Senator Tom Brewer
43rd District
6-14-2019

In a recent weekly update, I explained some of the things I managed to get passed into law this past session. This week, I want to talk about some of the things I helped stop from becoming law. Things a senator opposes are just as important as the things they support. This shows the people whether the senator’s values and core beliefs align with the majority of the district. I have watched this legislature change people. They say one thing to get elected, and then end up doing another once they are here. It is as common as it is despicable, so I want people to know that I am the same person they elected.

I helped oppose a bill that would have taken Second Amendment rights away from Nebraskans based on hearsay accusations and without due process of law. I was strongly against two bills that would have made it a crime of child abuse to provide Christian counseling to a child relating to same-sex attraction. I helped stop a bill that would have redefined the terms of traditional marriage in Nebraska law.

I opposed a bill that would have raised the minimum wage for tipped workers. Many believe they are helping poor people by doing this. They ignore the fact that every single time government raises the minimum wage, the very same people they intend to help are the ones that are hurt. Every single time the minimum wage goes up, increases always follow in the unemployment rate for young and inexperienced workers just trying to enter the workforce.

I opposed the ImagiNE Nebraska Act. It was a $150M per year package of business tax incentives meant to replace the Nebraska Advantage Act which will expire next year. This bill is right about one thing: it is about “imagining.” It allows government to pick winners and losers and imagine that Nebraska isn’t a state with shockingly high taxation. I’m all for reducing EVERYONE’s taxes, but there was just no way I could vote for this, especially when it jumped the line and was placed ahead of property tax relief on the legislative agenda. I will not put anything before property tax relief, and neither should my colleagues.

We filibustered and stopped the medical marijuana bill this session. The experience of many other states has clearly demonstrated that the commercialization and retail sale of marijuana and related products has a long list of bad effects on society.

I expect that many of these bad proposals will be back next year. I will be ready to stand up for the values of the 43rd Legislative District the voters hired me to fight for.

Please contact my office with any comments, questions or concerns. Email me at tbrewer@leg.ne.gov, mail a letter to Sen. Tom Brewer, Room #1423, P.O. Box 94604, Lincoln, NE 68509, or call us at (402) 471-2628.