Thank you for visiting my website. It is an honor to represent the people of the 42nd legislative district in the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature.

You’ll find my contact information on the right side of this page, as well as a list of the bills I’ve introduced this session and the committees on which I serve. Please feel free to contact me and my staff about proposed legislation or any other issues you would like to address.

Sincerely,
Sen. Mike Jacobson

Last Friday marked the end of Day 8. The first week focused on electing our leadership and the chair of the Committee on Committees. From there, committee assignments were determined and the first of the bills for this session were filed. Last week, the standing committees elected their vice-chairs, which are elected at the committee level rather than the entire body. I was fortunate to be elected Vice Chair of the Revenue Committee. I look forward to working with Senator Brad von Gillern, who chairs the committee, to make progress on fixing our broken tax system.

I have gotten several questions regarding the current projected revenue shortfall of over $430 million as we enter this biennium. The shortfall is based on a significant projected revenue decline anticipated by the Revenue Forecasting Board. However, their December projection increased revenues by approximately $200 million, cutting the shortfall by nearly half.

I was part of a small group of Senators who had an early look at the Governor’s budget and discussed his plan to remove any shortfalls. The plan focuses primarily on cutting state spending and repealing some of the spending bills passed in 2023 and 2024. In the end, the Governor’s proposed budget would reduce state spending by half a percent as opposed to the normal 2-3% increase. On a $5.5 billion state budget, this adds up to real money. Of course, these budget recommendations are subject to modification by the Appropriations Committee and, ultimately, the full Legislature.

On Thursday, the Rules Committee held hearings all afternoon to allow the public to weigh in on 24 proposed rule changes. It is important to remember that rule changes are very hard to make because there is no limit to debate if a proposed rule change is voted to the floor. In 2017, the Legislature spent the first 30 legislative days debating changes to the filibuster rule. In the end, the attempt failed and the Legislature moved on to other business. There are some proposed rule changes this year that seem to have broad support. Those rules could see traction on the floor if they are voted out of committee.

One of the proposed rule changes would change the filibuster rule again. Today it takes 33 votes to pass a cloture motion to end debate. More importantly, it takes 17 “no” or abstaining votes to defeat a cloture vote. The third caucus has 16 Senators, the first caucus has 16 Senators, and the Second caucus has 17 Senators. Lowering the threshold to end debate would require even more members to stop a bill from progressing. All too often, the focus is on stopping the minority party from holding up legislation, but the minority could also be urban vs rural. A former Senator once told me, “Be careful what you wish for.” I have never forgotten that. I am skeptical when it comes to making changes to this rule.

The urban/rural divide often becomes very apparent when we’re talking about Nebraska’s tax structure. As we focus on ways to reduce property taxes, there have been several ideas expressed over the years. This year Senator Hardin re-introduced the EPIC tax. As many of you know, I am not a fan of EPIC because the plan would send all taxes to Lincoln and the Legislature would decide how the funds are divided. When you consider who controls the votes in Lincoln, how comfortable are you that enough funding would be appropriated to rural Nebraska?

Senator Kathleen Kauth also introduced LR12CA, a constitutional amendment that would change how property taxes are assessed. The problem I see with the proposal is that it eliminates the lower valuation for agricultural land (currently at 75% of market value) and simply caps taxes at 1.5% of the present market value. If passed, this would be horrible for farmers and ranchers because it would compound the property tax problem for owners of agricultural land. The imbalance of values and the tax burden on agricultural land has been far out of balance. The gap has worsened as more and more investors have jumped into the market. We can’t forget these unintended consequences when crafting tax policy.

I look forward to continuing to hear from you about issues that are important to you. It is a privilege to serve as your State Senator, and I will continue to give my full effort to make a positive difference for the District and the State. You can reach me at mjacobson@leg.ne.gov or 402-471-2729.

This past Friday marked the end of Day 3 of the 109^th Legislature. The first day was devoted to officer and committee chair elections. I am happy to report that I was elected as chair of the Banking, Commerce, and Insurance Committee and, as a result, I have moved to office 1117 designated for the Banking Committee chair. With this change, I now have a larger team working with me. Joshua Christolear is my committee Legal Counsel, and Tori Osborne has become my new Legislative Aid. Kristina Konecko will continue as my Administrative Aid. Joe Murray has secured a Legislative Aid position with newly elected Senator Dan McKeon. I want to thank Joe for his past service and look forward to working with a truly awesome team!

