NEBRASKA MEDICINE, UNMC IN EARLY PLANNING STAGES FOR CAMPUS EXPANSION

OMAHA- University of Nebraska Medical Center and Nebraska Medicine officials said Thursday that they’re in the early stages of developing plans that would propel clinical care and research to the next level with the construction of a new state-of-the-art facility.

The project could consist of several buildings to be constructed on the northwest corner of the medical center campus, the leaders said at a press conference. Those buildings could include one or more new towers for research and inpatient care.Dr. James Linder, Nebraska Medicine’s CEO, said the health system doesn’t believe that its current facilities are large enough to provide the care Nebraskans need, particularly as the population ages. 

Early estimates project costs between $1 billion and $2 billion. But UNMC Chancellor Dr. Jeffrey Gold, who briefed the NU Board of Regents on Thursday, stressed that the plans are in very preliminary stages. No final planning has been completed.

View the article HERE

NEBRASKA'S LETHAL INJECTION DRUGS HAVE EXPIRED, AND APPARENTLY THE STATE ISN'T SEEKING NEW ONES

LINCOLN- The State of Nebraska's stock of lethal injection drugs has expired, and it appears no effort has been made to restock the drugs since the August 2018 execution of Carey Dean Moore. A review of public records found no attempt to obtain replacement drugs, and a state corrections official confirmed that Nebraska lacks the drugs at this time to carry out the death penalty.

When asked about the lack of such substances, a spokesman for Gov. Pete Ricketts — a staunch proponent of capital punishment — expressed no concern, and said the state was monitoring the status of the legal appeals pending by the 12 men on Nebraska's death row.

View the article HERE

SPEAKER MEMOS ON SESSION SCHEDULE AND FLOOR PROCEDURES

Last week members of the Legislature gathered in Nebraska City at their annual Legislative Council Retreat. This event hosts all members of the body, as well as the clerk of the legislature to discuss the upcoming session, and get updates from committee leaders on 2020 issues. During these presentations, the Speaker of the Legislature Jim Scheer handed out two documents; first, the outline of how the session will go forward starting in January- including the first ten days start time, and important dates like priority designations, and full-day debate; Secondly he handed out the general rules of debate and floor procedures for the session. These mirror those of previous sessions under Speaker Scheer. Both of these documents are below for your review.

As important dates come up, and are announced during the session, we will post them to our "Important Dates and Events" article which will appear at the top of each newsletter. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Joe or Brennen. 

View the 2020 Session Schedule HERE

View the 2020 Session Bill Scheduling and Floor Procedures HERE

SCHWAB ACQUISITION OF TD AMERITRADE 'CREATES SIGNIFICANT UNCERTAINTY' FOR NEBRASKANS, RICKETTS SAYS

OMAHA-  “In the coming days, I will work to personally make the case to Schwab to stay committed to Omaha," Governor Pete Ricketts said. "Our cost of doing business is incredibly competitive and our people are the most hardworking in the nation. We can help Schwab be successful and take their business to the next level as they compete nationally and internationally.”

Schwab said the corporate headquarters of the combined company eventually will relocate to Schwab’s new campus in Westlake, Texas, a suburb of Fort Worth. How that affects the 2,300 workers in Omaha isn't clear. "We have not provided that level of specificity yet," Schwab spokeswoman Mayura Hooper said Monday morning.

Joe Ricketts, father to Governor Ricketts, and his family no longer control TD Ameritrade, but like all other shareholders in the firm he will profit from its sale to Charles Schwab — it appears in his case to the tune of about $500 million.

View the article HERE

NEBRASKA SUPREME COURT: YOUTHS CAN BE PLACED IN ADULT PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL IF NEED BE

LINCOLN — The Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday upheld a juvenile court’s decision to put troubled teenagers in the state’s adult psychiatric hospital.

The ruling came in a pair of cases involving an Omaha-area youth, identified only as Giavonni P. He was placed in the Lincoln Regional Center in November 2018 after officials were unable to find a residential treatment facility to take him.

