Opinion

It’s an exciting time of year. The robes, mortar boards, and tassels are on display as Nebraska’s graduates are celebrating with their friends and loved ones. I am always so encouraged to see our state’s young people succeed and pursue new opportunities.

Abortion is an important issue for a clear majority of Nebraskans. The recent leak of a Supreme Court of the United States (SCO- TUS) draft opinion concerning an abortion case before the court is shocking. My lawyer friends tell me something like this is unprecedented in history, and represents a huge betrayal of the integrity of the court and all the dedicated Americans who work there. The person responsible will likely be disbarred and will never practice law in the United States again. It’s possible they could even be charged with serious federal crimes.

While traveling in the Third District in recent weeks, I have been encouraged by the expertise and creativity our communities possess and sobered by the challenges we face. We have much to be thankful for, but there is also no shortage to the adversity we must overcome.

We Don’t Know Where We’re Going, but We’re on our Way. One of my late father’s favorite songs, from long ago.

Nebraskans have long been strong supporters of the right to keep and bear arms. Nearly 85 years after it was enshrined in the Second Amendment at the federal level, Nebraska’s leaders chose to make our stance on gun rights crystal clear. Article I of the Nebraska Constitution proclaims that “the right to keep and bear arms for security or defense of self, family, home, and others, and for lawful common defense, hunting, recreational use, and all other lawful purposes...shall not be denied or infringed by the state or any subdivision thereof.” This should serve as the exclamation point on where Nebraska stands in its commitment to constitutional gun rights.

As Nebraskans know well, we are the beef state. We have every segment of the supply chain from cow-calf producers, to backgrounders, to large and small feed yards and also three of the four big packers in the state. The livestock industry contributes $13.8 billion to Nebraska’s economy annually. It is without a doubt the economic engine of our state.

One of the bills I was able to pass this past session was LB 843. It was an election law bill that had pieces of seven different bills amended into it. Any bill that deals with this subject is one of the hardest things to pass in the Nebraska Legislature. I don’t believe I have ever passed a bill that had this many authors.

For rural communities to survive and thrive, they need access to many of the same resources larger cities do—groceries, energy, broadband, and health care among them. To address the health care needs of rural seniors, Medicare has numerous special provisions, including a hospital category for Critical Access Hospitals (CAH)— facilities with 25 or fewer beds in communities distant from the next-closest hospital. This week I met with the Nebraska Hospital Association and the Critical Access Hospital Coalition to discuss how we can ensure Nebraskans have access to quality health care services. Nebraska’s Third District has the second most Critical Access Hospitals in this country, and my constituents rely on the care CAH facilities provide. Without CAHs, Nebraskans would not receive the same level of care.

The 2022 Legislative Session will go down in history as one of the Nebraska Unicameral’s finest. In just 60 days, the Legislature passed record tax relief, made critical public safety enhancements, and invested in generational water resource projects. As if this wasn’t enough, Senators also allocated $1.04 billion of federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding.

“Come writers and critics Who prophesize with your pen And keep your eyes wide The chance won't come again And don't speak too soon For the wheel's still in spin … For the times they are a-changin'” Bob Dylan’s song lyrics set the perfect tone for what lies ahead for the 2023 Nebraska Legislature. If you thought this year’s session was one of the strangest…filibuster? Did somebody say filibuster? Just wait.