Yesterday, March 16th, the Legislature held General File debate on my bill LB 324.

Here are some quotes and coverage of the hearing as as well as an editorial on the bill and someone in Wyoming who utilized herd share.

From the Unicameral Update:

Omaha Sen. John Cavanaugh also supported the bill, saying many Nebraska families do not have the resources to buy and store a quarter or half of beef. LB324 would allow them to buy smaller amounts of healthier, locally raised meat and generate economic activity by encouraging them to build relationships with Nebraska farmers and ranchers, he said. “People want to have that connection with where their food comes from,” Cavanaugh said.

From the Omaha World Herald:

Brandt compared the idea to the common practice of buying a quarter or half of beef. With shares, however, customers could get smaller amounts of meat, so the price would be more affordable and finding enough freezer space would not be as daunting. 

From News Channel Nebraska:

From the Lincoln Journal Star:

LB324, introduced by Sen. Tom Brandt, has the ability to help bring needed solutions for the producers, local small business owners and consumers of the quality beef (and pork) that we proudly produce here in Nebraska. It can be a boon to the direct sales industry, which is exactly what our livestock producers need.

From the Center for Rural Affairs:

As it turned out, one of Father’s Bryce’s parishioners had pasture he was looking to sell at the same time the priest was wishing for an opportunity to get back into the cattle business. Father Bryce bought a few acres “to ride herd on, just for fun.” Little did he know that he’d soon be growing and cutting beef for more than 65 customers. “Doors just kept opening up,” he said.

The vote bill advanced on a 46-0 vote to Select File.

The Nebraska Legislature’s all-day hearings have come to an end and floor debate on bills ramps up this week. The Judiciary Committee, which I am a member of, will wrap up their bill hearings on Friday, March 12. Judiciary hears the most bills of any committee, so we have kept quite busy through the last day of hearings. 

As for my bills, LB91, which would change the testing interval for native seeds, will be heard on the Floor this week. Some of my other bills that have been advanced to General File and that I anticipate being heard on the Floor this session include: 

• LB242 – Under this bill, political subdivisions may commit dollars in current budgets to get to work building bridges right away but be able to pay for it in full later. This does not increase property taxes or give any additional spending authority to political subdivisions but allows them to pay for bridges over a longer period. 

• LB 324 – This bill makes it easier for the consumer to purchase individual packages of quality farm-raised meat directly from the producer or processor. It also allows the producer and consumer more flexibility when deciding where their meat is processed and creates the Independent Processor Assistance Program. 

• LB 306 – The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) provides federal financial assistance to those in need to offset the costs of heating and cooling. The bill would increase the annual income limit from 130% of the federal poverty level to 150%. This expanded eligibility would open up the program to 30,000 additional households in Nebraska, and cost Nebraska taxpayers nothing.

• LB 396 – This bill would expand the scale and reach of Nebraska-produced food by providing networking resources for Nebraska schools, local vegetable and fruit growers, and meat and dairy producers to increase the quantity of quality local food purchased by and served in our schools through the creation of a statewide farm to school program.

There is talk in the Legislature of a comprehensive tax reform plan. I will work with my colleagues on the particulars of that effort and make sure it is a package that would benefit Legislative District 32. In other Legislature news, it looks like there will be a Special Session in October on redistricting because of the delay in the census numbers being ready by the federal government.

If you have questions or concerns about these bills or others, feel free to contact my legislative staff at (402) 471-2711, or send me an email at tbrandt@leg.ne.gov. You can stay up to speed by subscribing to the Unicameral Update, free of charge, by sending an email to uio@leg.ne.gov or calling 402-471-2788.

SEN. BRANDT RECOGNIZED WITH CENTER FOR RURAL AFFAIRS AWARD

From the Unicameral Update:

Additional LB396 hearing coverage:

1011 NOW

News Channel Nebraska

Nebraska continues to acquire its share of COVID-19 vaccines and remains in Phase 1B which includes people over age 65, younger Nebraskans with certain medical conditions and some essential workers. Certain pharmacies in Nebraska, including Walmart in Fairbury and Crete and Weaver Pharmacy in Geneva, have started carrying vaccinations through the U.S. Federal Retail Pharmacy Program. Those eligible can schedule a vaccine appointment on Walmart’s website when appointments are available and while allocation lasts. Consult the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) website for more information on obtaining a vaccine.

