On Monday, we had the opportunity to observe another Memorial Day and pay our respects to all those men and women who gave their lives for our country while serving in the armed services. This is also a time when we can personally reach out to thank all of our Gold Star Families. The Gold Star Family tradition began during World War I when military families displayed flags or banners that included a blue star for every family member serving in the war. In the event of death, they changed out the blue star for a gold star.

As I drive back and forth to Lincoln, I often listen to audiobooks to help pass the time. I recently listened to “No Place to Hide: A Brain Surgeon’s Long Journey Home from the Iraq War,” the first book published by Retired Airforce Major W. Lee Warren, MD. Dr. Warren performed over 200 brain and spine surgeries while deployed at a field hospital in Iraq. I would encourage everyone to get his book to understand better the working conditions and the trauma that went along with serving in the Iraq War. Dr. Warren is an incredibly talented neurosurgeon who now lives in North Platte with his wife, Lisa, where they operate the brain and spine wing at Great Plains Health. His book is a testament to some of the challenges and unbelievable conditions our military personnel face to protect our way of life.

Every Memorial Day, I am reminded of one of the final scenes in the popular movie “Saving Private Ryan.” The movie centers around a Gold Star Family with all three sons serving in World War II. Two of the sons were killed, and the third son, James Ryan, is still in combat. The military decides that his family has sacrificed enough and sends a team to bring James home. James’ retrieval team faces many battles, capped off by the battle at the bridge where their leader, Captain John H. Miller, is fatally shot and killed. Captain Miller tells Private Ryan with his dying breath, “Earn this… earn it.” The movie then skips ahead to Private Ryan taking his family to the cemetery, where he kneels down at the headstone of Captain Miller and says: “I hope that, at least in your eyes, I’ve earned what all of you have done for me.”

I cannot help but ask myself whether I have earned all that the men and women in the military have done for me. So many have given their lives so that I could grow up and raise my family in the greatest nation in history. God bless those who serve, and God bless America.

In addition to remembering those who lost their lives, I also use this day to thank all those who served who came home with a permanent disability, whether mental or physical. These individuals also deserve our respect and our help. As your State Senator, I will continue to focus legislation, whenever possible, to help our veterans spend the rest of their lives comfortably. I will again be introducing a bill to provide disabled veterans with less than full disability a way to reduce the property taxes on their homes. I will also work to make healthcare more affordable and available to those who gave so much.

In closing, I want to recognize my friend and colleague, Colonel Tom Brewer, who will be term-limited after his eight years in the Nebraska Legislature. Senator Brewer earned three purple hearts and is finishing up another 30-day trip to Ukraine, where he has worked alongside Ukrainian soldiers fighting for their freedom. Thank you, Tom, for your service, your friendship, and your leadership.

I look forward to continuing to hear from you regarding 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.

Last week, we celebrated National Police Week, as well as Peace Officers Memorial Day on May 15. The week is a solemn observance in the United States that pays tribute to the local, state, and federal peace officers who have died or been disabled in the line of duty. I was truly honored to be asked by Lieutenant Newton to say a few words to those in attendance at the North Platte Law Enforcement Memorial located at Iron Horse Park.

In my remarks, I shared how fortunate we are to live in rural Nebraska, where people respect those who put their lives on the line every day to protect our way of life and maintain law and order. Over the past few years, it has become apparent that many in larger cities throughout the U.S. don’t share those sentiments. It has been interesting to watch all those in cities who lead “defund the police” efforts who now are seeing the negative impacts that these initiatives have caused. Downtown areas that have lost many of their business, which have been replaced by homeless encampments, gang activity, and increases in drug activity.

I recall having coffee with a member of the State Patrol a couple of years ago. I asked him what went through his mind when he pulled over out-of-state vehicles, given all the drugs that travel down our interstates and highways. He told me he just focused on his training and knew this was simply part of his job. I think that sentiment runs throughout the law enforcement community. We should all be grateful for everyone who has chosen a career in law enforcement and pray for them every day as they put their lives on the line “doing their job.” They can count on me to support them to the best of my ability to ensure that they have the training, equipment, and support they need to do the best job they can.

Although I hadn’t initially planned to address the mailer many of you received from the Holland Children’s Movement prior to Election Day, I understand that some of you were curious about this organization and its motives. The Holland Children’s Movement, an Omaha-based organization primarily funded by Suzie Buffett, advocates for progressive causes. Their goal, which I believe we can all support, is “to ensure Nebraska children and families are prioritized in budget and policy decisions.” However, there are times when I find myself in disagreement with their methods to achieve this goal.

