Gov. Jim Pillen speaks at the Legislative Kick Off event in Grand Island. (Carol Bryant, Central Nebraska Today)
GRAND ISLAND — The Grand Island Chamber of Commerce hosted its Legislative Kick Off Wednesday morning at the First National Bank of Omaha’s community room.
Gov. Jim Pillen, three state senators, and a legislative aide spoke at the event.
The three state senators who spoke were State Sen. Loren Lippincott of Central City, State Sen. John Lowe of Kearney, and State Sen. Fred Meyer of St. Paul. Amanda Johnson, a legislative aide for State Sen. Ray Aguilar of Grand Island, spoke on his behalf because he is recovering from surgery.
“It’s really important to partner with people in the Legislature,” Pillen said. He wants to see a three percent decrease in state spending this year and a six percent decrease in state spending in the following year.
Concerning taxes, Pillen said, “We all have to be more fiscally conservative. People in city and county government need to be more fiscally conservative.”
Pillen said that the issue of property taxes is gigantic.
“My goal is to defend agriculture,” Pillen said. “We have to grow agriculture and then sell it all over the world.”
Pillen noted that the second ethanol plant built in the country was built in Columbus.
“Our Ogallala aquifer is our pot of gold,” Pillen said.
“We have to figure out early childhood education,” Pillen said. Nebraska has the nation’s 6th highest birth rate.
He also said that we “need to figure out how Nebraska businesses can attract people from all over the world. Businesses are why you are here.”
Pillen said that he is 100 percent positive and that “I can work harder than anybody.”
The governor said the state will have to find a “bold courageous property tax plan.”
Pillen said the state’s residents need to be thankful for their public safety officers.
“When you see a police officer, you should say thanks for your service,” he said.
Child care is an important issue.
“We need to put child care in our businesses. Parents will need to take care of their kids and other kids,” he said. Overall, “We have to fix our property tax issues.”
State Sen. Loren Lippincott of Central City said “we need to play by the rules in conducting the Legislature. This past year, we had a lot of filibusters going on.” He said it is important in the Legislature to stay on topic and to “call our colleagues out on delay tactics.” State senators need to “police themselves.”
Lippincott noted he had worked with LB 610 concerning career and technical education. It provided money for high schools for their FFA and FBLA programs.
He noted 2024 will be a 60-day session. There will be one priority bill per senator.
His priority bill in 2024 will be LB 600. It will provide for infrastructure such as electricity and sewer for cities to “build out.”
State Sen. John Lowe of Kearney was the next speaker. He said this will be his 8th and final year in the Legislature because of term limits. He said he was part of the Legislative Council that just finished meeting.
One hot spot is that the inspector general’s office is shut down.
Lowe said that state senators would spend the first 10 days talking about rules.
“Let’s act the way we should,” he said.
State Sen. Fred Meyer of St. Paul, who represents District 41, talked about the scholarship opportunity act. He said there will be an effort to overturn that. Meyer noted the act “gives parents choices in how they want to educate their kids. To be the best we can possibly be, let’s give parents choices.”
Meyer noted he served 12 years on the State Board of Education.
“There’s one way to educate kids. That’s through hard work. Let’s support the scholarship spending act,” he said.
There will be discussion to increase term limits from two terms to three terms for state senators.
Legislative aide Amanda Johnson spoke on behalf of State Sen. Ray Aguilar of Grand Island, who represents District 35.
Johnson said Aguilar has several potential bills to pass.
The first concerns museums. Stuhr Museum has difficulty getting rid of artifacts. A change is needed in the time they have to advertise in the newspaper to dispose of artifacts. The second bill concerns Hornady Manufacturing. People can’t “discriminate against Hornady Manufacturing.” Finally, efforts are needed to support livestock shows offered in Nebraska.
A carry over act is LB 503, the Rural Nebraska Nursing Act. It provides scholarships for nurses.
Johnson said Aguilar intends to run for the Legislature.
During a question-and-answer session, former State Sen. Mike Gloor of Grand Island said that eight years for a state senator in the Legislature is too short of time. State senators need to be able to spend up to 12 years in the Legislature. Sen. Lippincott noted that Sen. Aguilar had previously served in the Legislature and provided a lot of good background information.
