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Local View: Nebraskans need to know

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Local View: Nebraskans need to know


State Sen. Bruce Bostelman, chair of the Pure Sources Committee, launched Legislative Decision 355 on March 23. The aim of this interim research was to look at and evaluation Chapter 70 of the Nebraska statutes regarding energy districts and firms.

Particularly, the evaluation would cowl statutes regarding electrical technology and transmission, governing the approval and decommissioning of electrical technology amenities, governing the Nebraska Energy Evaluation Board and adherence by public energy suppliers to the legal guidelines and insurance policies of the state.

The scope of this decision was extraordinarily broad with few particulars in its wording to tell the general public about its intent. The session concluded seven months in the past and there has nonetheless been no posted details about a public listening to on the decision and, once more, few leads concerning the course the committee might have taken.

Persons are additionally studying…

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Public energy impacts each family within the state of Nebraska. Due to this fact each ratepayer has an curiosity on this interim research and what Sen. Bostelman meant when he launched LR355.

Sadly, the Pure Sources Committee appears to have proposed an interim research to be carried out throughout the confines of the committee solely, however any invoice has ramifications for your complete state. That is poor public coverage and never the best way the Legislature has operated previously.

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Public energy has served the individuals of Nebraska nicely for a few years. We take pleasure in electrical service that’s low-cost, dependable and the envy of different states.

Publicly elected boards that govern our energy districts have chosen to determine objectives to maneuver from reliance on fossil fuels to renewable sources. It is very important assist them in opposition to legislative efforts to halt this progress.

Moreover, involved Nebraskans opposed LB1046, laws that was launched by Bostelman to drastically change the make-up of boards of administrators of public energy districts. LB1046 would cut back the peoples’ energy to elect their consultant administrators and hand it to the governor to nominate administrators. Thankfully, LB1046 didn’t advance after it was heard.

Apparently, the Pure Sources Committee has chosen to conduct the LR355 research with out a public listening to because the 12 months involves a detailed. Out of date language is usually repealed in different legislative resolutions with out fanfare or controversy, a needed software to adapt language to present conditions.

Nevertheless, if important modifications have been proposed, these have to be revealed in a well timed method in order that the “second home” — the general public which so many senators cite recurrently — can be knowledgeable. Please don’t preserve Nebraskans in the dead of night.

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Sherry Miller represents the League of Ladies Voters of Nebraska. Additionally signing on to this column had been Al Davis of the Sierra Membership of Nebraska and Jennifer Glazer of the Residents Local weather Foyer.



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Nebraska Countdown to kickoff – No. 76 Jason Maciejczak

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Nebraska Countdown to kickoff – No. 76 Jason Maciejczak


The countdown continues to roll and only 76 days remain until the beginng of the Nebraska Cornhuskers’ 2024 season on August 31 agaisnt the UTEP Miners.

Today’s countdown player spotlight is now on Cornhuskers offensive lineman Jason Maciejczak, a redshirt freshman out of Pierre, South Dakota.

A former standout out at T.F. Riggs High School in Pierre, South Dakota, Maciejczak originally enrolled in Lincoln as a defensive lineman but did make the eventual move to the offensive line. He committed to the Gophers over scholarship offers from Kent State, North Dakota State, South Dakota, and South Dakota State.

As a true freshman, Maciejczak redshirted, not appearing in any games. In 2024, the South Dakota native will likely play a depth role though seeing the field for an unextended period of time is unlikely.

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Nebraska Gov. Pillen taking ‘potshots’ at state senators while seeking tax relief support

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Nebraska Gov. Pillen taking ‘potshots’ at state senators while seeking tax relief support


NEBRASKA CITY, Neb. (Nebraska Examiner) – As Gov. Jim Pillen seeks to rally Nebraskans behind his property tax relief ideas, tensions are heating up, with rhetoric one senator described as “potshots” at state senators.

Pillen has hosted a dozen town halls across the state, with the latest being held Friday in Auburn and Nebraska City, which are represented by State Sen. Julie Slama of Dunbar. Pillen has made clear the purpose of the town halls is to encourage constituents to motivate their state senator to support a special session focusing on property tax relief.

Slama was a key voice during the regular 2024 legislative session in defeating the last proposal, criticizing it as unconstitutional because it included a digital advertising tax and because, she said, it would have raised taxes on her constituents.

Pillen directly criticized Slama during his town halls Friday.

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“She’s got to change her ideology and understand balancing a checkbook and what it takes,” Pillen said of the southeast Nebraska senator.

‘Stop trying to raise taxes’

Slama did not attend the gathering. She said in a text that she was home sick with her child. She responded to Pillen’s comment about her ideology by saying,  “Stop trying to raise taxes. That part of my ideology will never change.”

She continued, “The governor can talk a big talk, but he still hasn’t had the courage to call and talk with me this interim. … My mom’s a retired bank teller — I learned how to balance a checkbook when I was 5.”

Pillen wants lawmakers to sign off on another $1 billion in property tax relief by year’s end and has threatened to call special sessions “til Christmas” if needed to do so.

A formal plan has not materialized yet. Instead, Pillen has pitched various ideas that he said are “concrete,” such as eliminating some of the state’s 120 sales tax exemptions and accepting more federal dollars.

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Pillen needs 33 votes for his ideas to succeed in a special session, but he has stated he will call a special session regardless of how much support he has leading into one.

In successive town halls over the last several weeks, the governor has moved away from removing certain state sales tax exemptions, such as those on items that are also taxed as personal property after purchase. As of Friday, Pillen spoke of taking three other tax exemptions off the table: groceries, medicine and church transactions.

