Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
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April 18th was the final day of the 108th Legislature. This was the shorter 60-day session and, save for a special session of the Legislature later this summer, this completes my tenure as a Nebraska State Senator. It has been a pleasure for me to serve the good people of Legislative District 47 for the past eight years. When I came into the Unicameral Legislature eight years ago my number one goal was to provide the people of Nebraska with meaningful and significant property tax relief. First,...
On the 58th day of this year's shorter 60-day legislative session Nebraska State Senators debated the Governor's actual tax plan. That plan was amended into the Revenue Committee's shell bill (LB 388) with an amendment (AM 3468). I have been saying throughout the legislative session that the Governor's plan would not deliver 40 percent property tax relief, as per his promise, and that amendment only proved my point when the bill advanced to Final Reading late last Wednesday night. The Governor...
Last Wednesday was a very busy day at the Capitol in Lincoln. Every State Senator's phone and email lit up with messages concerning LB 764, a bill commonly referred to as the "Winner Take All" bill. Nebraska is one of only two states which splits its electoral college votes during a presidential election. Current Nebraska State law allows voters to choose one presidential elector for each of Nebraska's three congressional districts and for two additional presidential electors to be chosen at lar...
When it comes to the generation of power, Nebraska does a lot of things right. Nebraska ranks as the number one state in the nation for residential electricity reliability, and Nebraska ranks as the fifth best state in the Union for the overall cost of electricity. Electrical utilities in Nebraska are completely owned by the public; there are no privately owned power companies in Nebraska. Nebraska has been a leader in power generation ever since the State Legislature passed its first public pow...
During the days of the pandemic religious leaders were told to do many things to inhibit the spreading of the coronavirus, including closing the doors of their churches. Most obliged the orders of their state and local governments, while a few did not. One of those ministers who refused was John MacArthur, the senior pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, CA. MacArthur believed that his constitutional rights had been violated, so he sued and his case went all the way up to the U.S....
One of Rush Limbaugh's undeniable truths of life was that "words mean things." Such is the case with words such as "destroyed property' and 'calamity'. According to Nebraska State Statute 77-1307, "Calamity means a disastrous event, including, but not limited to a fire, an earthquake, a flood, a tornado or other natural event which significantly affects the assessed value of real property." This definition should not require a disastrous event to have a natural cause, but not everyone sees it...
In 2021 the Fufeng Group, a Chinese food manufacturer, bought 300 acres of farmland near Grand Forks, North Dakota in order to build a milling plant. They paid 2.6 million dollars for the land. That land is only twelve miles from the Grand Forks Air Base, which is home to some of America's most sensitive military secrets. Last year both the BBC and NPR reported that the Chinese had already purchased 380,000 acres of farmland in the United States. After the purchase of land was made near the...
Last week the State of Wyoming advanced a bill by Rep. Steve Harshman to eliminate most property taxes in Wyoming along with a two percent hike in the State's sales tax. Shifting the tax burden away from property taxes and onto sales taxes or consumption taxes is an idea which is now gaining a lot of steam all across the country. Besides Nebraska, states which have seen these kinds of bills in recent years include Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, North Dakota, South Carolina, and Texas. In 2020...
Last Thursday Gov. Jim Pillen delivered his State of the State address to the Unicameral Legislature. The primary focus of the speech was devoted to tax relief, especially property tax relief. So, I listened closely to hear his plans for tax relief. Although he vows to reduce property taxes by 40 percent, he never offered any kind of substantive plan for doing so. Gov. Pillen's plan continues several of the same stale practices which have never worked in the past, such as creating more property... Full story
When I first arrived in the Nebraska Legislature in 2017, Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha stood in front of me on the legislative floor. He turned around and gave me some good advice. He told me to learn the rules. I began to read the rules. Upon doing so, I quickly learned how confusing the Rule Book of the Nebraska Legislature was. So, immediately upon adjournment last year, I turned my attention to re-writing the Rule Book. The project of re-writing the Rule Book of the Legislature focused... Full story
The 2024 Legislative session has begun. Because the Unicameral Legislature operates in a two-year cycle, this will be the second session of the 108th Legislature. The session began on January 3 and will end on April 18. Since this is only a 60-day session, there will be less time for State Senators to get the business of the State done this year. Today I will share my priorities and goals for making this year’s legislative session a productive one. I am the chair of the Legislature’s Rules Com... Full story
The Biden administration continues to enforce failing policies concerning oil and gas which are now beginning to affect the State of Nebraska. The Biden administration's war against global warming and its war against the use of oil and gas are both misguided and wrong. So, today I would like to explain why this is the case and how it is affecting our state. President Biden likes to brag how oil production in the U.S. is the same today as it was under Trump. Well, that is not exactly true. At... Full story