I take issue with many of the statements made on their mailer. First, they suggested that I do not support public schools because I voted for LB1402, which increases access to private schools through certain types of scholarship funding. My vote on LB1402 was not a condemnation of our public schools and did not shift any funding away from our public education. In fact, LB1402 is in line with how the state treats students in public education. For several years now, we have allowed parents to choose which public school their children can best fit in through option enrollment. The Legislature provides funding to the public schools that accept “option” students into their schools. LB1402 simply carries this concept one step further. I voted for the bill because it saves the state $15 million annually and allows low-income parents to have the same opportunities for their children to have the best opportunities for their children. Moreover, the statement ignores my participation in a strong bipartisan effort last year to send an additional $324 million in additional state aid to K-12 public schools.

Second, the mailer claimed I took away the right of local governments to determine if someone is safe to carry a concealed weapon by voting for LB77. In reality, very few of the local ordinances affected by the preemption provisions of LB77 dealt with whether someone was “safe” to carry. Instead, the bill reduces administrative burdens that keep citizens from enjoying their Second Amendment rights and makes sure laws are uniform across the state so they are easier to comply with. I have long supported the Second Amendment and will continue to do so in the future.

I also was called out for voting against LB840, the Poverty Elimination Action Plan Act, which passed on a vote of 28-19-2. The bill requires all cities with over 50,000 people to create plans to eliminate poverty. I don’t think a lack of planning or desire has stopped community leaders from eliminating poverty. There are many worthy government-funded programs to help those who are truly in need. Growing up in poverty myself, I can tell you that establishing a strong work ethic by getting a job and earning your way can do wonders to encourage self-esteem and open up our true potential. If we can grow our economy, more opportunities for employment and education will be available to every Nebraskan. But we can’t grow if we continue to push unfunded mandates – like the one in LB840 – down on our local governments. These plans will be paid for with property taxes, which is a tax burden that continues to harm all Nebraskans and local businesses.

Finally, I was criticized for my vote to sustain the Governor’s Veto of duplicative spending in LB814, one of the 2023 budget bills, a vote that was framed as a vote “against affordable healthcare.” I absolutely support affordable healthcare when achieved the right way. That is why I sponsored LB1087, the Hospital Quality Assurance and Access Assessment Act. This bill will bring over $1 billion in federal funding to Nebraska hospitals to expand Medicaid reimbursements. This bill will provide ample funding to expand healthcare access for children and low-income families and will allow many rural facilities to keep their doors open, all without additional state spending.

In the end, I have made it clear that I represent the residents of District 42, which means supporting policies that protect the rights of all Nebraskans and advocating for smart investments of taxpayer dollars. Not every bill is the right policy decision just because it has a noble goal. I will continue to look for and encourage effective, cost-efficient ways to support our children and families. But I will not base my vote on the desires of Omaha special interests. That will not change.

I look forward to continuing to hear from you regarding 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.

In addition to serving as vice-chair of the Banking, Commerce, and Insurance Committee these past two years, I also served on the Natural Resources Committee. This committee heard many power-related bills that could impact District 42. We are fortunate to be home to the Gerald Gentleman power plant. Gerald Gentleman Station is Nebraska’s largest electric generation facility and is consistently ranked as one of the lowest production-cost electric generating plants in the nation. It is capable of producing 1,365 megawatts of power and employs over 200 employees. 

One of my priorities in the Nebraska Legislature is to help protect this vital asset and the economic benefit it provides throughout this region. Although this plant has all the latest technology to produce power while leaving a minimal carbon footprint, the Biden administration continues to raise the standards for clean energy without any real solutions to replace “baseload” energy produced by plants that operate using fossil fuels or water. Wind and solar energy are simply not a substitute for plants that can produce power on demand. Additionally, wind and solar cannot compete from a cost standpoint when all costs are considered. Yet, public power continues to be pressured to replace more “baseload” plants with green alternatives, rather than continuing to use renewables to diversify – but not replace – their existing infrastructure. 

