Town Hall Meetings Being Planned

Legislative days 23 through 26 were particularly engaging for the District 16 office.  The second and third of the five bills I introduced were heard in committee.  LB1082 was heard in the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee.  Two emergency responder constituents from District 16 testified in support of the bill.  Steven Brune, who serves on West Point Rescue, and Micheal Dwyer, who is a member of the Nebraska State Volunteer Firefighters Association’s Legislative Committee and Captain of the Arlington Volunteer Fire Department Rescue Squad both provided important information and solid support.  No one testified against the bill or in a neutral capacity.  Please see the Weekly Update from last week for more details on LB1082.

The Judiciary Committee heard testimony February 13 on LB1093.  Currently, there is a cumbersome series of grants from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to the Administrative Office of the Courts and contracts from DHHS to individual juvenile conferencing programs.  Under LB1093 DHHS will transfer the funds directly to the Nebraska Supreme Court.  Ultimately this is a revenue neutral bill and has been agreed to by DHHS and the Supreme Court.  We are currently working with DHHS and the Supreme Court to make a minor amendment that makes it revenue neutral.  We are confident this will be completed within the next few days.  Representatives from the Administrative Office of the Courts, the Legislature’s Children Commission, Through the Eyes of the Child, and The Mediation Center in Lincoln, as well as Chief Justice Michael Heavican, testified on behalf of the bill.  There were no opponents and only two neutral testifiers, including the CEO of DHHS, Kerry Winterer.  Though Mr. Winterer has been working closely with us on this bill, he testified in the neutral because of the need for the minor amendment to the bill.

Last week the Revenue Committee heard its first two 2014 ag property tax reduction bills this year with LBs 670 and 813.  In 2013 I introduced LB145, which offers an immediate 10 percent reduction.  I introduced it  by request of the Farm Bureau.  LB145 is basically the same in structure as the Ag Land Valuation reduction bill introduced by the late Senator Bob Kremer.  Senators Deb Fischer and Lavon Heidemann subsequently introduced similar legislation during their legislative terms.  All three were respected Nebraska Senators, and one is now a U.S. Senator and the other Lieutenant Governor.  LB145 is still being held in committee; therefore I recently designated it as my priority bill in an effort to move it forward.  Constituents continue to ask about tax relief especially following the statewide Tax Modernization Task Force meetings.  Ag land value reduction has been requested more than other tax relief concerns.  Naturally, further legislation will be considered to address funding concerns from counties, municipalities, and schools.  Nebraska’s cash reserve remains sound, with $1.2 billion in state checking and savings accounts, which shows

Senator Lydia Brasch

Nebraskans continue to be fiscally conservative.  Five hundred million dollars of tax relief is available for the next three years, so we should return more dollars to our citizens’ pockets instead of keeping it in state accounts.

We are in the process of planning town hall meetings around the district. We welcome questions or comments on bills before us this session.  Please contact me, my administrative aide, Katie Wattermann, or my legislative aide, Joe Neuhaus, with questions or thoughts at (402) 471-2728 or by email at lbrasch@leg.ne.gov.  If you are in Lincoln, please stop by Room 1016.  We have enjoyed seeing everyone who has already stopped in and look forward to more visitors!

Keeping the Good Life growing in Nebraska,

Senator Lydia Brasch, District 16