In 2021, the last special session of the Nebraska Legislature lasted 13 days and cost the state $105,436. Do the math, that's $8,076.92 per day. Then ask yourself, is a winner-take-all election...

"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...

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...

"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...

Let's talk about that big day coming up this weekend, Easter. Some of you, like me, consider it a holy day. To others, it's just a holiday. It's also a family day, a time to gather around the table...

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...

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...

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...

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%...

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...

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 Env...

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...

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...

John Lajba has grown accustomed to having Lady Liberty loom over him while he works in his downtown Omaha studio. Still, the sculptor would rather see the weathered 9-foot copper statue depart his...

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...

Volleyball is set to start a new chapter in Nebraska and at the helm is a woman who quietly helped establish the game's stronghold in the state. Few own the imprint on Nebraska volleyball that Diane M...

Comments from two state senators from Omaha have pretty much diminished hopes for a "normal" session of the Nebraska Legislature this year. "I think it will be a difficult session again. I'm not...

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...

They're back. The 108th Legislature, Second Session, convened Wednesday. One can expect proposed bills and discussion of some hot button issues, as well as what could be a protracted debate on rules....

A change is gonna come. Leaders of the Nebraska Legislature want to streamline the process and perhaps change a few rules during the upcoming short session to avoid the mess of last year's 90-day...

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...

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...

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...

Just when you thought the drought was bad, deserts have started popping up in Nebraska. Pick a topic: childcare; food; maternal health care. They have been discussed in the interim by lawmakers and de...