I worked with committee chair Bruce Bostelman on his priority bill, LB1370. In its final form, LB1370 requires public power districts and other public power entities to provide written notice to the Nebraska Power Review Board prior to a final decision on whether a dispatchable energy-generating facility with a capacity of more than 100 megawatts should be retired. After receiving notice of the proposed decommissioning, the board may hold a hearing which will be closed to the public. Regardless of whether a hearing is held, the board must provide written recommendations on whether the closure is in the entity and its customers’ best interests.

LB1370 also had several other bills amended into it, including my LB1260 which I brought on behalf of our local public power and irrigation districts. The bill allows a director of a public power and irrigation district to vote and take part in discussions of agreements that affect the district and may affect their personal interests as a byproduct of the broad scope. It would, however, still not allow them to participate in discussions on their own “individual” agreement, which should be rare. This bill was important so that directors who live on one of the lakes controlled by the power and irrigation district could be involved in representing the residents who reside next to those lakes. Under current rules, the residents represented by these directors are denied any input when these agreements are developed and adopted. It also would now allow for directors who operate irrigated land within the district to be involved in developing and passing the master agreements for irrigation agreements as well. Without these changes, the groups these directors represent would have no representation. 

I expect more bills to be introduced in 2025 dealing with electrical power, growing demand, and continued pressure to restrict how power is produced. In addition, I am concerned about some of the new power users and whether those uses make sense given the growing challenges with reliable supply. My primary concern is with digital asset (e.g., Bitcoin) data mining facilities that are turning up all over the state. Digital asset mining facilities use tremendous amounts of power. The facility on the east edge of Kearney, for example, uses more power than the entire city of Kearney. Meanwhile, smaller facilities (housed in portable storage containers) are now located in several rural areas. They use huge amounts of power yet produce virtually no jobs, pay limited personal property taxes on the GPUs operating at the sites, and maybe no income taxes since they are paid in Bitcoin. I will be holding meetings this summer to get input from all parties and plan to bring a bill next session based on these discussions. 

Your input is invaluable to me. I look forward to hearing from you regarding issues that are important to you. It is a privilege to serve as your State Senator, and I am committed to making a positive difference for the District and the State. You can reach me at mjacobson@leg.ne.gov or by calling my legislative office at 402-471-2729.

When I agreed to run for the Legislature, I did so with the intent to support and advance legislation that would positively impact District 42 and rural Nebraska. For far too long, rural Nebraska has been underrepresented in the Nebraska Legislature, and as a result, we have not gotten our “fair share” of funding and have been left out of many economic development programs.

The TEEOSA funding for public schools is an example of how school funding has disproportionately favored urban areas. Additionally, most of the economic development programs have focused on Lincoln and Omaha at the expense of rural Nebraska. I have long believed that rural Nebraska has much to offer and can grow if we make growth a priority and take the steps to work collaboratively at all levels of government to accomplish this goal.

Over the past several years, we have watched Grand Island exceed the 50,000-population threshold to officially make it a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). Kearney has exceeded 35,000 population and growing as well. Thanks to many forward-thinking County Commissioners, City Council members, and business leaders, North Platte and Lincoln County are on a strong growth trajectory as well. With growth comes more retail opportunities, higher paying jobs, and even better health care options that include more specialists who can treat more health care problems, more housing options, better recreational opportunities, and even better schools.

Over the next several weeks, I plan to update you on bills of interest that were passed during this past legislative session and will impact District 42.

One bill I want to focus on this week is LB1108, which I co-sponsored with Senator Myron Dorn. LB1108 transfers $1.27 million from the Game and Parks Commission to fund the Nebraska Emergency Medical System Operations Fund each year beginning in June 2025. (The annual funding comes from sales/use tax proceeds on ATVs/UTVs.) The fund will provide financial support for the statewide patient care reporting system and trauma registry and for emergency care providers’ recruitment, retention, and training.

Senator Dorn is an EMT and has witnessed firsthand the difficulty in attracting EMTs and EMS volunteers. I became aware of the problem after visiting with individuals in the Thedford area who shared with me the challenges they have in trying to cover a very large geographic area with a shrinking number of volunteers. It is hard enough to find the volunteers, but when you add the cost and time to get them trained, you are fighting a losing battle. I appreciate all of Senator Dorn’s efforts and want to thank those who helped educate me on the problems they face to provide much-needed emergency services. Hopefully, this will be a good first step in fixing the problem.

Another issue facing our region is the lack of sufficient childcare facilities to help more young parents return to the workforce and offset the worker shortage. Several bills were offered during this past legislative session, and I was a co-sponsor of several of those bills.

