On Friday, September 15th Governor Pillen signed a proclamation marking September as National Preparedness Month in Nebraska. He is reminding all Nebraskans how important it is for individuals, families, and communities to prepare for disasters and emergencies. “Working together, we can build a prepared and resilient Nebraska,” said Governor Pillen. While it’s important for all of us to be ready when disaster strikes, this year, the National Preparedness Month campaign is focused on providing information and resources to empower older adults as they make their preparations.” “Plans should include where to meet if a home is destroyed and how family members would contact each other should phone service be out,” said NEMA (Nebraska Emergency Management Agency) Assistant Director Erv Portis. “For instance, texting often works when phone calls don’t.” Emergency managers recommend that individuals be prepared to shelter in place for a minimum of three days. Emergency workers may have a large number of people to reach in a disaster and the health of everyone could very well depend on the kit or plan Nebraskans have developed before a major disaster occurs. Visit NEMA’s website at https://nema.nebraska.gov/assets/files/preparedness/preparedness-kit.pdf for a checklist of items to include in your Family Preparedness Kit. (Strimple, Laura. “Governor Pillen Declares September as National Preparedness Month in Nebraska.” Governor Pillen Press Release. 19 September, 2023. https://governor.nebraska.gov/press/governor-pillen-declares-september-national-preparedness-month-nebraska. Accessed 21 September, 2023.)

This week I will begin sharing with you portions of LB92 which would eliminate an onsite review requirement for title insurance agents. Under current law, title insurers are required to conduct an onsite annual review of a title insurance agent’s practices. Senator Julie Slama introduced this bill and said the COVID-19 pandemic made clear that the annual review could successfully be conducted remotely rather than in person. This bill was a Banking, Commerce, and Insurance Committee priority bill that amended thirteen other bills into it to become an omnibus bill.

• LB3 changes provisions for tax levies for bonds issued by political subdivisions. This bill sets a deadline for reporting bond elections to county assessors that mirrors the deadlines for reporting annexations, for the purpose of allowing assessors ample time to build a new tax district in the case of a recent bond initiative.
• LB93 updates requirements regarding security deposits made by insurers for the benefit of policyholders to include creditors in the same manner as policyholders. This allows insurers that are required to maintain mandatory security deposits with the Department of Insurance to name either the policyholder or the policyholder and creditors as the beneficiary of the security.
• LB207 allows a sale of trust property under the Nebraska Trust Deeds Act to occur at a public building where county offices are located within the county in which the property to be sold–or some of it–is located.
• LB214 updates various Nebraska Statutes and the Uniform Commercial Code in order to adopt updates to federal law relating to banking and finance.
• LB437 changes the renewal priority for business entity licenses under the Insurance Producers Licensing Act from annual to biennial beginning April 30, 2024.
• LB536 removes the requirement that insurers are only allowed to invest in the stock of a corporation having retained earnings of not less than one million dollars.
• LB587 creates a regulatory sandbox program under the Department of Insurance which allows a participant to temporarily test innovative insurance products or services on a limited and supervised basis without otherwise being licensed or authorized to act under the laws of the state.
• LB278 requires the Nebraska Investment Finance Authority and the state Department of Economic Development to use their best efforts to obtain state and federal grants to build safe, affordable and accessible housing for individuals with disabilities and collaborate with the state Department of Health and Human Services to obtain such grants.

I would like to send congratulations to Pender High School and Elementary School on receiving the National Blue Ribbon Schools award for 2023. Pender is only one of four public schools in Nebraska to repeat this honor. This recognition is based on a school’s overall academic performance or progress in closing achievement gaps among student groups.”We want to congratulate and celebrate the four Nebraska schools that have earned the Blue Ribbon Schools Award,” said Nebraska Commissioner of Education Brian Maher. “These schools are amazing examples of hard work, focus, and the desire for excellence. They represent diverse groups and populations across our state and provide a model for all of Nebraska.” (Jespersen, David. “National Blue Ribbon Honors Awarded to Four Nebraska Schools.” Nebraska Department of Education News Release. 19 September, 2023. https://www.education.ne.gov/press_release/national-blue-ribbon-honors-awarded-to-four-nebraska-schools-3/. Accessed 22, September, 2023.)

As always, I invite you to let me know your thoughts, ideas, concerns, or suggestions by calling my office at (402) 471-2716 or emailing me at jalbrecht@leg.ne.gov.