My legislative email will remain the same (mjacobson@leg.ne.gov), and my constituents can still reach my office at 402-471-2729.

I spent most of this past week moving into the new office and attending meetings of the Committee on Committees. Having served on this committee last year, I had a good idea of what to expect. I was not disappointed.

We often talk about the “nonpartisan” Nebraska Legislature, but clearly, the Legislature is filled with 49 Senators who are either registered Republicans, Democrats, or Independents. The current Legislature consists of 33 Republicans, 15 Democrats, and one Independent. Although political affiliation does not matter on many bills, there are bills that become very partisan, such as social bills, gun bills, and tax bills. It goes without saying that those in the majority party want to control the leadership and makeup of key committees to help ensure that important bills can be voted out of committee and other bills can be stalled.

For purposes of committee assignments, Senators are divided into three caucuses, roughly along similar lines to those of Nebraska’s three Congressional Districts. The Third Caucus is heavily Republican. The First and Second Caucuses are more evenly divided, with Republicans having a slight majority in the First and one more Democrat than Republican in the Second. Since the First and Second Caucuses have nearly equally split, the practice has been to appoint two from each party to the Committee on Committees and one each to the Executive Board. However, this year the Second Caucus deviated from this practice and filled all their seats on the Committee on Committees and Executive Board with Democrats. Meanwhile, the First Caucus stayed with tradition and split the two bodies equally.

The role of Committee on Committee members is to bring their caucus’s preferences to the committee as it works through committee assignments following the election of committee chairs. Committees are filled by rotating between each caucus in order following the chair. So, if the chair is in the first caucus, then the next member is from the second caucus, then the third caucus, and so on. Of course, the committee must also ensure that each Senator has a committee assignment for each day of the week.

This year, the primary disagreement was over who would serve on the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee. The Second Caucus had the right to appoint three of the eight members to the committee because the Chair (Sen. Rita Sanders) is in the First Caucus. The makeup of the committee in the previous biennium was five Republicans and three Democrats. So, when the second caucus appointed three Democrats to the committee, the balance shifted the control to the Democrats on a 5-3 basis. Ultimately, after much debate, the First and Third caucus made trades to move Senators Conrad and Raybould to the Natural Resources Committee to balance the Government Committee. I feel bad for both Senators because they have seniority, but there was no other way to get to the desired outcome.

I truly apprecite both Senator Conrad and Senator Raybould for their understanding and grace in moving forward with their new committee assignments. I have developed a good relationship with both Senators over the past two years and believe we can continue to work together on bills on which we have a common agreement.

I am optimistic that we can accomplish much this coming session if we can put partisanship behind us and focus on getting results for Nebraskans. I look forward to seeing what ideas will be put forward this year as we continue with bill introduction and hear the Governor’s State of the State Address on Wednesday.

It is a privilege to represent you in the Nebraska Legislature, and I look forward to hearing from you regarding issues that are important to you. I can be reached at 402-471-2729 or by emailing me at mjacobson@leg.ne.gov.

As we begin the new year, we also begin a new legislative session. On Wednesday, January 8, we begin the 109^th Legislative Session. Since this is the beginning of a new biennium, the first day begins with the swearing-in of the newly elected Senators and the election of leadership for the coming two years.

This day also marks the end of the term for those 15 Senators who are term-limited. I want to personally thank them for their service and wish them well in the next phase of their lives. I also want to welcome the newly elected Senators who will replace them. In western Nebraska, we will be welcoming Paul Strommen (District 41) and Tanya Storer (District 43). Both Paul and Tanya have already made very positive impressions with the rest of the body; I have no doubt that they will represent their districts very well.

