Good morning, Nebraska! This past week marked the first full week of the legislative session. As always, the beginning of the session is spent on introducing new bills. Senators are able to introduce legislation during the first 10 days of the session only. This year, I introduced most of my bills on the first day, though I did drop three more bills this week and will introduce one more next week.

LB265 is a bill that will change provisions of the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Act. As of now, a city that does not take part in this program is required to write a letter to the Nebraska Legislature, stating that they are not using the program. My bill simply removes that step as it’s a waste of time for the city administrators and senators to create and receive such a letter. This bill does not change any other part of the PACE program.

LB476  will use Nebraska’s existing stroke system of care task force as a foundation to establish and implement an improvement plan for a more comprehensive stroke system for stroke response and treatment and also maintain a statewide stroke data registry using the ‘Get with the Guidelines’ stroke data set provided by the American Heart Association.

LB478 changes how pension and retirement benefits are offered to firefighters in first-class cities. This is a change that has been needed for years but hasn’t been able to be accomplished yet. It’s an uphill battle but a fight I’m willing to have for these men and women who should have peace of mind when they end a career protecting others.

Next week, I’ll be introducing another compact bill, this time that covers licensed counselors. We’d be the first in the country to adopt the compact if the bill passed, and it offers the same kinds of benefits and removes the same hurdles that my other compact bills do.

In addition to the bills I introduced myself, I’ve also cosponsored additional legislation. That includes LB290 from Senator Machaela Cavanaugh that would adopt the Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Act, and LB261 from Senator Linehan that makes adjustments to how military grave markers are distributed.  Currently in order to get this special grave marker, the deceased has to have served as an active-duty soldier during a time of war. I support Senator Linehan’s bill because it would take away the requirement to serve during a war, as well as include reserves and the National Guard, as long as they served in the guard after 1973. As we know, our National Guard is often Nebraska’s first defense in times of floods, fires, riots and more. They often put their lives on the line on our behalf right here at home.

For a full list and additional information about all the bills I’ve introduced and cosponsored, you can click the link here.

Governor’s State of the State
On Thursday, Governor Ricketts came to the legislature to deliver his annual State of the State Address. The governor talked about several different topics, including the way this state has dealt with the pandemic and I agree with him that when it comes to doing what has to be done, the state has been mostly united in fighting the virus and trying to flatten the curve.

He and I agree that the fight isn’t over, even with vaccines starting to get distributed. Please don’t relax yet. Make sure you’re protecting others and we’ll get through this together.

Legislatively, the governor, Senator Sanders and I are teaming up on a bill that attempts to help military spouses who were teachers in other states and move here, obtain their license more quickly. This bill is similar to measures I’d already worked out with the Department of Education a few years ago, but it puts the measure into state statute rather than an agency rule and goes just a little further in cutting more red tape in this area.

Hearing Schedule Update
On Friday morning, Speaker Hilgers announced there is going to be a change to the way the Legislature carries out its committee hearings. Normally, at the beginning of the session, the day is usually split between floor debate in the morning and hearings in the afternoon.

This year. starting the week of January 25, committee hearings will start in the morning and run all day. The speaker is still working on the policies on how these hearings will be carried out and how testifying will work, in regards to making sure everyone has their voice heard while still being careful about keeping everyone as safe as possible in regards to COVID-19. He has promised to provide more details next week and in turn, I will share those details with you.

If you believe you’re interested in testifying or sending a letter in support or opposition to a bill this year, make sure to keep an eye on this as when hearings start and end may not be the only procedure that changes this year.

Law Enforcement Appreciation Day
Sunday, January 9th was Law Enforcement Appreciation day and night and I just wanted to take a moment to once again express my gratitude and appreciation for the men and women who put their lives on the line all over the country in order to protect us. After the events of the last few weeks, it seems especially important to point out the great service they provide.

I’m also privileged to represent District 3 and Sarpy County. It truly has the most well-trained & collaborative officers around, who continue to keep us safe. They are absolutely the best of the best.

Bellevue Food Pantry Hours Expanded
As we enter the new year, the Bellevue Food Pantry has expanded the hours in which it will distribute food. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, food distribution will take place from 9 am to noon and then from 1 pm to 4 pm. On Wednesdays, distribution will be the same in the morning but will last until 7 pm.

The expanded hours include distribution from 9 am to noon on the first and third Saturdays of the month. As this Saturday is indeed the third Saturday of the month, they will begin those expanded hours.

In order to receive a food pantry, all you need to do is prove you’re a resident of Bellevue with a current ID and proof of address