Hello Neighbor,

We are over a third of the way through the session and it seems like the time has flown by.

I presented LR 13 before the Agriculture Committee. This resolution would urge the respective federal agencies to enforce their standards for labeling milk and dairy products. Earlier this year dairy supporters and farmers from across the country submitted roughly 13,000 comments to the FDA urging them to reserve the use of the terms milk, yogurt, butter, ice cream, and cheese for products derived from real dairy origination when they are labeling products. Dairy farmers have been taken advantage of by non-dairy products using the term “milk.” As a former dairy farmer, I was proud to bring this resolution, and it received a good reception during the hearing.

There were many of you that came to the capitol last week to watch the vote of Senator Brewer’s LB 155. LB 155 would remove a sentence in statute dealing with eminent domain. We had a spirited debate on LB 155. Senator Brewer fought hard for property owners’ rights, but unfortunately fell two votes short. Many of you reached out with your concerns and I really appreciate that. I was a supporter of the bill that day and plan to support it again when Senator Brewer brings the bill back next session.

The Appropriations Committee released their preliminary budget. It was similar to the Governor’s budget proposal in many aspects, and I look forward to seeing the committee’s final proposal. The Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board threw a wrench into the budget when they announced that it was lowering its prediction of tax revenue by $110 million through the budget period. This means we have to find that $110 million somewhere else in the budget. The Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board still has one meeting left in late April, and those projections will be the ones we use when debating the budget.

I have worked with Farm Bureau to set up three town halls planned through the district over the month of March. The first is on March 9th at the Sutton Bakery in Sutton at 9:00am. On March 16th, I will be at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Hildreth at 9:00am. Finally, I will be in Blue Hill at City Hall on the March 30th at 10:00am. I look forward to seeing those that come and am working to plan other events throughout the district. As always, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact my office.