Opinion

If lawmakers want to change the Nebraska Constitution, they submit a proposed amendment to their colleagues, which, if approved, is placed on the next general election ballot for voters to decide. There’s a number of those measures up for grabs this year and at least one which is a great idea with a couple of clunkers thrown in.

Don’t let Nebraska’s location in the middle of America fool you. Our state touches every corner of the globe with the crops we grow, livestock we raise, and products we manufacture. Each year, Nebraska exports around $10 billion of goods and services worldwide. Over 95 percent of consumers live outside of our borders. To grow Nebraska, we must continue to proactively reach out to international partners and share all the Good Life has to offer.

The 2022 Winter Olympics are finally underway. Each of the American athletes competing this year is the best in their event. Many have dedicated their entire lives to their sports, hoping to one day have this chance to represent the United States in the Olympic Games.

LB 986 is a bill introduced by Sen. Briese. It would limit how much a school district could raise property taxes from one year to the next to the greater of 2.5 percent or the consumer price index (inflation). It has provisions to exempt rapidly growing schools from this limitation. Sen. Briese has introduced similar bills every session we have been here together. It needed 33 votes. It received 28. Twenty-one senators voted against it.

This week I participated in a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on the mental health crisis in the United States. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly one in five American adults live with some form of mental illness. Other government data show, among school-aged children, diagnosed cases of anxiety and depression are increasing over time—from 5.4 percent in 2003 to 8.4 percent in 2011-2012. These alarming numbers are pre-pandemic. While the COVID-19 pandemic put a spotlight on the need to address the mental health crisis in this country, there are many contributing factors to Americans’ declining mental health.

A state Senator who won a nasty election battle with a member of the same party is calling for an end to the official nonpartisan status of the Nebraska Legislature. Sen.

Here in the Good Life, we must not take our public safety for granted. We’ve seen other states fail to support law enforcement and underinvest in their corrections. News stories with video footage of rampant theft and outbreaks of violence have become the unfortunate norm in cities like San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Residents of these areas feel unsafe, and they’re fleeing to find a better place for their families. More than half of the San Francisco Bay area population plans to leave permanently in the next few years. Washington, D.C. lost over 20,000 residents from July 1, 2020 to July 1, 2021.

As your U.S. senator, my job is to represent your interests in Washington.

On February 9, 2022, 20 calendar days will have passed since my priority bill, LB773, had its hearing in the Judiciary Committee. I notified the speaker the first hour of the very first day of session that this will be my priority bill. I was the first senator to do so. After 20 calendar days have passed since a bill hearing, a procedure in the legislature’s rules commonly known as the “pull motion” is in order.

This week marked the official start of tax season. Unfortunately, tax filers everywhere can expect a frustrating process and potential lengthy delays on their returns.