Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Sorted by date Results 826 - 850 of 901
The Appropriations Committee presented its recommendations for the budget to the Legislature this past week. Budget bills were also given first-round approval from the Legislature. Over the interim, the financial status of the current biennium has improved significantly. The variance from the minimum General Fund reserve was estimated at only $0.2 million when we adjourned last year, but has since grown to $133.8 million. Furthermore, the rainy day fund increased from $322.4 million to $731...
TERESA HOFFMAN Policy Communications Associate, Center for Rural Affairs By now, you have most likely received a postcard or letter in your mailbox inviting you to participate in the 2020 Census. Set forth as an effort to count everyone in the U.S., the data collected as part of the census impacts everyone who is, or is not, counted. Before your mailer filters to the bottom of your to-do stack, take a moment to recognize why completing the census is so important, especially for residents of rural communities and states. At its most basic...
Sometimes, human nature amazes me ... and not in a good way. The entire coronavirus conversation makes me shake my head. While I understand worse-case scenarios are often used as a prompt to get people to think, a little common sense, a dollop of soap and a lot of hot water should clear up any misconceptions. Here’s what we know for sure: • As of March 9, 555 confirmed cases have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with individuals from 35 states and the District of...
The sun is shining as Nebraskans wake up. With a break from cold temperatures, a walk outside lends a view of tulips pushing their way through the soil. I am so ready for spring, although I know that Mother Nature can fling back her head and dump cold and snow on us. I'm not scared of what will unfold. Spring is coming and the tulips and sedum popping out of their winter blankets are a sure sign that we will be able to step outside soon and feel the warmth on our faces. Until then, I plan on...
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...
When Billy Joel said, “Music is an explosive expression of humanity,” I hope he meant music shapes our lives and reflects current culture. I tend to associate music with certain events, an expression of mood and tone of a nation, a bookmark comprised of notes and rhythms denoting importance, a mix tape providing background accompaniment to daily life. Ask someone to name their favorite song. More than likely, they’ll pause momentarily, contemplate for a few seconds more and rattle off a curre...
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...
KATE HANSEN Policy Assistant, Center for Rural Affairs The deadline for Nebraska farmers and ranchers to apply to the Environmental Quality Incentives Program is quickly approaching. Any interested producers should apply by March 13. Administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, EQIP is a working lands conservation program that offers producers financial and technical assistance for a variety of conservation practices. The program is one of the nation’s most popular working lands conservation programs and thousands of farmers a...
If you believe the most annoying sound in the world is nails scraping across a chalkboard, you’ve obviously never slept with someone who snores. The sounds is ... well, in our house, a cross between a buzzing chainsaw and sputtering motorcycle. It never fails. Just as I drift into deep sleep, Scott rolls over and snores in my ear. I’ll whisper (okay, yell over the clamoring), “Stop it.” Or, I’ll attempt to roll him onto his other side, praying for a reprieve. Both are short-lived intervent...
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...
You could always tell when I had attended a faculty meeting. The margin of my legal pad was outlined with daisies of all sizes and colors, a result of sitting through the bi-monthly after-school requirement. As soon as the principal uttered his last words, I’d slip across the hallway, toss the paper on my desk and start speech practice. Those doodles were the closest thing to art I could create. Don’t get me wrong. I can visualize how something should look, see how texture and color add dim...
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...
American playwright Arthur Miller wrote, “A good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to itself.” What happens when a newspaper quits talking? One community in Nebraska is discovering the effect of no longer having a local newspaper. When Coleridge residents received the Jan. 1 edition of the Coleridge Blade, a bold hammer headline stretched across the top of the page: Final edition. The paper, published for 131 years, was part of the Northeast Nebraska News Company, which owns new...
Currently, forty-nine state senators serve in the Nebraska Legislature. Under the Nebraska Constitution, this number could be increased to 50 senators, but an even number of senators could result in a vote ending in a tie, requiring the lieutenant governor to cast the deciding vote. Speaker of the Legislature, Sen. Jim Scheer, introduced LR 279, a constitutional amendment authorizing the Legislature to increase the number of state senators up to fifty-five. If LR 279 is passed by the...
February 2020 is on the calendar as I look out my kitchen window. There are still red bows and swags of red berries decorating the flower garden. Moving from Christmas to February, we are ready for Valentine's Day. February is one of my favorite months with dashes of pink and red spread around my house and yard and hearts tucked in where I can. As I watched the Super Bowl ad for Google, romance was definitely in the air in the Feb. 2 ad, along with precious memories. During the ad, an elderly...
Author Eugene O'Neill, when writing his Dalmatian's last will and testament, wrote, "Dogs ... do not ruin their sleep worrying about how to keep the objects they have, and to obtain the objects they have not. There is nothing of value they have to bequeath except their love and their faith." For 12 years, our chocolate lab, Copper, freely gave her love and showed faithfulness, especially to the master of our house. Copper crossed the rainbow bridge over the weekend, entering doggy heaven, where...
Last year, I introduced and prioritized LB 243, which created the Healthy Soils Task Force. Since the bill’s passage last April, the governor has appointed 14 members to the task force, representing production agriculture, agribusiness, natural resource districts, environmental organizations and academic experts in the fields of agriculture and natural resources. In addition, the director of the department of agriculture serves on the task force, along with representatives of the Agriculture C...
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...
I spent the summer of 1998 at Northwestern University, one of 10 speech instructors from across the United States selected as a fellow in the communications program, with an opportunity to work on a master’s degree. Despite living half a block from the El and easy access to Chicago and all it offered, despite the bustling city life surrounding me, I savored the silence and solitude of my dorm room, quiet walks around downtown Evanston, time to reflect on life and love and the future. I never f...
Almost 500 new bills were introduced by members of the Legislature during the first 10 days of the legislative session. Each proposed legislation will have a public hearing before the relevant committee. The public hearing process has already started and will continue through February. I introduced five bills this year. The first three will have public hearings next week before the Natural Resources Committee and the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee. LB 769 requires that each...
ANNA JOHNSON Policy Manager Center for Rural Affairs Farmers face risk from a variety of sources—weather, disease, markets, financial systems. While crop insurance offers a valuable option for many farmers to manage some of that risk, some crops, such as many organic, small grain, fruit and vegetable crops, as well as livestock, can’t be covered by traditional crop insurance in most Midwest counties. For farmers seeking to diversify their incomes, trying to incorporate these crops into their rotations and operations might seem appealing. But, w...
What word do you associate with German Chocolate cake? For me, it’s love. Every birthday, Grandma Larson would have her best friend, Anna Kuhl, bake a three-tiered German Chocolate cake. I looked forward to that cake each time. It’s my favorite cake, especially when coconut pecan frosting tops it. Homemade, of course. Okay, I’ll be honest. I associate chocolate chip cookies and sugar cookies and gooey rice krispy bars with love, too. Primarily because Grandma made those goodies and toted them to...
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...