I was invited to attend a meeting on Friday at the Governor’s residence to discuss the Governor’s proposed budget proposal. As of the latest Forecasting Board revenue projections, revenues were reduced to the point that the current budget projects a $432,639,146 deficit for the upcoming biennium ending on June 30, 2027. If no changes are made in this biennium, the deficit will grow to $1,128,632,184 by the end of the next biennium, ending on June 30, 2029. But, since our state Constitution requires a balanced budget, adjustments will need to be made this session.

Some have suggested that we have plenty of money in reserves, so there is nothing to worry about. That is generally true, but we need to keep in mind that, in addition to our rainy-day fund, there are many funds within various agencies that have large reserves that are committed for future projects that are still in development stages. The more relevant funds to target are Cash Funds. Cash funds represent funds that were allocated to various agencies for operating expenses that went unspent during the fiscal year. Those funds will clearly be targeted to be swept to help fund the current deficit since they are not committed to other projects.

In addition to using cash funds to assist in funding the deficit, I am happy to share that the Governor’s budget focuses on spending cuts and, in particular, the repeal of several bills that were passed this in the last few years that had spending tied to them.

Although I have some reservations about a few of the cuts, I understand the need to have a fair approach to balancing the budget. Keep in mind that this is the Governor’s proposal, which only serves as a starting point for the Legislature’s budget process. The hundreds of bills that will be introduced during the first 10 days of the session will certainly include bills that will run counter to what the Governor will propose or request spending. But in the end, one thing that must be completed in the upcoming 90-day session is approving a budget.

Keep in mind that the Forecasting Board will continue to meet and will update the revenue forecast each time. Many of us are skeptical of the significant reduction in forecasted revenues. Hopefully, the forecast will be adjusted higher as we move forward. Meanwhile, we will work with the numbers we have to work with.

I will continue to keep you updated as the session moves forward. It should be interesting.

I look forward to continuing to hear from you about issues that are important to you. It is a privilege to serve as your State Senator, and I will continue to give my full effort to make a positive difference for the District and the State. You can reach me at mjacobson@leg.ne.gov or 402-471-2729.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and was able to enjoy it with family and friends. Christmas Eve church services are hard to beat. This year was no exception. I look forward to the new year and hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable New Year’s celebration.

The beginning of the 109th Legislative session is scheduled to begin on January 8. Bill introduction takes place during the first 10 legislative days. I have several bills ready for introduction, but perhaps one of the most significant bills I intend to introduce is a bill restricting the expansion of Bitcoin mining.

Bitcoin mining involves large desktop computers that solve equations to support the blockchain technology that supports Bitcoin creation. Unfortunately, these computers consume massive amounts of electricity. The most extreme example is the large Bit Coin installation located on the east edge of Kearney. The computers are housed in portable storage units and consume more electricity than the entire city of Kearney. In addition to this facility, there are smaller facilities popping up across rural Nebraska.

As many of you know, Julie and I own farmland where I grew up in Clay County. The family that does some custom work for me has their headquarters a couple of miles west of Sutton along Highway 6. There is an electrical substation operated by the South Central Public Power District diagonally across the intersection from their large bin site. A Texas-based Bitcoin miner leased 1.5 acres of pastureland next to the substation and placed two large portable storage units next to the substation. Note that they pay no property taxes on the land or the storage units (although they will pay personal property taxes for 5 years on the storage units and computers). They have someone drive by in a pickup truck to monitor the facility. So, no property taxes, no sales taxes, and no full-time employees. Since they get paid in Bitcoin, I don’t know if they are paying Nebraska income taxes. Yet, they are consuming massive amounts of electricity. The farmers next door have had several power surges since this facility was completed.

So why is a Texas-based company locating this Bitcoin facility in Nebraska? I would say the answer is abundant, low-cost electricity with limited to no restrictions.

My bill will add an excise tax to all Bitcoin mining facilities to replace the taxes that would have been collected if they were a manufacturer or other commercial business that employs people, builds buildings, and pays state and local taxes. I will want to target this new revenue to property tax relief. The tax would need to be high enough to cause new facilities to think twice about locating in Nebraska.

This revenue stream may be short-lived, but we cannot grow productive new businesses that employ workers who will help grow our state if we cannot keep up with the energy demands.

I will follow up next week with other bills of interest.