The first bill was LB856, offered by Senator John Fredrickson. LB856 allows a childcare program to receive subsidy reimbursement for children under the direct care of their own parents who are employed by the program if a reasonable accommodation cannot be made. This is particularly common in smaller programs with limited staff when employees cannot reasonably be kept from their own children. It also allows those who meet the eligibility requirements to enroll their own children in other programs besides their own. All programs, however, must be licensed. This program will be operational on July 1, 2025.

Another bill, LB1178, introduced by Senator Anna Wishart, creates the Intergenerational Care Facility Incentive program to provide one-time startup grants for childcare programs in nursing and assisted living facilities that are certified for Medicare or Medicaid. The program will be funded through a one-time $300,000 appropriation from the Medicaid Managed Care Excess Profit Fund. Certified facilities are eligible for a grant of up to $100,000 for structural updates, outside campus space, and equipment and supplies. The bill also requires DHHS to collaborate with a statewide association representing long-term care facilities and other stakeholders prior to October 1, 2024, to develop the program and identify barrios that may impede the development of intergenerational care facilities.

I will follow up next week with updates on other bills of interest. Meanwhile, I remain open to meeting with groups who want to meet in person to discuss pertinent issues.

I look forward to continuing to hear from you regarding 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.

It was great spending the week back in North Platte this past week. I returned to town on Saturday night, and after attending church on Sunday morning, Julie and I had the opportunity to attend the musical “Something Rotten” at the Fox Theatre. It was another great performance by many of our very talented local performers. It was just what the doctor ordered after a long 60-day session. 

I also had the opportunity to drive up to Thedford on Wednesday afternoon to speak to Gretchen Anderson’s 4th-grade class. I was met at the elementary school office by two young ladies who escorted me to the classroom. Following the discussion, two young gentlemen escorted me back to the office. I truly enjoyed the visit and was very impressed with all the students. They were polite, respectful, and full of questions. It was a great testament to the quality of our rural schools and the education they are receiving. 

We were back in Lincoln on Saturday to attend the annual Husker Spring game, where we were joined by several of my colleagues in the Nebraska Legislature. Unfortunately, several Omaha Senators could not attend because they were volunteering to assist their constituents who were impacted by the devastating tornadoes that hit several areas in the Omaha area. My heart goes out to those who lost their homes and property. Fortunately, there was no loss of life, but the destruction left behind was overwhelming. How fortunate we were in District 42 to receive much-needed rainfall without the destructive winds and hail that impacted the eastern part of the state.

Over the next few weeks, I intend to visit a few more schools and get to various gatherings to answer questions from constituents and better understand the current concerns of District 42 residents. I also intend to meet with the leaders of our political subdivisions to coordinate with them and ensure we do all we can in Lincoln to help them better accomplish their goals. This will serve as a starting point as I draft legislation for the next legislative session. The legislative rules we passed this past session will limit senators in the future to introduce no more than 20 bills in any one legislative session. Although I have tried to limit my personal bill introduction to no more than 10 or 12 bills, I will need to carefully plan my constituent needs prior to carrying bills that do not specifically impact District 42. 

Although I am very pleased with the bills I was able to influence this session, I do believe that in addition to helping the Governor get his property tax plan over the finish line, more work needs to be done to improve the homestead exemptions to bring more relief for partially disabled Veterans and those retirees living on a fixed income who have lost their homestead exemption due to property value increases. We also need to do more to improve EMS and volunteer fire services, especially in the more rural areas of the district where keeping enough trained volunteers remains challenging. 

There will be several legislative meetings this summer that will involve gathering information on various issues raised in this last session through legislative resolutions. One resolution I introduced was to study the impact that Bitcoin mining is having on our “base load” power supply and what steps need to be taken to better protect our power supply from users who are consuming large power supplies for non-productive uses that do not have a positive impact on our local and state economy. 

Additionally, I will be working with the Governor to help find common ground to move forward a property tax plan that 33 Senators will support. If that can happen, a special session later this summer is a real possibility.

I look forward to hearing from you regarding 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 by calling my legislative office at 402-471-2729.

