Legislature News

Senators Eye Loan Forgiveness Program for Teacher Shortages

Published by Nikki Palmer on Mon, 02/07/2022 - 12:00am

Nebraska school leaders asked state lawmakers last week to create a student-loan forgiveness program to help nudge more people into the profession, which has suffered major losses during the pandemic.

$450 Million Plan Unprecedented Opportunity to Help Revitalize North Omaha

Published by Nikki Palmer on Mon, 02/07/2022 - 12:00am

Osie Combs Jr. is ready and willing. The chief executive of Pacific Engineering envisions his company expanding on a swath of land near Eppley Airfield that’s eyed for business development under the North Omaha 2022 Recovery Plan.

State Senators Want to Create a New State Housing Agency

Published by Nikki Palmer on Fri, 02/04/2022 - 5:00am

House prices on the Nebraska homefront have jumped: The average sale price across the Omaha and Lincoln areas went up more than 11% in the last year and about 25% since 2018.

Looking farther back, over a decade, the Great Plains Regional MLS shows also that the average Omaha-area sale price of new and existing houses rose a whopping 80% — to about $293,000.

Convention of States Push Hits Halfway Mark With Nebraska

Published by Nikki Palmer on Thu, 02/03/2022 - 12:00am

Nebraska is the 17th state to call for a convention of states to consider making changes to the U.S. Constitution, putting supporters halfway to their goal of getting the 34 states needed to trigger a convention.

Nebraska lawmakers gave the measure final approval with a 32-10 vote last Friday — just three days after Wisconsin passed a similar proposal.

Prosecutors, Law Enforcement Oppose Sentencing Reforms

Published by Nikki Palmer on Wed, 02/02/2022 - 5:00am

Just as they did in 2015, prosecutors and law enforcement officials are criticizing criminal sentencing reforms recommended to reduce Nebraska’s nation-leading prison overcrowding as going too far.

Tax Cut Proposals Get Mixed Reception in Committee

Published by Nikki Palmer on Tue, 02/01/2022 - 8:18am

The number of virus hospitalizations in exceeds the level that was supposed to trigger new restrictions from the state, but Gov. Pete Ricketts said those aren’t needed now because hospitals are already limiting surgeries to preserve capacity.

Craft Brewers Seek Ability to Distribute Their Own Beer

Published by Nikki Palmer on Tue, 02/01/2022 - 8:06am
First Street Brewing in Hastings has become a community gathering spot since it opened in 2016. (Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner)

Right next door to Nathan Hoeft’s First Street Brewery is a restaurant that sells his golden brews on tap.

But under Nebraska’s decades-old liquor laws, he can’t just haul kegs over to the eatery. They must be picked up by a beer distributor, located 25 miles away, who must dispatch a truck to Hastings and then make the delivery.

Committee Weighs Tighter Window for Early Voting

Published by Nikki Palmer on Mon, 01/31/2022 - 12:00am

A bill that would shorten the time window for early and mail-in voting in Nebraska and bar special interest groups from gathering large numbers of voter ballots hit a wall of resistance last week in a legislative committee.

Nursing Homes, Care Centers: More Pay Needed For Staff

Published by Nikki Palmer on Fri, 01/28/2022 - 1:00am

Words like “crisis,” “dire” and “desperate” were used to describe the shortage of workers in the state’s nursing homes, as well as in programs serving the developmentally disabled.

Senators Advance Social Security Tax Cuts

Published by Nikki Palmer on Fri, 01/28/2022 - 12:00am

A proposal to speed up the implementation of a tax cut for Social Security recipients cleared a key hurdle in the Legislature.

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