View the article HERE

JUDGE CLEARS UNL EMPLOYEE OF VANDALISM AT FISCHER'S CAMPAIGN OFFICE

LINCOLN - After detailed testimony outlined how fingerprints are processed and analyzed, the answer of whether a Lincoln political activist and university employee vandalized a U.S. senator’s office came down to a question of probability.

Attorney Marc Delman asked Lincoln Police fingerprint analyst Launa Groves if she could be 100% sure the prints pulled from a sign taped to the door of Sen. Deb Fischer’s campaign office last year belonged to Patricia Wonch Hill.

View the article HERE

GAGE COUNTY EYES TOUGHER WIND-ENERGY RULES

BEATRICE — Gage County officials are considering a change to their local wind-energy regulations at the request of a group that opposes the growing presence of wind farms in rural areas.

The Gage County Board of Supervisors will hold a meeting next month to discuss the changes proposed by Prairie Wind Watchers.

View the article HERE

STATE FAIR LAYOFFS LOOM AS BOARD CUTS BUDGET

LINCOLN - The Nebraska State Fair Board on Friday approved a new budget that will require cutting as much as half of the fair's staff.

Jeremy Jensen, chairman of the board's finance committee, said the budget that was approved will likely result in a reduction of anywhere from eight to 11 staff members, and those cuts will have to be achieved through layoffs. The fair has a full-time staff of about 20 people.

View the article HERE

JONI ALBRECHT WILL SEEK REELECTION AS NEBRASKA STATE SENATOR

LINCOLN — State Sen. Joni Albrecht of Thurston announced Thursday that she will seek a second term in the Nebraska Legislature.

A registered Republican, she represents District 17, which includes Dakota, Thurston and Wayne Counties in northeast Nebraska. She was first elected to the office in 2016.

During her first term, Albrecht got controversial legislation passed to require that women seeking medication abortions be told that they may be able to continue their pregnancies if they have not taken the second of two drugs.

View the article HERE

CASE CHALLENGING LEGALITY OF APPOINTING ELECTION COMMISSIONERS IS MOVED TO LOWER COURT

LINCOLN — A legal challenge to the constitutionality of appointing election commissioners for some Nebraska counties has been moved to a lower court.

Attorney General Doug Peterson filed the case in Lancaster County District Court after it was rejected by the Nebraska Supreme Court.

View the article HERE

FORMER GERING STATE SENATOR JOYCE HILLMAN-KORTUM PASSES

SCOTTSBLUFF - A former state senator, Gering council member and community leader has passed at the age of 83.

Joyce Hillman-Kortum died Wednesday according to an online posting by the Dugan-Kramer Funeral Home in Scottsbluff.

She spent eight years in the Nebraska Legislature starting with her election to the District 48 seat in 1990 and re-election in 1994, followed by nearly eight years on the Gering City Council following election in 2004, having to step down in 2012 after moving to Scottsbluff.

View the article HERE

FORMER UNMC CHANCELLOR DR. CHARLES ADREWS, WHO BUILT TRANSPLANT PROGRAMS, DIES AT 94

OMAHA - Known to friends and colleagues as quiet yet capable of making tough decisions, Dr. Charles Andrews also is recognized for his key role in setting the University of Nebraska Medical Center on many of the pathways it continues to follow today.

Andrews, UNMC’s fifth chancellor, was instrumental in establishing UNMC as a leader in solid organ and bone marrow transplantation. He also targeted cancer, rural health, geriatrics and biotechnology as areas of excellence.

View the article HERE

BACON, FORTENBERRY PUSH BILL TO PROTECT OPEN SKIES TREATY AND OFFUTT PLANES

OMAHA - The House of Representatives is pushing back this week against the Trump administration’s under-the-radar efforts to pull the United States out of the Open Skies Treaty. The withdrawal would permanently ground two Offutt-based jets associated with the pact.

Republican Reps. Don Bacon and Jeff Fortenberry, whose districts include the greater Omaha area and Offutt Air Force Base, are co-sponsoring a bill proposed by a California Democrat that would require the White House to give Congress 180 days’ notice before suspending, terminating or withdrawing from the treaty.

