107TH LEGISLATURE INTERIM 

It’s been eighty years since the Pearl Harbor attacks. I am forever mindful of the sacrifices of so many. Their memory and dedication to our country will never be forgotten. To all who have served and are serving today, we thank you. 

I appreciated being able to spend some time in the District this week meeting with the Presidents of Northeast Community College,  Leah Barrett, and Wayne State College, Dr. Marysz Rames. We toured Wayne State College and explored key legislation that will be relevant to the college system in the upcoming Legislative Session. I also spent a couple of days in the Lincoln office at hearings and working on the legislation I will be introducing in January.

HEARTBEAT ACT

Friday morning the United States Supreme Court announced that the Texas Heartbeat Act will remain in effect while litigation continues. I am thankful for all of the lives that have been and will be saved while Nebraska stands as a pro-life state, we are anxiously awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision. 

AGRICULTURE IS NEBRASKA’S HEART AND SOUL

This week Governor Ricketts shared a report I found quite profound. He said that through the years, our farmers and ranchers have built a reputation for producing crops and livestock that are second to none.  Agriculture is our state’s largest industry.  It supports about 1 in 4 jobs in Nebraska. 

Among U.S. states, Nebraska ranks:

#1 in agricultural cash receipts per capita

#2 in ethanol production, cattle on feed, all cattle and calves, beef exports, and commercial red meat production

#3 in corn for grain production, corn exports, and total ag cash receipts

#4 for land in farms and ranches

#5 for soybean exports, soybean production, and sugar beet production

#6 for commercial hog slaughter

#7 in hogs and pigs on farms and pork exports 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION ANNUAL REPORT

The Nebraska Department of Transportation presented their annual report to a joint hearing this week with the Appropriations and Transportation and Telecommunication Committees. As a member of the T & T Committee, I appreciated the way Director John Selmer laid out the big picture needs for Nebraska’s Asset Preservation, System Modernization & Operation, and Capital Improvements for the next 20 years. He also updated us on the Build Nebraska Act along with the Transportation Innovation Act.

There are approximately 95,000 miles of State, County, and Municipal roads within our state. Of that, State highways comprise 10,000 centerline miles or 22,000 land miles (10%). If we look at the number of vehicle miles traveled in a year, the state highway carries about 64% of this traffic. If we look at the total miles traveled by heavy trucks, the state highway system carries over 86% of the freight. There are over 15,000 bridges in the state. Of those, 3500 bridges are on the state highway system. That equates to about 23%. 

Director Selmer informed us that there is still much to be determined with the recent passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. He shared that on the formula side, the Nebraska Department of Transportation will receive approximately an additional $110 million for Fiscal Year 2022. This amount will be increased by around 2% for the following years of the law. About $45 million will be in existing programs with existing rules. The remaining $55 million will be in new formula programs where the rules are not defined. The most significant new formula program is for bridge preservation, with about $38 million in additional funding to the Nebraska Department of Transportation and about $7 million going to local bridges. At this time, no decisions have been made on the use of any new federal funds.  

SIMPCO

The Siouxland Interstate Metropolitan Planning Council (SIMPCO), the third oldest multi-state Council of Governments in the nation, was organized as a voluntary association of local governments in 1965 between Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota. SIMPCO held this year’s Tri-State Legislative forum on December 3rd in Sioux City. Though I was unable to attend, I have kept informed on three key project areas directly relating to SIMPCO’s 2022 Legislative priorities.

• Infrastructure Improvements
• Diverse, Affordable, and Market-Rate Housing
• Quality of Life
• Economic & Workforce Development

SIMPCO continues to play an important role in our state and my office will keep a close eye on the issues at hand.

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