The Nebraska Legislature’s all-day hearings have only a few weeks left, with the exception of the Judiciary Committee, the committees will wrap up their bill hearings in mid-March and then all-day debate on bills will begin.

The General Affairs and Agriculture Committees have finished their hearings for the Session. In General Affairs we heard many bills related to gambling due to the passing of the ballot initiative to allow gambling at race tracks. We also heard many alcohol-related bills as COVID-19 continues to present many challenges for our restaurants and bars. 

Over in the Ag Committee, we had lively hearings on Sen. Brewer’s state meat inspections bill, and my bill LB324 that would create an animal share program, as well as bills on branding. All of these bills remain in committee at this time.

However, there has been movement on two of my bills. LB91, which would change the testing interval for native seeds, and LB242, which would allow counties to pay for bridges over a period of years after they are built instead of in full before a project starts, have both advanced to General File and will be debated on the Floor. 

A few of my bills still have hearings:

• LB524, which would change provisions relating to the calculation of credits under the Nebraska Property Tax Incentive Act, has its hearing on February 17th at 9:30am in the Revenue Committee.  
• LB396, which would create a statewide farm to school network and program administrator, has its hearing on February 23rd at 1:30pm in the Education Committee.
• LB543, which would allow farmers to fix their own machinery under the Agricultural Equipment Right-To-Repair Act, has its hearing on February 25th at 9:30am in the Judiciary Committee.

Senator Tom Brandt of Plymouth and Legislative District 32 has continued working to address the issue of getting rural broadband to all Nebraskans. With COVID-19 and many rural Nebraskans needing faster speeds and greater bandwidth for everything from Zoom calls to telehealth to precision farming to Netflix, reliable broadband has become more important than ever. As Senator Brandt was quoted as saying in the Lincoln Journal Star’s Editorial on January 30th: “COVID really exposed a lot of weaknesses in the system, and I think everybody just wants to speed it up.”

Last session, Senator Brandt brought LB996 which passed and was signed into law by the Governor. It created the Broadband Data Improvement Program to ensure that the State of Nebraska is accurately represented in federal broadband grant programs.

This Session, Senator Brandt introduced two bills to tackle the issue. On January 15, he introduced LB460, which would enable public power to lease their dark fiber and would lift major hurdles for utilities to partner with internet providers to provide high-speed connectivity to unserved and underserved communities. On January 20th, he introduced LB600 which would expand financial resources and tools for the development of broadband infrastructure and facilities in rural areas by allowing public power districts and electric cooperatives financing authority, and by repurposing the Municipal Infrastructure Redevelopment Act for financing broadband infrastructure and facilities in rural communities.

“These bills put us well on the way to getting high-speed Internet, not just in unserved rural areas but also in underserved urban communities as well,” Senator Brandt said. “The telecoms have worked hard for twenty years to address this, and there is still a lot of work left to do in our rural areas. I’d like to see public power use its immense resources to partner with the telecoms to solve this technology problem.”

In addition to introducing these bills, Senator Brandt has co-sponsored Sen. Curt Friesen’s LB388 which was introduced at the request of the Governor. It would create the Broadband Bridge Program to allocate $40 million over two fiscal years in grants to underserved and unserved communities.

Dennis Houston, CEO of the Nebraska Rural Electric Association stated, “I believe that partnering together, putting the people of rural Nebraska ahead of profits, and eliminating red tape might ultimately be the recipe for providing connectivity to every Nebraskan.

We thank Senator Brandt and the Governor for introducing legislation that strives towards this vision, and look forward to the opportunity to help facilitate better connectivity across rural Nebraska.”

“I’m happy to see so many bills from my colleagues with their sights set on rural broadband expansion,” Senator Brandt continued, “Higher internet speeds will help my constituents better compete with their counterparts in Omaha, Lincoln and other better served communities as well as weather the covid storm, and it will help to bring younger folks back to rural Nebraska which will revitalize rural communities.”

