107TH LEGISLATURE INTERIM 

The weather is definitely cooling down and it is feeling more like Fall in Nebraska. My husband Mike and our crew finished harvesting beans last week and are now knee deep in combining the corn. I hope the rains are allowing everyone to have a little bit of needed rest in order to get ready for the next leg of bringing in the harvest. 

WELCOME JACKI

I am happy to welcome Jacki O’Neill as the new Administrative Assistant in my office. When you call in and make an appointment or have suggestions, Jacki will be happy to take down your details and direct you to the proper channels. Although she lives in Lincoln, Jacki has lived in District 17 in the past and continues to have many connections in our area. She has been married to Dan for 44 years and they have 5 children, 8 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren. Jacki has also been a 41 year member of the Jackson, Nebraska American Legion Auxiliary. You can reach Jacki at 402-471-2716 or joneill@leg.ne.gov.

INTERIM STUDIES

LR 136- Senator Brewer introduced an interim study to examine and evaluate the causes, costs, and impacts of rolling electrical power outages during the extreme weather events of February 2021.

LR225- The Government and Veterans Affairs Committee held an interim study to review occupational regulation of truth and deception examiners pursuant to the Occupational Board Reform Act.

ROLE OF THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION

As I prepare for the Session to begin in January I am looking at a few new bills I feel are vital to bring forward. One is in direct response to the controversy around the Health Education Standards draft created by the Nebraska Department of Education this year. I am looking at legislation that will go back to the drawing board and clearly define the original role of the State Board of Education regarding Education Standards. To give you a little history, in 2000 the Nebraska Legislature passed Statute 79-760.01 which requires the Nebraska State Board of Education to adopt measurable academic content standards for at least the grade levels required for statewide assessment. Those standards shall cover the subject areas of reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies, and the State Board of Education shall develop a plan to review and update standards for those subject areas every seven years. Though the State Board of Education has created standards in other areas, they were only mandated to create standards for the five core subjects. The Legislature has heard many bills in the past regarding additional mandatory standards to be taught to our children. In fact, legislation has passed to mandate being able to read by 3rd Grade, Civic Education, Financial Literacy Education and a version of Health Education Standards. The Health Standards in that bill are defined in statute 79-712  Public school; health education; requirements. Provisions shall be made by the proper local school authorities for instructing the pupils in all public schools in a comprehensive health education program which shall include instruction (1) as to the physiological, psychological, and sociological aspects of drug use, misuse, and abuse and (2) on intellectual disability and other developmental disabilities, such as cerebral palsy, autism, and epilepsy, their causes, and the prevention thereof through proper nutrition and the avoidance of the consumption of drugs as defined in this section. For purposes of this section, drugs means any and all biologically active substances used in the treatment of illnesses or for recreation or pleasure. Special emphasis shall be placed upon the commonly abused drugs of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, hallucinogenics, amphetamines, barbiturates, and narcotics. And 79-2,146.Suicide awareness and prevention training. (1) Beginning in school year 2015-16, all public school nurses, teachers, counselors, school psychologists, administrators, school social workers, and any other appropriate personnel shall receive at least one hour of suicide awareness and prevention training each year. This training shall be provided within the framework of existing inservice training programs offered by the State Department of Education or as part of required professional development activities. Comprehensive Sex Education has been introduced in Nebraska several times in the past and has failed to advance every time. When the State Board of Education took liberties beyond current State Statutes and introduced Health Education Standards with extremely controversial content, they stepped outside of their lane. I am currently working with key stakeholders to take a hard look at getting those parameters defined to prevent similar chaos from happening in the future.

VACCINE MANDATES

I receive numerous emails every week with personal stories of Nebraskans from all ages, races and socioeconomic realities in the state. For some, the threat of a mandatory vaccine has jeopardized their health, their freedom, their place of employment and life as they’ve known it. I have added my signature, with many of my colleagues, requesting a Special Session to take a hard look at how vaccine mandates are impacting the individual lives of Nebraskans. There is a chance that a special session may not be granted. That is why I am so thankful Nebraska’s Attorney General Peterson also signed on to an Amicus Brief with 19 other Attorney Generals across the country to stand for the  individual freedoms of all Americans. Attorney General also jointly led with Missouri’s Attorney General a ten-state coalition in filing a lawsuit against the Biden Administration for imposing a vaccine mandate on federal contractors and employees. Governor Ricketts also announced that he had signed an executive order barring state agencies from enforcing coronavirus vaccine mandates on state teammates. I will continue to keep you informed as things progress.

I always enjoy hearing from you. If you have any comments or concerns, please contact me at 402-471-2716 or jalbrecht@leg.ne.gov.