At 6:35 p.m. last Thursday, the 108th Legislature adjourned Sine Die, bringing the session to an end. The last day of this 60-day session was anything but normal. We considered eight bills on Final Reading along with the appropriation bills (“A” bills) associated with the funding for those bills if required. Three of the eight bills were filibustered. Comparatively, most legislative sessions end with consideration of any gubernatorial vetoes, outgoing speeches from outgoing Senators, and a few ceremonial activities. 

We did not have any vetoes to consider on Thursday, but the Governor will likely veto at least one of the bills passed on Day 60. Because we have no more regular session days, the Legislature will not have any ability to consider overriding the veto.

Two of the more controversial bills were heard on Day 60: LB1402 and LB388.

LB1402 repealed the Opportunity Scholarship Act passed last year and replaced it with a bill to fund Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGO) through the State Treasurer’s Office. The SGOs provide scholarships for low-income students to attend private K-12 schools. Although the original bill proposed $25 million in annual funding with increases for future years, the ultimate proposal was reduced to a flat $10 million per year without any increases in future years. As a result, the bill brought a General Fund savings of $15 million per year during the next biennium. 

Like last year, I received many emails on this bill. In the end, my decision to support the bill was based on providing opportunities for all students, regardless of their parent’s ability to pay, to have access to a school that can best serve their needs. We have been doing this for several years now in the public school system by allowing “option enrollment.” With option enrollment, students can choose to attend the public school of their choice subject to acceptance by the receiving school. The state, in turn, pays the receiving public school approximately $12,000 for every “net” student transferring to the school at a cost of about $120 million annually to the State. In comparison, the $10 million in tax credits to fund scholarships for low-income kids seems very reasonable. 

Although many wanted to make this bill about public school performance, that was never the case in my mind. All the public schools in District 42 are quality schools that are graduating students who are well-prepared for the future. In the end, providing greater opportunities for all children has always been my goal. 

In addition, we debated LB388, the bill intended to reduce property taxes. This bill went through many changes along the way, but in the end failed to have sufficient votes to overcome the filibuster on Final Reading. The bill originally proposed to raise the state sales tax by 1%, raise the taxes on cigarettes, vaping products, hemp products, and games of skill, remove exemptions for taxes on small veterinary services, repair and cleaning of clothing, and “candy” and soda, and added a tax for digital advertisers who generate over $1 billion in annual advertising revenues. The final bill eliminated the 1% rate increase but retained the other sources of revenue. 

The use of the additional revenue also changed over the course of the bill’s consideration. Originally, the dollars were to be distributed through the public schools in order to reduce their property tax asking. Later, the proposal was to use the dollars to increase funding for income tax rebates authorized by LB1107 in 2020 to directly pay these funds to the counties to provide a direct property tax credit on your property tax statement. Given that a fairly large percentage of property taxpayers still do not claim this credit on their income tax returns, this credit would bring property tax savings to many more taxpayers. The bill also would have placed growth caps on the rate at which certain political subdivisions could increase their budgets without voter approval. 

As we have discussed in the past, property taxes are only assessed at the local level. The state does not assess a property tax. In 2023, the state collected approximately $2.3 billion in sales taxes and just over $4 billion in income taxes. Meanwhile, total property tax collections throughout the state exceeded $5.3 billion. Most importantly, however, the $5.3 billion is up from about $3.4 billion in 2013. 

In the end, it is imperative that any property tax relief be sustainable, which means annual growth caps and controlling spending at all levels of government. We also need to continue searching for ways to grow our taxpayer base by recruiting and retaining employers and increasing opportunities to draw out-of-state visitors through tourism. 

A balance between income, sales, and property taxes is the best way to ensure that no one group will sustain an unreasonable tax burden. However, I do not support removing local control over our property tax assessments. If all taxes are collected at the state level, it will be the state Legislature that determines how many dollars return to rural Nebraska. Since two-thirds of the State Senators represent the eastern third of the state, I don’t really like our odds. 

The Governor has strongly suggested calling a special session (or two) to address the property tax issue. If the special session is to be successful, it will be important to have at least 33 Senators willing to vote for a plan. So, there is a lot of work to be done between now and then.

I look forward to hearing from you regarding 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 by calling my legislative office at 402-471-2729.

The Legislature will be in session three days this week, beginning on Tuesday, April 9, and running through Thursday, April 12. We will then be in recess until Thursday, April 18, which will be Day 60. The gap between day 59 and day 60 is to allow the Governor time to consider any vetoes. Day 60 is generally used to consider any veto overrides. However, given the number of bills still on Select File and Final Reading, it is anticipated that we will likely be voting on several bills still on Final Reading on Day 60. This is risky since the Legislature would have no opportunity to override a veto of any bills passed on Day 60.

