The 107th Legislature, Second Session has reached the end of new bill introduction. I have introduced seven new bills for the short 60-day session. I have a great crop of new bills that I am excited to work through the legislative process, which include bills to address the meth epidemic, allocate ARPA money for small meat processors, farm to school for preschools, a domestic abuse death review team and expanded eligibility for the NextGen Beginning Farmer program, among others.

I also have two bills on General File from last session: LB91, which would change the duration of native seed testing, and LB242, which would allow counties to pay for bridges on an installment plan instead of upfront.

My new bills are: 

• LB755, Appropriate federal funds for the Independent Processor Assistance Program
• LB756, Change provisions relating to properties contaminated by methamphetamine 
• LB758, Change provisions relating to the Nebraska Farm-to-School Program Act
• LB807, Change provisions relating to county historical associations
• LB866, Change inspection fees under the State Electrical Act
• LB1009, Adopt the Domestic Abuse Death Review Act
• LB1103, Change provisions of the Beginning Farmer Tax Credit Act

Regarding LB755, passage of LB324 last session, which included the creation of the Independent Processors Assistance Fund, was only the beginning of my quest to address the meat supply chain shortages that occurred in 2020 due to Covid-19. The next step was finding funding for it and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding is an opportunity to allocate $10 million for Nebraska’s small processors to improve their operations.

LB1009 came out of concerns from the family of a domestic violence victim in our area. The bill would address domestic abuse-related deaths in Nebraska by creating a team based out of the Attorney General’s office to review and study domestic abuse death cases and use that data to make recommendations to prevent further deaths.

I am looking forward to a very productive session. We are doing our best to spend the state’s and Nebraska’s ARPA dollars wisely, and implement policies that my constituents and Nebraskans as a whole want, including property tax relief and rural broadband.