One of the major pieces of legislation that Nebraska State Senators passed this year was LB77, a bill which prevents cities, towns and villages from putting gun restrictions on citizens who care to arm themselves without a conceal-carry permit. As soon as the law went into effect on September 1, both mayors of the cities of Lincoln and Omaha enacted their own executive orders reinstating their city's gun free zones in public buildings, city parks, sidewalks, hiking trails, and parking lots.... Full story
One of the words we often hear around Christmas time is the word 'noel,' which simply refers to the birth of Christ. One of the songs we sing at Christmas time is called The First Noel. That song tells the story of Christ's birth and the events that followed it. The birth of Christ is the real reason why we celebrate Christmas. The lyrics of the First Noel can teach us many things about giving this time of year. For example, the first ones to hear the good news of Christ's birth were poor shephe... Full story
"Wow!" "Amazing!" "Unbelievable!" These are the kinds of expressions that come to my mind whenever I hear about the current efforts to defeat the petition drive to put the EPIC Option Consumption Tax on the ballot for 2024. The EPIC Option Consumption Tax is the fix for our broken tax system, and those who oppose putting it on the ballot are undermining the right of the citizens to make that choice for themselves. Two years ago, I was visited by a couple of nationally acclaimed economists. The... Full story
The COVID-19 pandemic is over. It has been over for quite some time, and now we are beginning to see what kind of damage some of our bad government decisions have done to our economy, to our society, and to our workforce. The government shutdowns that occurred during the days of the pandemic have done more to harm the United States of America than any other emergency situation since 9/11 some 22 years ago. Historians will likely remember the COVID-19 pandemic as the most important and... Full story
Have you heard about the new contract extension for the University of Nebraska's Athletic Director? If you haven't, you might get a little overwhelmed by the numbers. I was surprised by the tremendous increase in salary plus the guarantee of future bonuses. Trev Alberts is a former UNL football player who now serves as the Athletic Director at UNL. According to his new contract extension, his annual base salary will go up from $800,000 to $1.7 million, and it will increase again to $2.1 million... Full story
It may seem to you like America has lost its way. The pilgrims must have had similar thoughts (but in a much more literal way) when they had to lower the sails on the Mayflower and go adrift at sea for a while. Despite all of their hardships, though, the pilgrims eventually reached Cape Cod and returned thanks to God for bringing them to a whole new world. Hardship and tribulation can easily cause us to adopt a negative attitude towards life. So, during times of hardship I am often reminded of... Full story
Rising home values continue to create problems for people living in our state. While Nebraska's statewide valuation rate increase of 12.9 percent for the last 12 months is significantly less than the national average of 20.7 percent, the current situation is still not good for people living in Nebraska. So, today I would like to highlight some of the problems affecting those looking to purchase a home in Nebraska. Homeowners have been defaulting on their mortgage loans at an alarming rate in Neb... Full story
The word "veteran" is a fancy way of saying, "Once a soldier, always a soldier." Such is the case with a select group of veterans today whose previous deployment and military service overseas put them in contact with important connections in Israel, Palestine and Egypt. Even as we honor our veterans this year on November 11, there are some who continue to serve our country by putting their lives on the line. So, today I would like to highlight these veterans and tell you about the work they are... Full story
I have a deep appreciation for our men in blue. Those who wear the uniform put their lives on the line every day in order to uphold law and order, peace and tranquility, and safety and security for all of the citizens of our great state. However, a lot has happened recently regarding our law enforcement officers, so today I would like to highlight three ways we can support our law enforcement officers. The first way we can support our law enforcement officers is to thank them for their service.... Full story
I have long tried to warn the public about the politicization of COVID-19, especially in regards to preventative measures. Now a new study by the Correlation Research in the Public Interest links COVID-19 vaccinations to some 17 million deaths worldwide. The new study examined 17 equatorial and Southern Hemisphere countries including Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, Malaysia, New Zealand, Paraguay, Peru, The Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Suriname,... Full story
One of the questions I get asked a lot about these days concerns how the Legislature plans on changing the rules for next session. The Unicameral Legislature is a self-governing body, and I am the current chair of the Legislature's Rules Committee. That means that any proposed rule changes for next year have to go through me first. So, it is natural that people would want to ask me about rule changes for next year. What sparks this question by so many people today relates to what happened in... Full story
Monday, October 9th is Columbus Day. It is also Indigenous Peoples Day here in Nebraska. Christopher Columbus was a man of incredible integrity, but revisionists have targeted him in their attempts to rewrite the history of Western civilization with false narratives. Too many people today erroneously believe that Christopher Columbus was a bad person. So, today I would like to expose the revisionism and help restore the good name of Christopher Columbus. On October 9, 2017 Vincent Schilling... Full story
One of the complaints that I often here about the EPIC Option Consumption Tax has to do with the loss of local control. For example, the League of Municipalities held an informational meeting last week, where they complained about how the EPIC Option Consumption Tax eliminates local control. This was a false assumption. The EPIC Option Consumption Tax does not eliminate local control. The pink postcards we all received recently in the mail were the result of a bill that passed in the... Full story