I look forward to continuing to hear from you about issues that are important to you. It is a privilege to serve as your State Senator, and I will continue to give my full effort to make a positive difference for the District and the State. You can reach me at mjacobson@leg.ne.gov or 402-471-2729.

I want to open my article this week to acknowledge how proud I am of the Husker women’s volleyball team and their incredible season. Although they fell just short of advancing to the NCAA Championship game, they did an outstanding job representing the University of Nebraska Lincoln and the entire state! Their character, teamwork, and athleticism have inspired a loyal fanbase, and – together – we are part of the new era for women’s sports. It’s amazing to see!

With the 109^th Legislative Session scheduled to begin on Wednesday, January 8, I am working on finalizing the bills I intend to introduce. I appreciate all the input many of you have provided to me and will try to deliver on your expectations.

We will be welcoming 17 newly elected Senators on Day One. It will be a very busy day, beginning with the swearing-in of all the newly elected Senators and the election of leadership, including committee chairs. Once the committee chairs are elected, there is a massive reshuffling of offices as committee chairs move from their existing offices to the committee chair offices. These offices are larger to accommodate the additional staff that support the committee’s work. At that point, all open offices are available for other Senators to move into based on years of seniority. Once you secure an office, you can retain that office for the remainder of your time in the Legislature, unless you become a committee chair later.

In addition to the standing committees, the body will also elect a chair of the Committee on Committees. This committee consists of the chair and four members from each of the three caucuses. This committee assigns all other members of the Legislature to their committee assignments, such that they will serve on enough committees to have an assignment every day. The Appropriations Committee is the only one to meet every day, so most members will be assigned to at least two committees. We have a few one-day committees that meet on Monday or Tuesday, a few two-day committees that meet Monday and Tuesday, and several three-day committees that meet Wednesday to Friday.

Unless introduced at the request of the Governor, Senators and Committees must introduce bills during the first 10 days of the session. The earlier you begin, the more likely you are to have something back from bill drafters that you can introduce in time. I have several bills that I intend to introduce and will share them with you next week. Senators will face another new bill introduction hurdle this year as well. The rules were changed last year to limit each Senator to 20 bills per legislative session. We have had Senators introduce as many as 60 plus bills in the past. Senators with a lot of ideas will need to either prioritize or shop bills around to other Senators. In my mind 20 bills is plenty, and will ensure Senators don’t miss too many of their committees’ hearings introducing bills elsewhere.

I do plan to serve on the Committee on Committees and the Executive Board (which also serves as the Referencing Committee) as I have in the past. I am slated to chair the Banking, Commerce and Insurance committee as my two-day committee and hopefully move to the Revenue Committee as my three-day committee. Even with limits on bill introduced, it will be a very busy session.

In closing, Julie and I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a safe holiday season. Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. As a kid, my parents did not have much money, but they always made certain that we attended church every Sunday and that we knew the true meaning of Christmas. Somehow, they also found a way to have gifts under the tree. It was clear that they loved each of us and were willing to make personal sacrifices to see to it that our Christmas was special. Despite the hardships, some of my fondest memories were around Christmas. Remember the reason for the season.

I look forward to continuing to hear from you about issues that are important to you. It is a privilege to serve as your State Senator, and I will continue to give my full effort to make a positive difference for the District and the State. You can reach me at mjacobson@leg.ne.gov or 402-471-2729.

I continue to read articles and hear statements made at several trade group meetings regarding the so-called lost year of property tax relief. At the risk of beating a dead horse, I will attempt to once again explain the facts of LB34 and hopefully answer some of the questions people still have regarding this issue.

Prior to the passage of LB34, the State was providing property tax relief through an income tax rebate, which had been in place for several years and grew to 30% of the amount paid by property taxpayers for their public school and community college real estate taxes. Individuals were required to claim the income tax rebate when income taxes were filed the year after the real estate taxes were paid. In many cases, taxpayers who did not avail themselves of a professional tax preparer failed to claim the income tax rebate. Others did not claim it because the amount was too small, or they did not want to go through the process of looking up the legal descriptions of their land to complete the necessary claim form to be filed with their income tax return.

