Nebraska
Summer EBT in Nebraska rolled out after governor’s controversial denial
Millions Of Families Struggled With Food Payments Last Year
Putting food on the table was a struggle for families across the US last year, with reports showing ‘food insecurity’ up by 45% since 2021.
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LINCOLN – Sherry Brooks-Nelson has been very busy in her kitchen preparing chili, spaghetti and meatballs with bell peppers, and even fresh cornbread. The 66-year-old retiree most recently worked as a middle school cafeteria worker, and as the sole provider for her two teenage granddaughters, she doesn’t always have the resources to cook these big meals.
Nebraska’s Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer program, a federal initiative to feed hungry kids during the long summer months, helped Brooks-Nelson and thousands of families that would’ve otherwise gone hungry.
Over the summer, the extra $40 per month per child for three months helped families across the state buy fresh produce they don’t usually have in their grocery budget, such as cabbage, spinach, cauliflower, broccoli, apples and bananas.
“We’re able to get some things that we’re not used to eating because we just don’t have the money,” Brooks-Nelson said. “It’s a lot of money for me because I know how to stretch it. We love spinach and cabbage around here.”
But families like Brooks-Nelson’s in Nebraska almost didn’t get summer EBT benefits.
Last December, Nebraska was under the national spotlight when Gov. Jim Pillen rejected $18 million in grocery-buying federal funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help feed low-income Nebraskans, telling the media he didn’t “believe in welfare.” But in February, Pillen changed course after young Nebraskans and state lawmakers from both political parties convinced him to opt into the program.
Pillen’s initial reasoning for not opting into summer EBT was his argument that Nebraska’s Summer Food Service Program, which created a system of sites where children could access free meals, was adequate enough and helped provide important touch points for check-ins with families.
But advocates and lawmakers said it wasn’t enough, including Republican state Sen. Ray Aguilar, who prioritized a bill urging the state to opt into summer EBT. He had heard from former and current school administrators in Grand Island, a city in his district just west of Lincoln, that the area had the highest rate of students eligible for free and reduced lunches in the state.
“They were well aware that in the summertime, without cafeteria service, there’s kids going hungry,” Aguilar told USA TODAY. “That was an important reason, as far as I was concerned. Hearing from them, and coupled with the fact that I don’t want to see any kids go hungry, I thought it was kind of a no-brainer for me to jump on that.”
But more than a dozen states — all with Republican governors — refused the federal funds, including Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming, according to the USDA.
According to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, the state distributed about $28 million in summer EBT funding to over 76,000 households.
“Under Governor Pillen’s direction, DHHS successfully developed the “Nebraska way” of implementing the S-EBT program while also identifying additional needs of children and their families through multiple touchpoints,” the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Service said in a statement to USA TODAY.
Eric Savaiano, a program manager at Nebraska Appleseed, a non-profit that advocates for underserved communities, said they heard from families who were “excited” about receiving EBT cards. He noted that while summer meal sites help families while school is out, they aren’t as accessible in the state’s rural areas, and summer EBT helped fill those gaps.
“We’re a very rural state, and it’s hard to go to those summer food service program sites,” Savaiano said. “Although there’s some new options that make it a little bit easier and spreads a bit more of the meals around, this is a program that reaches a ton more kids and can be a real lifeline.”
‘It’s just one thread’
While Nebraska rolled out summer EBT, across the state’s eastern border in the neighboring state of Iowa, Gov. Kim Reynolds chose not to have the state participate in the program this year, arguing that it was unsustainable and didn’t adequately address the state’s high childhood obesity rates.
“An EBT card does nothing to promote nutrition at a time when childhood obesity has become an epidemic,” Reynolds said in a December press release.
Luke Elzinga, chair of the Iowa Hunger Coalition, saw the negative impacts of the decision, with more children using food pantries this summer compared to past years when pandemic benefits were going out.
“In Iowa, we had 245,000 kids who would have qualified for this. It was $29 million in benefits could have gone out, and that certainly would have had an impact,” Elzinga said.
Alicia Christensen, the director of advocacy and policy for Together Omaha, an organization focused on combating homelessness and hunger, said there was a difference in traffic between their food pantry in Omaha, Neb., and their Council Bluffs location right across the border in Iowa.
Christensen noted that although the differences in food pantry usage can’t be attributed to one program, it didn’t hurt to have summer EBT in Nebraska, saying it worked in combination with other food and nutrition programs to help strengthen both food and nutrition security.
“It’s just one thread in different things that make up the whole cloth of that supportive system,” Christensen said. “The school lunch and breakfast program is a component, along with SNAP and WIC. And then summer EBT is just another. The more threads you have woven in there, the stronger it’s going to be, and when you take one of those out, it shifts all those resources downstream.”
Nebraska State Patrol
Today, members of the Nebraska Legislature voted to confirm the appointment of Colonel Bryan D. Waugh as Superintendent of Law Enforcement and Public Safety for the state of Nebraska.