The carveouts determine which products or services are or aren’t taxed, with taxpayers retaining an estimated $6.5 billion in what could be collected in sales tax revenue each year. Once approved, it’s often difficult to take such tax exemptions away.

Pillen previously said “everybody’s got to play in the game” when it comes to sales taxes.

‘The courage to call’

The governor has encouraged residents to pick up the phone and press their state senator to support PIllen. Yet, according to Slama, he has not picked up the phone to return her calls seeking to help solve the issue of high taxes.

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Pillen has told those attending his town halls that they should call the other 48 state senators if their representative was not interested in supporting his proposals. He has said that if constituents don’t actively support him, they shouldn’t complain about state taxes in the future.

“If you don’t want to call, then don’t (expletive deleted) to me next year about it. If you don’t want to help, (expletive deleted), I can’t do it all myself. I need everybody’s help. … I’m working day and night,” Pillen said at a town hall in Fremont.

“We have to come to a consensus to fix it,” he continued.

State Sen. Carol Blood of Bellevue, Pillen’s former Democratic opponent for governor, is another senator who has not heard from him. She said Friday that he “sounds like a child that is not getting his way.”

“Perhaps if he would quit being so exclusive on who he actually communicates with, he might have a lot of really good ideas for us to go into a special session with,” Blood said. “It’s really inappropriate to talk about my peers and the residents of Nebraska in that fashion.”

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Slama said she takes her orders from her constituents, not from the governor, and said the separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches is pretty clear.

“Governor Pillen ought to spend more time working towards a fiscally conservative compromise and less time taking potshots at Republican senators he can’t even muster the courage to call,” Slama said.

EPIC tax opposition

A competing tax proposal is being promoted through a petition drive, which has a July 3 signature deadline to appear on the general election ballot. The “EPIC Option” would eliminate all property, income and corporate taxes and replace them with consumption, or excise, taxes.

Pillen said he appreciates that the EPIC Option would remove sales tax exemptions except for those on groceries, but if it gets on the ballot, he said, he would work “day and night” to defeat it. He said Friday he hasn’t given the petition drive much thought or decided how he would work to defeat it.

State Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard said Friday that for nearly six decades, the Legislature has tried and failed to fix the state’s tax system, which he calls broken. He’s a lead sponsor behind EPIC and described anyone who opposes it as being in favor of the tax collector and against taxpayers.

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“The governor speaks about reformative tax reform. EPIC is a reformative solution,” Erdman said in a text. “Nothing the governor has offered is reformative. I’m not surprised by his opposition.”

Erdman said Pillen has already failed to pass a “so-called tax relief plan” this year and that losing again, in the same year, would be “unprecedented.”

“He will need 33 votes for his plan, or stay on the porch,” Erdman said. “Thirty-three will be very difficult to get.”

Next town halls scheduled

Gov. Jim Pillen’s office has scheduled five property tax town halls for this week:

Tuesday, June 18:

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8 a.m. at Fire Hall, 201 W. 16th St., South Sioux City.10:30 a.m. at Wayne Country Club, 302 E. 21st St., Wayne.1 p.m. at Handlebend, 215 E. Douglas St., O’Neill.3:30 p.m. at Ainsworth City Office, 606 E. Fourth St., Ainsworth.

Friday, June 21, 2:30 p.m., Lochland Country Club, 601 W. Lochland Road, Hastings.

Nebraska Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Cate Folsom for questions: info@nebraskaexaminer.com. Follow Nebraska Examiner on Facebook and X.

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Lingering storms possible into late Saturday night; Hot & humid into Father’s Day Sunday

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Lingering storms possible into late Saturday night; Hot & humid into Father’s Day Sunday


LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – The threat for severe weather has waned for eastern Nebraska into Saturday evening – though some lingering storms will be possible across the far eastern parts of the state through late Saturday into the overnight hours on Sunday morning. Otherwise, our attention turns to a hot and humid forecast into Father’s Day on Sunday. Look for a stationary boundary to keep temperatures cooler across northern and western parts of the state, while eastern and southern Nebraska will see temperatures into the lower and middle 90s by Sunday afternoon.

Cooler conditions are expected for northern and western Nebraska while central, eastern and southern locations rise into the 90s.(KOLN)

Heat index values are expected to rise to right around 100 degrees south of I-80 and into eastern Nebraska. Dew points will rise well into the 60s and maybe even the low 70s making it feel muggy and uncomfortable.

Feel like temperatures are expected to be quite toasty Sunday afternoon!
Feel like temperatures are expected to be quite toasty Sunday afternoon!(KOLN)

There is an additional severe weather risk on Sunday with the marginal risk expanding greatly compared to yesterday. Severe thunderstorms are most likely from the Nebraska – South Dakota border and points north. Large hail is the main concern though gusty winds are possible. Timing would be expected in the late afternoon and evening hours.

A few thunderstorms could turn severe across much of the state late in the afternoon and into...
A few thunderstorms could turn severe across much of the state late in the afternoon and into the evening hours. The best chances for severe weather will remain far to the north.(KOLN)

Another hot day is expected Monday before widespread cooling moves across the state on Tuesday. Temperatures will then struggle to hit the 70 and 80 degree mark on Wednesday bringing our recent hot stretch to a halt. It should be mainly dry on Monday before widespread showers and storms arrive Tuesday and Wednesday.

Hot weather continues for a few more days before cool air arrives on Wednesday. Isolated to...
Hot weather continues for a few more days before cool air arrives on Wednesday. Isolated to scattered storms remain possible throughout the 7-Day as well.(KOLN)

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