For example, if you paid your 2022 property taxes prior to December 31, 2022, you could have claimed the income tax rebate when you filed your 2022 income tax return by April 15, 2023. If, however, you paid the 2022 property taxes in 2023, which is common for most property taxpayers, you could not have claimed your income tax rebate until you filed your 2023 income taxes in 2024.

If you paid your 2023 property taxes by December 31, 2023, you were able to claim your income tax rebate when you filed your 2023 income tax return in the spring of 2024.

During the special session in 2024, the legislature passed LB34, which capped property tax increases by cities and counties and converted the income tax rebate to a property tax credit. There were two steps to the conversion of the property tax relief. First, the income tax rebate ended effective January 1, 2024, meaning that no property taxes paid in 2024 will be eligible for the income tax rebate.

Second, the Legislature added funds to provide for a property tax credit. Everyone by now should have received their 2024 property tax statements. You will note that, in addition to the legacy property tax credit known as the “Tier I Tax Credit,” there is a new property tax credit that was created by LB34. This property tax credit should approximate what would have been your 2023 income tax rebate (associated with only your public school property tax). The benefit of this change is it eliminates the need to apply for the rebate, thus allowing all property taxpayers to receive the credit. The property tax relief is applied in the year the taxes are assessed. This change is important because those homeowners who escrow their real estate taxes will get their escrows recalculated in the first quarter and see their house payments go down in the first quarter of 2025. Had the income tax rebate still been in place, they would not have received the property tax relief associated with their 2023 property taxes until mid-year 2025.

If someone tells you that your property taxes went up, I would ask them to look at their 2024 property tax statement.

So, what about the so-called lost year? To the extent there is a gap, it is merely due to the timing of income tax filings versus property tax payments. For those who pay their property taxes in the year after the tax is assessed instead of in the same year the property tax is assessed (e.g., paying 2024 property taxes in 2025), your relief will be “delayed” because of when you pay your property taxes. But that doesn’t mean you miss out on a year of relief. If you are paying your real estate taxes a year in arrears, you will need to pay your real estate taxes current before selling your property. You will have the benefit of the property tax credit at that time.

For those thinking there is something that needs to be “fixed” next year, they need to look no further than State expenditures for property tax relief.

Under both the income tax rebate and the property tax credit scheme, the State foots the bill for property tax relief. The State paid $560 million last year to reimburse taxpayers through the income tax rebate. This year, the State will pay $760 million in property tax credit reimbursements to counties in order to make the political subdivisions whole since the property taxpayers pay less (not more). If there was truly a lost year, the State would have a corresponding gap in its expenditures for property tax relief. It does not.

I look forward to continuing to hear from you about issues that are important to you. It is a privilege to serve as your State Senator, and I will continue to give my full effort to make a positive difference for the District and the State. You can reach me at mjacobson@leg.ne.gov or 402-471-2729.

This past weekend, Julie and I celebrated her mother’s 95^th birthday with approximately 40 family members. I must say that my mother-in-law is an amazing woman. She lost her husband, Maurice, 33 years ago from a massive heart attack. She remained on the farm for a few years after that, then moved into a duplex in Wilber. To this day, she lives alone, still drives herself where she needs to go, and has remained sharp. She is a huge Husker sports fan and attends football and volleyball games when tickets are available. We are fortunate that she has maintained her health and is able to live independently. It was a big weekend.

I would be remiss if I did not take a minute to recognize the passing of Ryan Hunter, who passed away unexpectedly at his home on December 1, 2024, at the age of 45. Ryan was married to Marcy (Kelly) Hunter and left behind their three sons, Charlie, Sam, and Liam. Ryan served as vice-president and IT officer of Western Nebraska Bank, a bank that he and his wife Kelly helped start. I want to express my deepest condolences to the entire Hunter and Kelly families during this very difficult time.

This week will be another week for me that begins in Lincoln with several meetings at the Capitol, including a meeting of the Executive Board. On Thursday and Friday, the annual Legislative Council meeting will take place in Kearney. This meeting will be the first time that all the returning Senators and the new Senators-Elect meet to discuss the upcoming legislative session. I have had the opportunity to meet most of the new Senators at his point and continue to be impressed. I am anxious to spend more time with them this week and get a better idea of their individual priorities.