Colonel Waugh was appointed by Governor Jim Pillen to serve as the 19th Superintendent of the Nebraska State Patrol. He will begin his service with NSP on June 2, 2025.
“I’d like thank the members of the Nebraska Legislature for their confirmation vote today,” said Colonel Waugh. “I believe that the future is bright for the Nebraska State Patrol and I’m eager to join this talented team of men and women serving our state. Together, we will serve with integrity, dedication, and a shared mission to keep Nebraska safe.”
Colonel Waugh has most recently served as Chief of the Kearney Police Department. He has 32 years of experience in law enforcement, including service within Kearney PD, La Vista PD, and the United States Air Force.
LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – A mix-up in the Nebraska governor’s office has likely cost Gov. Jim Pillen his veto power for the state’s biennium budget.
Gov. Pillen signed LB 261 and LB 264 with line-item vetoes on Wednesday. They made it to his desk on May 15. He made multiple modifications to the 2025-2027 biennial budget, which included:
- Reducing the Supreme Court’s budget increase to mirror the rate of increase provided to the University of Nebraska
- Using existing agency funds to cover Fire Marshal salary and health insurance premium increases
- Reducing the additional appropriation provided to public health departments, thereby, bringing funding back to a pre-pandemic level
- Cutting an $18 million cash fund reappropriation for recreational upgrades at Lake McConaughy
Gov. Pillen’s office was supposed to deliver the line item vetoes to the Clerk of the Legislature by midnight Thursday. However, 10/11 learned that the vetoes got there after 9 a.m. this morning.
Per State Statute lV-15, the Governor has five days – excluding Sundays – to get his vetoes to the Clerk’s office after a bill is passed, or it becomes law.
Communications Director for Gov. Pillen’s office, Laura Strimple, said the bills were properly signed into law and given to the Secretary of State on May 21.
“As has been past practice, copies of the actions and the bill were made and delivered and received by the Clerk’s Office on the evening of the 21st,” Strimple said. “The timely transmittal of line-item veto items to the Legislature and the Secretary of State’s office yesterday was not only consistent with past procedural practice for such actions, but also with the express and specific logistical requests of those offices.”
She said that through the process, Gov. Pillen “took the legally required steps to exercise his veto authority by surrendering physical possession and the power to approve or reject the bills.”
The governor’s office will consult with the Attorney General’s Office and other council on next steps.
It’s unclear where the Nebraska Legislature goes from here, but per state constitution, LB 261 and LB 264 without the vetoes are now law.
Read the budget veto letter below.
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LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) – A day after Nebraska lawmakers rejected a bill to regulate medical marijuana, many are wondering what happens next.
It was State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair, a Republican, who sponsored the regulation bill, LB677, which his colleagues rejected on Tuesday.
The fate of medical marijuana is in question, especially since Governor Jim Pillen appointed two people to a commission to regulate it who have repeatedly shared their opposition to even the idea of the drug.
Lorelle Mueting and Monica Oldenburg are Pillen’s appointees. This year, Mueting testified in opposition to Hansen’s regulation bill, saying his bill was not restrictive enough.
Two years ago, she testified in front of senators saying in part: “I’m here on behalf of myself today. And I just want to offer you a perspective from a Nebraska citizen who is not in favor of medical marijuana.”
In 2021, Pillen’s second appointee, Monica Oldenberg, testified before senators about medical marijuana.
“The cost to society is tremendous,” said Oldenberg. “Are we willing to sacrifice our teens? Will we put profits over people? I hope Nebraska can resist this detrimental influence and continue to be the good- sober-life.”
Given these stances, Hansen worries access to medical marijuana for those who need it is in jeopardy.
“My biggest concern is restricting it too much,” said Hansen.
He believes the people may rise up again and vote for something else if the cannabis commission takes restrictions too far.
“If you leave them no choice, I can only assume that they’re going to run a recreational cannabis petition and possibly be successful,” said Hansen.
Opponents yesterday said they believe Hansen’s regulation bill would lead to recreational marijuana.
“If we’re about honoring the people as passed in the ballot box, we should be focused only on completing the task they gave us, confirming the appointees to the medical cannabis commission,” said State Sen. Jared Storm of David City.
Hansen said the commission cannot impose taxes like the legislature can.
“I’m assuming the people of Nebraska are not going to be happy we cannot tax this anymore like we did in my bill,” said Hansen. “That money would’ve gone towards the property tax credit relief fund,” said Hansen.
Hansen’s bill outlined 15 medical conditions along with the legal forms to take the drug. Now, those are the finer points the commission will need to create and do so by early July.
“In my opinion is if the medical cannabis commission restricts this too much, I would not be surprised to see my bill prioritized and up early in January for debate again,” said Hansen.
The hearings for the two appointees are set for Thursday at 2 p.m.
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