I have received many emails regarding LB764, the “winner take all” election bill. Nebraska and Maine are the only two states that award electoral votes for Presidential elections based on the popular vote for President in each Congressional District. Each state has two U.S. Senators, so the statewide vote for President determines the electoral votes for the two U.S. Senators. Then, the winner of each congressional district earns the electoral vote for that district. In the last Presidential election, President Biden won the second congressional district (Omaha), and President Trump won the other two districts and the statewide vote. As a result, the Nebraska electoral votes were split by allocating four electoral votes to Trump and one to Biden.

On January 18, 2023, during the ten days of bill introduction last year, Senator Lippencott introduced LB764, which was referenced to the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee chaired by Senator Brewer. The bill subsequently had a public hearing on March 15, 2023. The committee did not take action last year to advance the bill, and it automatically carried over to this legislative session. The bill was also not advanced out of committee this year, and neither the committee nor Senator Lippencott prioritized the bill.

Last Thursday, on Day 54, this bill suddenly got the attention of the national media and we abruptly began receiving emails and phone calls to pass this bill. As a result, Senator Slama introduced AM3339 to amend LB764 into LB1300, a bill introduced by Senator Bostar that included several other bills, including LB869, a bill I helped introduce to allow for counties to allow Veterans Service Funds to be used for those who served in the National Guard and Veterans who served at a time when the U.S. was not in a conflict. AM3339 was ruled not to be germane to LB1300. The motion by Senator Slama to overrule the President’s germaneness ruling was defeated.

It is important the public understand the dynamics at play before criticizing Senators for the votes on AM3339. First, Senator Bostar introduced LB1300 on behalf of the Governor, and both the underlying bill and the bills amended into LB1300 are important priorities of the state. Second, Senator Bostar opposed adding LB764 to LB1300 – in part because it could sink the whole package – and threatened to pull the bill in the event LB764 was added. LB1300 and other bills amended onto it went through the full legislative process, and it would have been unfair to jeopardize their passage to add a bill at the last second that had not even been voted out of committee.

Unfortunately, it looks like “winner take all” will probably have to wait for next year. Even if the Committee met immediately to vote the bill out of committee, it does not have a priority designation, and there are several other priority bills still waiting for General File debate. Additionally, the bill would surely be filibustered if it got scheduled. Given the time needed to get all the bills already on Select File and Final Reading passed this year with our four remaining working days, it would be impossible to move LB764 this year. The only avenue to move it prior to this fall would be to hold a special session of the Legislature, but unless there are 33 Senators prepared to vote for this bill, it would be a waste of time to call a special session.

I have continually asked why the supporters of this bill waited for over a year to bring attention to it and then became obsessed with its passage when it was all but impossible to succeed. I would fully support a special session and would commit to voting for the bill, but we need to do it the right way.

It has been a grueling session, and the remaining days will be full of drama, but we will get there one way or another. I am looking forward to getting back home.

I look forward to continuing to hear from you regarding 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 by calling my legislative office at 402-471-2729.

The Legislature will be in session three days this week, beginning on Tuesday, April 9, and running through Thursday, April 12. We will then be in recess until Thursday, April 18, which will be Day 60. The gap between day 59 and day 60 is to allow the Governor time to consider any vetoes. Day 60 is generally used to consider any veto overrides. However, given the number of bills still on Select File and Final Reading, it is anticipated that we will likely be voting on several bills still on Final Reading on Day 60. This is risky since the Legislature would have no opportunity to override a veto of any bills passed on Day 60.

I have received many emails regarding LB764, the “winner take all” election bill. Nebraska and Maine are the only two states that award electoral votes for Presidential elections based on the popular vote for President in each Congressional District. Each state has two U.S. Senators, so the statewide vote for President determines the electoral votes for the two U.S. Senators. Then, the winner of each congressional district earns the electoral vote for that district. In the last Presidential election, President Biden won the second congressional district (Omaha), and President Trump won the other two districts and the statewide vote. As a result, the Nebraska electoral votes were split by allocating four electoral votes to Trump and one to Biden.