View the article HERE

D.C. JUDGE HALTS ALL SCHEDULED FEDERAL EXECUTIONS, INCLUDING THAT OF FORMER IOWA METH KINGPIN

WASHINGTON — A federal judge late Wednesday halted all four scheduled federal executions, finding that Attorney General William Barr's July proposal that sought to resume the death penalty after a 16-year moratorium appears to be at odds with federal law.

The four men were scheduled to be executed in December and January 2020. But U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan of the District of Columbia ruled Wednesday that the inmates were likely to succeed in their argument that Barr's proposal to execute all four using one type of lethal injection contradicts the Federal Death Penalty Act.

View the article HERE

NEBRASKA LEGISLATURE PANEL AGREES ON GENERAL APPROACH TO PROPERTY TAX RELIEF

LINCOLN — A legislative committee struggling to craft a property tax relief plan hasn’t agreed on an exact proposal yet, but it has at least agreed on an approach to the problem.

The Legislature’s Revenue Committee voiced agreement on Friday that a multi-year plan to address high property taxes should first target help for farmers and ranchers, with a particular emphasis on relief in school districts with high property tax levies, such as in bedroom communities like Seward, York and Blair.

View the article HERE

MEDICAID PAYMENT RATES BLAMED AS RURAL NURSING HOME CLOSURES PICK UP PACE IN NEBRASKA

LINCOLN — The September announcement of the Blue Hill Care Center’s planned closing hit Brenda Trumble hard. The home’s closure would have forced her 90-year-old mother, Lois Mohlman, to leave the south-central Nebraska town where she had lived for more than 30 years.

A total of 34 Nebraska nursing homes have closed during the past eight years. All but two were in rural counties. The trend worries nursing home associations and advocacy groups alike, especially as they look ahead to the baby boom generation reaching advanced age. And some state senators say Nebraska needs to be looking at ways to keep rural homes open.

View the article HERE

NEBRASKA STATE TAX COLLECTIONS EXCEED PROJECTIONS IN OCTOBER

LINCOLN - Overall state tax collections were up in October, when compared with Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board predictions, although net sales tax receipts were down slightly.

The Nebraska Department of Revenue reported that while net tax collections overall of $290 million for the month were 8.8% above the forecast of $266 million, sales and use taxes were down 2.4%.

View the article HERE

DON WALTON: PROPERTY TAXES, ERNIE AND LEMON PASTRIES

LINCOLN - It's not easy for urban and rural senators to reach consensus on broad tax reform.

So the members of the Legislature's Revenue Committee — four rural senators and four senators who represent metropolitan Omaha — have settled for unanimous agreement on the need for additional property tax relief now and established relief for agriculture as the initial priority.

A plan endorsed by the committee would reduce the value of ag land for tax purposes from 75 percent to 55 percent of market value and provide $100 million in additional state school aid to replace local tax revenue.

View the article HERE

ALMOST HALF OF OMAHA-AREA CEOs EXPECT TO ADD JOBS IN 2020, SURVEY FINDS

OMAHA — Omaha-area CEOs are generally optimistic about sales and growth in the coming year, with almost half expecting to add employees and most others expecting stable employment, according to a recent survey.

The results of the annual economic outlook survey of the Greater Omaha Chamber generally seemed to reflect the positive view for the U.S. economy as a whole. But there were also concerns expressed that could limit growth locally, including labor shortages, state taxes and incentives, and the possibility of a recession in the coming year.

View the article HERE

CHARLES SCHWAB IS BUYING OMAHA-BASED TD AMERITRADE FOR $26 BILLION, FOX BUSINESS REPORTS

OMAHA - Charles Schwab is buying Omaha-based TD Ameritrade for $26 billion, Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo reported Thursday. Other national news media outlets have been reporting that the two were discussing a deal.

The move, which Fox Business said is expected to be announced Thursday morning, will allow Charles Schwab to better compete with the likes of BlackRock. The combined firm will be run by Schwab CEO Walter Bettinger, and TD Ameritrade's chief financial officer, Steve Boyle, will lead the target company until the deal is completed, Fox Business reported.

View the article HERE