“Also Friday, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services opposed a proposal to make more people eligible for low-income heating assistance. Sen. Tom Brandt wants to raise the income limits to qualify. Right now, a family of 3 qualifies up to an annual income of about 28,000. Brandt wants to raise that to about $33,000. He said the federally-funded program provides important help for expenses like fuel costs and emergency furnace repairs. “It is essential in keeping our state’s most vulnerable population safe from extreme weather conditions,” Brandt said.

Read the entire NET article here. Radio coverage begins around the four minute mark.

The Legislative Session has begun and we are now preparing for committee hearings for the bills that I have introduced this Session. 

Here is a list of the bills I have introduced and a short description of each one:

• LB91 – LB91 is a bill to change the frequency of testing native flower and grass seed germination percentage from every nine months to every fifteen months and to allow tetrazolium (TZ) testing in lieu of germination testing for native seeds.

• LB134 – Require the posting and reporting of tax incentive information under the Taxpayer Transparency Act. This bill would change the Taxpayer Transparency Act to require the posting and reporting of information relating to tax incentive programs including the Nebraska Imagine Act.

• LB242 – This bill allows political subdivisions to utilize design-build in the cases of repair, retrofit, reconstruct, or to replace a bridge. Under this bill, political subdivisions may commit dollars in current budgets to get to work building bridges right away but be able to pay for it in full later. This does not increase property taxes or give any additional spending authority to political subdivisions but allows them to pay for these bridges over a longer period. This will benefit our rural counties with bridge problems.

• LB306 – LB306 would expand eligibility to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) program from 130% of the federal poverty level to 150%, making more Nebraska households eligible. LIHEAP provides federal financial assistance to those in need to offset the costs of heating and cooling. It would also stipulate that not less than 10% of LIHEAP funds be allocated to weatherization assistance.

• LB324 – LB324 makes it easier for the consumer to purchase individual packages of meat directly from the producer or processor. The bill allows the producer and consumer more flexibility when deciding where their meat is processed. It also creates the Independent Processor Assistance Program which provides a roadmap for increasing local processing capacity and expanding market access for small producers. Implementation of this program is not mandated and no funding is requested. 

• LB396 – Adopt the Nebraska Farm-to-School Program Act. This bill would expand the scale and reach of Nebraska-produced food by providing networking resources for Nebraska schools, local vegetable and fruit growers, and meat and dairy producers to increase the quantity of quality local food purchased by and served in our schools.

• LB460 – Authorize leasing of dark fiber and eliminate certain powers of the Public Service Commission. This bill would enable public power to lease their dark fiber and would lift major hurdles for utilities to partner with internet providers to provide high-speed connectivity to unserved and underserved communities. 

• LB524 – Change provisions relating to the calculation of credits under the Nebraska Property Tax Incentive Act. This bill would allow any 2019 school district taxes that were both levied and paid during calendar year 2019 be deemed to have been paid in calendar year 2020.

• LB543 – This bill would allow farmers to fix their own machinery under the Agricultural Equipment Right-To-Repair Act by enabling independent mechanics to access what they need for a repair, within reason. The bill would require the mechanic to purchase the needed tools or software from the local franchisee.

• LB600 – Provide powers and duties for political subdivisions regarding broadband facilities and infrastructure. This bill would expand financial resources and tools for the development of broadband infrastructure and facilities in rural areas by allowing public power districts and electric cooperatives financing authority, and by repurposing the Municipal Infrastructure Redevelopment Act for financing broadband.

• LR9 – Congratulate the Bruning-Davenport-Shickley Eagles football team for winning the 2020 Class D-2 state championship. This resolution has been adopted.

If you have questions or comments about these bills or others, feel free contact me or  my legislative staff. You can also stay up to speed by subscribing to the Unicameral Update free of charge by sending an email to uio@leg.ne.gov or calling 402-471-2788. If you feel strongly about a bill, I encourage you to testify in support or against it either by attending the hearing in person, or by the other options made available due to COVID-19. Stay safe out there!