On January 18, 2023, during the ten days of bill introduction last year, Senator Lippencott introduced LB764, which was referenced to the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee chaired by Senator Brewer. The bill subsequently had a public hearing on March 15, 2023. The committee did not take action last year to advance the bill, and it automatically carried over to this legislative session. The bill was also not advanced out of committee this year, and neither the committee nor Senator Lippencott prioritized the bill.

Last Thursday, on Day 54, this bill suddenly got the attention of the national media and we abruptly began receiving emails and phone calls to pass this bill. As a result, Senator Slama introduced AM3339 to amend LB764 into LB1300, a bill introduced by Senator Bostar that included several other bills, including LB869, a bill I helped introduce to allow for counties to allow Veterans Service Funds to be used for those who served in the National Guard and Veterans who served at a time when the U.S. was not in a conflict. AM3339 was ruled not to be germane to LB1300. The motion by Senator Slama to overrule the President’s germaneness ruling was defeated.

It is important the public understand the dynamics at play before criticizing Senators for the votes on AM3339. First, Senator Bostar introduced LB1300 on behalf of the Governor, and both the underlying bill and the bills amended into LB1300 are important priorities of the state. Second, Senator Bostar opposed adding LB764 to LB1300 – in part because it could sink the whole package – and threatened to pull the bill in the event LB764 was added. LB1300 and other bills amended onto it went through the full legislative process, and it would have been unfair to jeopardize their passage to add a bill at the last second that had not even been voted out of committee.

Unfortunately, it looks like “winner take all” will probably have to wait for next year. Even if the Committee met immediately to vote the bill out of committee, it does not have a priority designation, and there are several other priority bills still waiting for General File debate. Additionally, the bill would surely be filibustered if it got scheduled. Given the time needed to get all the bills already on Select File and Final Reading passed this year with our four remaining working days, it would be impossible to move LB764 this year. The only avenue to move it prior to this fall would be to hold a special session of the Legislature, but unless there are 33 Senators prepared to vote for this bill, it would be a waste of time to call a special session.

I have continually asked why the supporters of this bill waited for over a year to bring attention to it and then became obsessed with its passage when it was all but impossible to succeed. I would fully support a special session and would commit to voting for the bill, but we need to do it the right way.

It has been a grueling session, and the remaining days will be full of drama, but we will get there one way or another. I am looking forward to getting back home.

I look forward to continuing to hear from you regarding 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 by calling my legislative office at 402-471-2729.

I want to begin my article by reflecting on this past week. Not in the Legislature, but Holy Week. Holy Week is a time for us all to reflect on what is important in life and a true testament of sacrifice. It is a great reminder for all of us as we begin the final stretch in this legislative session.

I am happy to report that LB1087 was officially signed by the Governor on Wednesday with the ceremonial signing taking place in Fremont on Friday morning. I was happy to introduce the legislation on behalf of the Nebraska Hospital Association, but I want to acknowledge that any legislation that passes the Nebraska Legislature takes at least 24 other Senators to support the bill. I want to again thank Senator Armendariz for making LB1087 her personal priority bill and for the 44 State Senators who voted with me to pass this valuable legislation.

LB1087 will bring over $1 billion in additional federal Medicaid funding to Nebraska to be used by hospitals throughout the state based on the percentage of Medicaid patients they treat. At this point, Nebraska will be the 45^th state to adopt this program. In addition to providing a much-needed lifeline to rural hospitals, several of the larger hospitals in the state will provide $50 million in nursing scholarships to help encourage more students to enter the profession and reduce the chronic nursing shortage. It is fitting that the beam signing ceremony was held on Monday for the new Health and Science Building at the UNK campus to bring medical training closer to the western end of the state. It is also important to note that our own Mid-Plains Community College has a great nursing program that is right in our back yard.

With the budget adjustments approved and signed by the Governor, we are now going to continue to debate how to provide true property tax relief. LB388 (as amended by AM3203) was discussed last week, and LB1331 (as amended by AM3264) was voted out of the Education Committee shortly before we adjourned. These two bills are intended to move together this week to be the outline to increase foundation aid to all schools and reduce the number of schools ultimately receiving TEEOSA funding.

