Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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The work of the Legislature is now about getting bills to the floor for debate by the entire body. And that generally means a priority designation. Priority bills, one per senator, two per committee and twenty-five for the speaker, have now been designated. Senator Geist prioritized my LB 408, which provides for a 3 percent limit on annual increases in property tax askings. It may be debated on the floor of the legislature next week. Senator Slama prioritized my LB 139, which provides a measure...
Clearwater Village Board of Trustees reviewed results of a recent housing survey during the board's March 8 meeting. According to Clearwater Economic Development Director Lauren Sheridan-Simonsen, survey results identify the need for affordable housing as a priority for the village. "The housing shortage has been identified as a priorty for the ED office," she said. The survey evaluated current housing quality, while identifying needs. Included in the results is public comment about housing stoc...
BROOKE WRAGE, CELENA SHEPHERD and MADELEINE GRANT Nebraska News Service The first week of floor debates kicked off the second week in March. Senators debated and advanced a handful of bills in the Nebraska Legislature. A recap of the week. LB255: Provide compensation to families of deceased first responders Sen. Matt Hansen, of Lincoln, introduced LB255, which would establish the In the Line of Duty Compensation Act to provide a one-time death benefit for a family member of a first responder who dies while on the line of duty. “I believe it i...
The legislature has wrapped up most committee hearings, and began half-day floor debate this week. Full-day floor debate will begin next week. In the meantime, committees are voting on which bills will be moved on to general file. By the time you read this, most priority designations will have been announced. The determination by individual senators, committees and the speaker as to which bills get a priority designation is extremely important, as bills without a priority designation will...
Governor Pete Ricketts delivered his State of the State address to the Legislature this past week. He highlighted 2021-23 state budget recommendations for senators. This will be his last biennial budget proposal, as his eight years in office will be completed at the end of next year. Ricketts recounted the devastating flood in 2019 and coronavirus pandemic that followed in 2020. He commended Nebraskans for responding in the Nebraska Way - by working together to overcome challenges. The...
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...
Over the last four years, we have updated our trade relationships and trade agreements at a historic pace. We secured updated comprehensive trade agreements with Canada, Mexico and South Korea; entered into Phase One agreements with China and Japan that address many significant impediments to U.S. exporters in these major markets; and achieved important progress to remove trade barriers faced by particular sectors in several other countries. Together, these nations purchase almost 50% of the United States’ current exports. These agreements f...
Together, and only together, Nebraskans can rebuild the state’s struggling child care system, which is reeling during COVID-19. We can do it in a way that makes age-old problems, like a statewide shortage of quality child care, largely disappear. And we can do it in a way that benefits families, companies, communities and our state economy. That was the message Nebraskans delivered to the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee at a recent hearing. Child care providers, the University of Nebraska’s president, business leaders and experts made...
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...
State senators resumed the legislative session July 20, after breaking for almost four months due to coronavirus. We are set to complete this 60-day session Aug. 13. During this first week back, we immediately began debating the major issues left pending. Senators voted 30-8 to pull LB 814 from the Judiciary Committee and place it on General File so it can be debated. LB 814 would prohibit live dismemberment abortion and provide for criminal penalties for physicians who perform such abortions....
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...
Antelope County commissioners worked a little closer to resolving a plethora of road issues last week, although no decision was reached for bonding more work. The bulk of the July 7 meeting at the courthouse in Neligh was dedicated to county roads, in one form or another. After clearing the agenda of other business and more than an hour of discussion with road superintendent Aaron Boggs, an unofficial agreement was reached, giving Boggs direction to move forward with work on four heavily...
This past week, the Legislature hit the half way mark in this year’s 60-day legislation session. The public hearing process is complete and senators will now meet in full-day session. 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 23. LB 424, introduced by Grand Island Senator Dan Quick, proposes to allow municipalities throughout Nebraska to create a joint land bank with one or m...
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...
It’s that point in the legislative session when only bills with priority status make the agenda. The deadline for selecting priority bills was Feb. 21. Every senator is authorized to select one bill as his/her personal priority bill. Committees are allowed to select two bills and the speaker of the Legislature can designate up to 25 bills as speaker priority bills. Since committees are limited in the number of bills that they can select, they tend to incorporate a number of other bills into t...
One of the bills that I introduced this session was LB 770. It authorizes a free lifetime park permit for disabled veterans. This past week, LB 770 was advanced from the Natural Resources Committee on an 8-0 vote. I designated it as my priority bill and the Legislature gave it first-round approval on a 38-0 vote. Under LB 770, a veteran would be eligible for the free permit if they are a Nebraska resident, honorably discharged, and rated 50% or more service-connected disabled or 100% disabled, n...
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...
Wednesday, Jan. 8 marked the first day of the One Hundred Sixth Legislature, second session. This also marks the beginning of the second year that I am serving as the representative of the 40th Legislative District. The 40th district covers the counties of Boyd, Cedar, Dixon, Holt, Knox and Rock. Legislative sessions in even-numbered years last for 60 days. During the short session, senators will make any necessary adjustments to the two-year budget that was developed during the 90-day session...
The Holt County supervisors addressed cyber security at their final 2019 meeting. The leaders met Dec. 31 at the courthouse in O'Neill. Steve Anson with Anson Insurance Services was invited, by chairman Bill Tielke, to present information about insuring the county against "hacking" of county computers. Tielke indicated cyber security concerns were raised at a recent convention he had attended. "I don't think it's a matter that we can keep beating around the bush and not doing something about,"...
The Holt County supervisors met Monday, Dec. 16, in front of a crowd of concerned citizens. Agenda items regarding a TC Energy road-haul agreement and some township road concerns drew the visitors. The supervisors heard an update on a bronze statue planned for the courthouse lawn by the “Finian Women.” They are a group headed by daughters of longtime Holt County resident, Doc Cook, who referred to himself as a Finian, according to county clerk Cathy Pavel. Natalie Cook Butterfield addressed the leaders regarding fundraising and planned placemen...
A familiar face will greet customers at Clearwater Market, as Kathy Ahlers assumes managerial duties of village's grocery store. Her first day in the new position was Oct. 14. Ahlers, who spent 11 and one-half years at USDA Farm Services Agency, has prior grocery experience. "I worked at Jo's Market for one year before going to FSA," she said. Customer service will be top priority for Ahlers and store employees Sandy Moser and Rochelle Allemang. "If customers have requests for items, let us...
