This past week committee public hearings began on those bills introduced this session. There were 597 bills introduced this session and, when added to those introduced last session, brought us up to a total of 1,417 bills for the biennium. Due to a shorter session, there are more bills heard in a committee hearing than during a 90-day session. I serve on the Education and Revenue Committees. The Education Committee meets on Mondays and Tuesdays while the Revenue Committee meets on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. The Education Committee has 82 bills to hear and 14 Gubernatorial appointments to approve in 7 hearing days. The Revenue Committee has 87 bills and 3 Gubernatorial appointments to approve in 18 hearing days. As you can see there is much work to be done in a short amount of time.

On Thursday, January 25th, we heard the State of the Judiciary address from Nebraska Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Heavican. He talked about the excellent judicial branch judges and support staff, problem-solving courts, probation, language interpreter services, the Office of Public Guardian, and their much needed technology upgrades. There are 100 vacancies statewide out of over 1,600 employees, but they now exceed pre-pandemic staffing levels. The turnover rate has dropped to just over 5% and the vacancy rate branch-wide is less than 8%. These are significant improvements as he noted the Legislature’s recent partnership to help address workforce shortages by funding salary increases for judicial branch staff. He talked about how Nebraska Probation and Problem-Solving Courts are the taxpayers’ friend as it saves the taxpayer money. The average cost of incarceration in Nebraska is $41,000 per person per year while the average cost of probation is $3,500 per person per year and the annual average cost of participants involved in a problem-solving court is approximately $4,400. He then talked about the Office of Public Guardian. The Legislature created the Office of Public Guardian and placed it in the Judicial Branch in 2015 because of the lack of guardians in Nebraska to serve vulnerable, incapacitated adults. These are mostly elderly, mentally ill and medically fragile individuals who lack cognitive capacity and are susceptible to financial exploitation and neglect. The Office of Public Guardian was created to serve as guardian of last resort for individuals when no one else is available. The demand for assistant public guardians far exceeds the current capacity to respond The Office of Public Guardian has had a waiting list since 2018. He finished his address by noting the need for self-contained IT infrastructure for the judicial branch to assist people who are hard of hearing and to address potential security threats. He mentioned the cyberattack that compromised sensitive personal information in the Kansas court system. “Kansas serves as a warning for the rest of us,” Heavican said. “If the Kansas Supreme Court fell victim to a sophisticated foreign cyberattack, without needed upgrades, we must consider ourselves equally vulnerable.” (Portions of this taken from: “Chief justice highlights judicial branch progress, challenges”. Unicameral Update. January 25, 2024. http://update.legislature.ne.gov/?p=35087)

Governor Jim Pillen was in South Sioux City on Tuesday, January 23rd to host a town hall. He did share that he is focused on kids, taxes, agriculture and values in 2024. The main topic he covered was addressing property taxes. He has heard complaints from people about not being able to afford to stay in their homes because of the state’s high property tax rate. Governor Pillen is pushing a plan to reduce property taxes in Nebraska by 40 percent. I continue to work on the Governor’s Property Tax plan to help meet this goal. Many bills were introduced to help address this issue. We will look at all of them and come up with the best way to help all Nebraskans. (Portions of this taken from: McNett, Jared. “Pillen: ‘We have to fix property tax’”. Sioux City Journal. 25, January, 2024. https://shorturl.at/jsxV8)

The Nebraska Department of Economic Development (DED) and GROW Nebraska Announce Statewide Availability of the Nebraska Small Business Assistance Act Program, Invite Pre-Applications for Program Benefits. The DED, in collaboration with GROW Nebraska Foundation, is pleased to announce the statewide availability of the Nebraska Small Business Assistance Act (NSBAA) Program. The purpose of this program is to support individuals looking to start a small business or seeking to expand a small business they opened within the past 5 years. Under the program, a small business is defined as a business with no more than five full-time equivalent employees based on hours worked (not including the business owner). The NSBAA Program provides two benefits to qualified individuals:

1. Funding to access professional services: These include services such as strategic planning, accounting and budgeting, tax return preparation, payroll processes, website development, or assistance setting up an LLC.
2. Grants for both new businesses and existing businesses: Grant funding can be used for eligible business purposes including, but not limited to: startup costs working capital, franchise fees, equipment, inventory, or purchase/renovation of a place of business

                a. Applicants for a new business grant could receive up to a $25,000 grant.
                b. Applicants for an existing business grant could receive up to a $12,500 grant.

Given strong interest in the program, priority will be given to individuals with developed business concepts that 1) clearly identify targeted customer markets and 2) forecast revenues for three years, providing detailed projections of sales in year one. Additional information on the Nebraska Small Business Assistance Act Program is available on DED’s website: https://opportunity.nebraska.gov/programs/business/sbaa/. (Ellingson, Kate. “DED and GROW Nebraska Announce Statewide Availability of the Nebraska Small Business Assistance Act Program, Invite Pre-Applications for Program Benefits”. Department of Economic Development News Release. 25 January, 2024. https://shorturl.at/gFGMU)

On Friday, January 26th, I attended the Nebraska Right to Life Gala in Lincoln. At this event, I was awarded the Julie Schmit-Albin Leadership Award for my work on pro-life legislation over the past 7 years in the Nebraska Legislature. I am honored to receive this award. Julie worked tirelessly with me on my first pro-life bill and was right by my side every step of the way. When I arrived at the Nebraska Legislature in 2017, I thought I was coming to deal with property taxes. Little did I know that I had been called to work on pro-life issues. I have been pro-life my entire life and I feel honored to carry the title of Pro-Life Senator. I may be done serving as a State Senator, but I will never stop fighting for the unborn.

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.