Opinion

Term limits claim thirteen Nebraska state senators while two are leaving for other reasons. That’ll mean fifteen new faces in the nation’s only one-house nonpartisan legislature come January.

What a week! As a rule of thumb, I cringe when I see a writer use an exclamation point or when a stray one gets published in one of my newspapers, but I think after the week that the people of Nebraska, particularly those in places like Howard, Douglas, Lancaster, and Washington counties, have had, an exclamation point is a fitting piece of punctuation. In the wake of some grizzly tornadic storms, there was a lot of loss last week, both locally and around the state.

No matter who you are, I think everyone, at one time or another, has had the type of day where nothing seems to go your way. Let’s just hope that, when that day occurs, it doesn’t align with a major life milestone.

In 2021, the last special session of the Nebraska Legislature lasted thirteen days and cost the state $105,436. Do the math, that’s $8,076.92 per day.

“I believe I have the votes.” Those six words have become the curse of the Nebraska Legislature. The buzzkill.

Next week, I am going to be taking some time away from work to spend the weekend sharpening my skills, but even before I dust off my pen, notepad, and portfolio, I have been assigned some homework. And, like in middle school, I am already stumped by the assignment.

Epic Option There is no way a 7.5% Consumption Tax on new purchases only will fund current local school, city and county needs. There is no guarantee our local taxes paid will stay local.

It’s easy to understand but hard to remember that the one task of the Nebraska Legislature is to pass a balanced budget during the ninety-day session and to make adjustments to and pass that budget again in the sixty-day session.

Over the Easter weekend I found myself somewhat forced to go through a series of boxes that I had packed away after moving years ago. I would like to say that what I had packed away were treasures that I had wanted to keep forever.

“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all.” – Thumper “The tongue of the wise makes knowledge attractive, but the mouth of fools blurts out foolishness.” Proverbs 15:2 CSB Nebraska’s unique one-house Legislature is back in the national spotlight again, for all the wrong reasons again. Last year, it was a session-slowing filibuster accomplished by a couple senators who were upset with a bill restricting access to medical services for transgender youth.