Given the pending budget deficit, we will all need to work together to find solutions to balancing the budget. There will be many who will want to slow the income tax rate reductions. This would be a bad idea and should be avoided. If we want to solve our state’s high tax burden, we need to attract more taxpayers to the state. Business leaders (who are job creators) look at income tax rates (both personal and corporate) when selecting states to locate in. Since Wyoming and South Dakota both have no income tax and Kansas and Iowa have a lower tax rate, it does not make sense to make us less competitive.

Nebraska is a great place to live, work, and raise a family, but controlling our tax burden will determine if families can afford to stay here and if others consider moving here. I have long believed that people notice how much they pay in income taxes and property taxes. It is for that reason, that we need to focus first on those two taxes. Shifting some of that tax burden to sales tax is a possible solution.

In the end, however, we need to slow the growth in spending at all levels of government. I continue to challenge every political subdivision to question each dollar spent and ask if this spending is necessary to deliver the services they were created to deliver. There are many living on limited incomes who cannot afford to stay in their homes because the property taxes are too high. Let’s think of them when approving budgets.

I look forward to continuing to hear from you about issues that are important to you. It is a privilege to serve as your State Senator, and I will continue to give my full effort to make a positive difference for the District and the State. You can reach me at mjacobson@leg.ne.gov or 402-471-2729.

I have often said that Thanksgiving is the forgotten holiday. At one time, the day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday) marked the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. However, over the years, national retailers have begun promoting Christmas shopping the day after Halloween. This not only makes it difficult to find Thanksgiving-themed decorations but also makes the holiday itself secondary to other holidays. Don’t get me wrong, Christmas will always be the most important holiday, but taking time to be thankful for all our blessings is important. Far too many people are looking for more as opposed to being thankful for what they have. There is a difference between needs and wants. But you will get different opinions from different people.

Our family celebrated Thanksgiving in Lincoln, where we had nearly 15 for Thanksgiving dinner. Julie is a tremendous cook, and the food was great, but I now have a new appreciation for all the work that goes into preparing a feast for a large group. We have been enjoying leftovers since. Of course, we enjoyed most of the Iowa/Nebraska football game Friday night. The last minute of the game was not fun to watch, but somehow, I felt like I had seen that game last year (and the year before). I will always be a Husker fan and always look to the next season as the one that takes us back to where we need to be. Watching our amazing volleyball team fall to Penn State was also hard, but that loss may serve them well as they move through the playoffs.

This past week, the North Platte Planning Commission discussed possible regulations to limit the expansion of cryptocurrency miners in North Platte. This is a subject that caught my attention during the last legislative session. There was a bill introduced that, if approved, would have limited any steps that cities and counties might take to make zoning requirements more restrictive for crypto miners versus any other commercial business wishing to locate inside their jurisdiction. The bill was referenced to the Banking, Commerce and Insurance Committee where I currently serve as the vice-chair.

The more I studied the issues, it became clear that in addition to the noise they create and the lack of any real economic benefits (jobs, property taxes, income taxes, etc.), these facilities are huge users of power. The largest facility currently operating in the state of Nebraska is on the east edge of Kearney. That facility is housed in steel storage containers and uses more electricity than all other Kearney users combined. Yes, more than the entire city of Kearney. As these facilities continue to grow, the demand on our power grid limits efforts to attract manufacturing and other traditional firms that would locate in Nebraska. These firms hire workers, build buildings that grow our property tax base, and attract support businesses. In my mind, there is no question which industry would be preferred. The Kearney facility does pay sales taxes on the energy consumed, but the net cost to communities is out of balance.

What compounds this issue is the rapid increase in the price of Bitcoin ($100,000/coin high water mark), the growing adoption of Artificial Intelligence, and the need for computer storage for this technology. Today, most of these firms are headquartered out of state and bring no real economic benefit to Nebraska compared to the need for our electricity resource. I have been working with the Governor’s office to craft a bill to be introduced in the 109th Legislature to bring more tools to the cities and counties to control the expansion of these businesses. Since there are federal restrictions on discrimination against these businesses, we have to look at creative solutions. One option is to create a new tax that would ensure they are making the same financial contribution to communities as other businesses or, in the alternative, deter too many from entering the state. Many new facilities are growing in rural Nebraska where the owners believe no one will notice. I noticed. I will keep you posted on this issue as we move forward.

