre-pandemic level. He also said there was a 27% increase in problem-solving court...
