Weekly Article for Week of October 26, 2025

This past week was spent attending interim study public hearings and catching up with my staff.  I must say that I feel I have one of the best staffs in the Legislature.  Joshua Christolear is the legal counsel for the Banking Commerce and Insurance Committee and provides necessary help in review and drafting of committee bills.  He also coordinates communications with parties inquiring about committee issues and does research.  Tori Osborne is my LA and not only assists with constituent communications, but drafts bills I intend to introduce while doing research on all bills coming to the floor.  Her briefing books are incredible and provide me with important facts in each bill.  At one time she wrote floor speeches for me, but quickly learned that I do my own floor speeches by using her notes.  She is great!  Natalie Schunk is the committee clerk and runs the functions of the committee hearings and coordinates with Joshua and Tori to coordinate scheduling of bills to be heard in committee.  They then brief me before finalizing the schedule.  Finally, my AA is Kristina Konecko.  Kristina is involved in all aspects of the operation and is generally the one who answers your calls.  Kristina has been with me from the beginning and knows the district well.  They all work well as a team and do a great job keeping District 42 moving forward.  Their work this summer kept me on track as I went through my rehab.  They are great.

I get letters and emails from high school students asking a multitude of questions regarding serving as a state Senator.  One often asked question is why did you decide to run for the office?  The honest answer is it was not my intent to run, but ultimately, I felt compelled to run because it was a great way to protect the life, we all have built in District 42 and western Nebraska.  I soon found that I could make a difference in protecting that which was important to us and making certain that we don’t get left behind in receiving our share of state resources.

Senator Spivey introduced a legislative hearing LR240 which was designed to seek input on how we can coordinate economic development efforts that to reach all parts of Nebraska.  She represents a district in Northeast Omaha.  She and I have discussed many subjects this past year and look forward to working with the body next year to first lower our tax burden.  That is the best economic tool available. Letting people keep more of their money so they can decide how to spend it.  Given the current budget challenges, I believe any revenue increases will need to go to balance the budget.  Additionally, we must protect the Perkins County Canal funding at least until we get the Supreme court ruling.  Access to the water we have a right to is imperative to protect irrigators and water for the cooling pond at Sutherland.  We also must do all we can to help attract manufacturing and processing companies to locate at the new rail park.  With the Port of the Plains, we now can provide efficient rail service for manufactured or processed goods that need to be sent to the coast.  This combined with truck service down the interstate and air service can be an attraction to bringing companies here.  It can not only improve prices for locally grown grains and livestock products, but also provide producers with higher margins.  The increased tax base will also provide property tax relief.

It all begins with broadening our tax base and our employment base.  We already have the raw materials; we just need to add value.

Not all incentives need dollars, some may need reduced regulation and better access to water, electricity, air service, rail service, and the interstate.  We can provide most of those resources today.

It has been a pleasure serving as your State Senator, I have enjoyed the challenge and will continue to do my best to serve the interests of District 42.