I look forward to continuing to hear from you about issues that are important to you. It is a privilege to serve as your State Senator, and I will continue to give my full effort to make a positive difference for the District and the State. You can reach me at mjacobson@leg.ne.gov or 402-471-2729.

This week, I’m looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with my family, enjoying good food and plenty of football. I have many things to be thankful for this year, including the opportunity to serve in the Nebraska Legislature on your behalf.

One thing I constantly thank God for is the gift of building a family and life in Nebraska. We are very fortunate to live in a state that values and rewards hard work, ingenuity, and common-sense principles. My longstanding commitment to economic development, community service, and now public service through the Legislature is driven by a desire to protect our way of life. Part of that mission is advancing Nebraska’s leading industry – agriculture.

I’ve seen some misinformation going around about an emerging opportunity that is closely tied to evolving agricultural markets that I’d like to address this week: carbon sequestration. Simply put, carbon sequestration is the process of capturing and storing carbon dioxide (CO2). Some carbon sequestration happens naturally through the biological processes of plants, soil, and large bodies of water. Other sequestration happens through man-made processes.

Recently, in Nebraska, we’ve seen several companies who want to capture CO2 waste from industrial operations – mostly ethanol plants – which is then compressed and transported for injection into rock formations for permanent storage instead of being vented into the atmosphere. It is important to understand the risks and the rewards.

CO2 is a naturally occurring gas that is nonflammable, nonpoisonous, and nontoxic. CO2 is used every day in the bottling industry to give drinks their fizz, in the beef and pork industries to keep meat cold in transit, in the medical industry, and more. It is also a byproduct of ethanol production. Pipelines have been moving CO2 in ethanol production for over a decade, and there are thousands of miles of pipelines that transport tens of millions of tons of CO2 in the U.S. every year.

Despite incidents with other gas pipelines – including those mixing CO2 with other gases – a fatality has never occurred due to a CO2 pipeline incident in over 50 years of operations. The most likely effect of a CO2 pipeline incident is that the CO2 is released into the atmosphere, which is what already happens with ethanol facilities and other industrial plants. The only true risk is if CO2 settles into a low area and displaces other gases, which can only happen in certain weather conditions and is easily addressed by spraying water on the area.

Now for the rewards. Nebraska’s ethanol industry supports more than 6,200 jobs and adds over $4.5 billion annually to our economy. In recent years, Nebraska ethanol has benefited from markets for carbon credits. Now, newly proposed carbon intensity requirements in California, as well as increased access to electric and more fuel-efficient vehicles, are reducing the market for Nebraska ethanol. Fortunately, the demand for sustainable aviation fuel is rapidly growing. But, ethanol can only qualify as sustainable aviation fuel if producers find a way to make production “cleaner.” That’s where carbon sequestration comes in.

By taking CO2 from ethanol plants, compressing it, and transporting it through a pipeline to a storage location, carbon sequestration can make sure Nebraska ethanol continues to have a role in the U.S. economy. Not only is this good for the ethanol industry, but it’s also good for the farmers who sell over 750 million bushels of corn to Nebraska biofuel facilities and for the cattle feeders who use the distillers grains that come from ethanol production to raise the best beef in the world. These companies also bring construction and other full-time jobs, and millions of dollars in new property tax revenue each year that go to our local governments.

I understand why the word “pipeline” brings up a lot of fears for many folks. We are constantly balancing the preservation of our natural resources with economic advancement. Before making any judgments, I would encourage you to learn more about the carbon sequestration processes and companies operating in Nebraska.

I look forward to continuing to hear from you about issues that are important to you. It is a privilege to serve as your State Senator, and I will continue to give my full effort to make a positive difference for the District and the State. You can reach me at mjacobson@leg.ne.gov or 402-471-2729.