Opinion

eWs by Senator Tanya Storer As local budget discussions commence statewide, it is imperative to stress that managing property taxes begins with controlling spending, at every level. This occurs at local budget hearings, including those for county, school board, city, NRD, ESU, and fire board, where taxpayers have the opportunity to hold local officials accountable.

Driving down the road the other day, I was startled to hear one of our congressional representatives tell NPR that both Nebraska and Iowa were experiencing “basically a recession economy.” Both states have agriculture- based economies, for the most part, and rely on foreign trade. Plus, low crop prices have dogged farmers in recent years.

W The transition from summer to fall is a busy time in the Cornhusker State. As farmers prepare for harvest and the new football and volleyball seasons arrive, parents and students are gearing up to go back to school and teachers are working hard for the start of a new semester.

WashingtOn d.C . Rural communities are the heart and soul of Nebraska.

As I packed my bags in Washington for our month-long state work period and some much-needed time back in the Good Life, I reflected on the progress we’re making for Nebraskans.

On August 8, 2005, President George Bush signed the Energy Policy Act into law. Among other measures, this bill established the Renewable Fuels Standard, which for the last two decades has supported a growing American energy sector by providing more affordable fuel options in addition to complementary markets for agricultural commodities.

Rural Economic Development. This is a subject that has been a central focus in statewide discussions for most of my adult life.

Forgive me if I’m feeling a little confused (regular readers of this column will probably say “what’s new?”) but aren’t we in a national debt crisis? Our national debt has ballooned to nearly $37 trillion dollars in recent years, thanks in large part to spending during the COVID-19 pandemic to assure that businesses didn’t close and workers could still feed their families and pay the bills. The debt is why, supposedly, that we allowed a team of 20-somethings with no government experience called the Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE to take a meat cleaver to federal agencies.

W While Nebraska’s Third District has existed since our state was first divided into congressional districts following the 1880 census, it first began to resemble its current shape after the 1960 census, when Nebraska moved from four districts to three for the first time. A total of 21 Nebraskans have represented the Third District in the U.S.