LB388 includes an increase in the cigarette tax to $1.00/pack (currently 64 cents), raises the state sales tax rate from 5.5% to 6.5%, and removes certain sales tax exemptions to fund the additional tax relief. The proposal would also eliminate the current state sales tax on electricity and gas used for residential purposes as a way to further reduce the tax burden on low-income residents. Keep in mind that these bills are the introduced versions and will likely have several amendments prior to any passage. Like most legislation, it is far from perfect, but we need to always remember not to let perfection get in the way of success. I will support a final bill that achieves property tax reductions for rural Nebraska. This is a clear priority of my constituents and will continue to be my goal.

With eight legislative days left in the session, we have much to do in the remaining days. We will be having some late nights as we move closer to Day 60. It will be important for everyone to keep me apprised of any issues you may see in the remaining days since bills will be amended along the way, which could change the initial intent of the legislation. I will be doing lots of reading in the next couple of weeks.

I look forward to continuing to hear from you regarding 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 by calling my legislative office at 402-471-2729.

I want to begin my article this week by thanking the Lincoln County Farm Bureau for sponsoring a Town Hall Meeting a week ago Saturday to allow me to meet directly with interested constituents in an informal setting. I cannot begin to tell you how important it is for me to understand the issues that are important to you and to have the opportunity to share on a firsthand basis what is happening “behind the scenes” for many of the issues in the Nebraska Legislature. I hope to have the opportunity to hold more of these meetings throughout District 42 once the session ends.

Last week, the Appropriations Committee continued to move the budget bills forward. One of the items in LB1413 was a proposed cash transfer of $25 million to the “Rural Workforce Housing” fund. However, Senator Vargas from Omaha (who serves on the Appropriations Committee) worked with the committee to move $5 million of those funds to the “Middle Income Housing Fund.” The two funds are essentially the same, but the Middle-Income program is limited to the metro areas around Lincoln and Omaha, while the Rural Workforce program is available to all other areas of the state. However, Senator McKinney brought an amendment to equally split the funds between the two programs, which, in effect, reduced the Rural Workforce Fund by an additional $7.5 million. I pushed back hard on the amendment, but in the end, the vote was 24 in favor of the split and 23 opposed. The vote was a classic rural-urban divide. As I have warned in the past, when it comes to distributing funding, the urban areas have a voting advantage. That will only get stronger in the future if we cannot stop the outmigration of rural residents to urban areas.

I have continued to review LB126, which was introduced by Senator Jen Day. As introduced, The bill would provide a homestead exemption to Veterans and surviving spouses who are honorably discharged and disabled to receive a property tax credit based on their percentage of disability. Although I brought my own bill that provides for a more aggressive exemption (LB853) I did add my name to LB126 to help ensure that we get something done on this issue during this legislative session. Since Senator Day prioritized LB126, the Revenue Committee used her bill to carry the changes they are proposing to the Homestead exemption. Unfortunately, the Committee took portions of four bills that ended up making major changes to the entire Homestead Exemption Act and I believe that the changes proposed (outside of those proposed for Veterans) are taking us backwards. I am pushing to pass LB126 in its original form and do an interim study to fix the rest of the program. We will see where this goes.

The Revenue Committee moved their committee priority bill LB388 to General File last Thursday, just prior to adjournment for the long weekend. It will be formally introduced on Monday and debate will begin on Tuesday. I will be in North Platte on Monday for bank annual meetings but will return to the Legislature on Tuesday to be involved in the debate.

Although the details of the bill will not be fully available until the bill read across on Monday, I did get a private briefing from Senator Linehan. The proposal to remove the tax exemption for ag repair parts is not part of the bill, but the Committee did include sales tax on advertising for companies with annual gross advertising revenue greater than $1 billion (originally LB1354). Senator Albrecht has stated that the bill will target companies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon. I have many concerns with this provision from a constitutional standpoint based on the ongoing litigation to Maryland’s law, and I also believe that it would impact smaller businesses and advertising companies who advertise with or resell advertising through larger companies.

LB388 bill also would increase the cigarette tax to $1/pack and increase the state sales tax rate by 1%. These changes are estimated to raise $650 million to be used to offset property taxes. This plan, as I understand it, would increase foundation aid to schools to $3,000/student and increase the TEEOSA formula aid to larger school districts. It would also put “hard” caps on any property tax increases for schools, cities, and counties. It goes without saying that this bill will see a lot of debate, and could have some major changes prior to passage, so don’t read too much into the initial bill as introduced.

I look forward to continuing to hear from you regarding issues that are important to you. It is a privilege to serve as your 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 by calling my legislative office at 402-471-2729.