(57) stories found containing 'jim pillen'
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Six words seem to have a Legislative curse
"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...
Crunch time in Lincoln, it has even been thus
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...
New Nebraska law will expand public records access for Nebraskans
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...
Nominations accepted for state's Step Forward awards
ServeNebraska is now accepting volunteer nominations for the 10th annual Step Forward Awards. The Step Forward Awards are the most prestigious awards given to volunteers in Nebraska and highlight the...
How much power is too much
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...
Slama bowing out, Chambers launches comeback
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...
Wait, what? Governor reverses stand on aid for kids
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...
Center pleased to learn Nebraska will provide Summer-EBT for children
The Center for Rural Affairs welcomes this morning's news from Gov. Jim Pillen that Nebraska will participate in the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer program. "Approximately 150,000 school-aged...
Winter storm demonstrates importance of diverse energy sources
Significant snow, wind, and brutally cold temperatures impacted Nebraska in January. Given the frequency of extreme weather events experienced across the U.S. during the past several years, preparing...
Ricketts and Pillen on right side in electric vehicle debate
Full disclosure: My wife and I drive a four-year-old hybrid sedan. It runs on the electric motor up to 15 miles -per- hour before the gasoline engine engages. It feels and sounds like it's dead at...
Governor vows to cut property taxes by $2 billion, somehow
I was not shocked, just disappointed when Governor Jim Pillen announced that he was going to reduce Nebraska's collective property taxes by $2 billion this year, somehow. Imagine that. In a short...
I like the idea of the Legislature running the state prison system
Omaha Senator Justin Wayne, chair of the Judiciary Committee, has offered a bill that would put Nebraska's Legislature in charge of the state's prison system, which is currently under the purview of t...
Sorry you're hungry kids, the governor doesn't believe in welfare
The hole keeps getting deeper. Remember when I suggested someone should give the governor a shovel so he could dig a deeper hole for himself? That was when he had refused to read a published report on...
No more work from home? Is hybrid the answer?
Remember the Christmas bonus? Probably a thing of past given the changed face of the workplace. Perhaps your "bonus" allows you to work from home. Be grateful the next time you slide in behind your...
Some question sustainability of education future fund
The chickens are coming home to roost. Several tax watchdog groups say the Legislature, at the behest of the governor, has gone overboard in depleting state revenue by earmarking too much for...
Pillen wants all hands on deck
Governor Jim Pillen wants all state government employees at their desks in their assigned departments beginning next month. He said the pandemic-era remote is over, although both empirical and...
Whatever happened to people who apologize?
Quick, somebody give the governor a shovel, I want to see how much deeper he can dig the hole. Weeks after he insulted a reporter who questioned the high nitrate levels on his pig farm, Governor Jim...
Governor hires consultant to save state money
Governor Jim Pillen had an epiphany that paying a consultant $10 million over the next four years would save the state money. Pillen has signed the $2.5 million/year contract, renewable three times, with Epiphany Associates of Utah to find ways to...
Pillen proclaims National Hunting and Fishing Day
Gov. Jim Pillen on Friday proclaimed Saturday, Sept. 23, as National Hunting and Fishing Day in Nebraska. "Hunting and fishing continue to be an integral part of the good life outdoors in Nebraska,"...
Isms: Views on life in rural America
A free press has been always a common denominator in this country’s history. Since the origin of the “Federalist” papers, which offered the ideas which became the U.S. Constitution, the press has p...
Is prison-siting a matter of executive privilege too?
Editor’s Note: This column was written and distributed prior to an Aug. 30 press conference regarding prison location. We’ve known for some time that the state wants to build a new prison because it has the most overcrowded corrections system in the...
Nebraska governor's use of 'executive privilege' to withhold records troubles transparency advocates
Before he took office, Gov. Jim Pillen joked about phone conversations being exempt from public disclosure. Now, his administration has taken what seems to be an unprecedented step to shield the governor’s communications. Pillen’s staff denied the “F...
First the state patrol, now some Nebraska National Guard members gave gone to Texas
In May, 10 Nebraska State Patrol troopers went to Texas for two weeks to help with drone surveillance of the border with Mexico. Recently, 60 Nebraska National Guard members went to Texas for a month...
Local senator discusses education funding
During the interim, I have talked to many constituents who had questions regarding a bill enacted by the Legislature earlier this year: LB583. LB583 makes adjustments to the Tax Equity and...
Could Critical Race Theory be the next Nebraska Legislature hot button?
If you thought that the mostly one-sided filibuster-driven debate on transgender issues and abortion was the thing that dragged the 2023 Nebraska Legislature to a near standstill, steel yourself for...
