SENATOR GROENE OPINION: THIS IS NO TIME FOR 'PIE IN THE SKY' PROPOSALS

NORTH PLATTE- Senator Mike Groene in an opinion piece submitted tot he North Platte Telegram takes on issues facing the legislature he views as 'pie in the sky'. These include the state's economic incentive law and its proposed replacement, the ImagiNE Act, as well as LB1084 which focuses on the University of Nebraska Medical Center project, Medicaid expansion, and a proposal to lease a new correctional facility.

Instead, Senator Groene says the focus should be on property tax proposals such as LB1106. "The property tax proposal was expected to add approximately $100 million per year to state aid to public schools, thus lowering local property taxes by a like amount, reaching a total of $300 million by the third and final year (2022-23 school year) of LB 1106’s implementation. Meanwhile, by its third year of existence, the new ImagiNE Act is estimated to add an additional $50 million to the Revenue Department’s forecast $180 million revenue loss that year from the existing Advantage Act agreements"

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SEVEN CANDIDATES SEEK TO REPLACE STATE SEN. CHAMBERS, WHO ENDORSES CREIGHTON LAW STUDENT

OMAHA – A total of seven candidates, including a former Omaha City Council member and a representative on the board of the Learning Community of Douglas and Sarpy Counties, have decided to run for the seat held by Senator Ernie Chambers. Sen. Chambers is prevented by term-limits from seeking re-election.Sen. Chambers has thrown his support behind Terrell McKinney, a law student at Creighton University. 

The rest of the field includes, “former Omaha City Council member Fred Conley; Cornelius Williams, who is completing a term on the Learning Community Board; Teela Mickles, the founder of a program that helps prison inmates reenter society; Gwen Easter, a longtime North Omaha child care provider; John Sciara, a military veteran who was defeated by Chambers four years ago; and Dennis Womack, a former federal worker who has run several times for City Council and other positions.”

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EDITORIAL, 4/22: JOURNAL STAR EDITORIAL BOARD OFFERS ENDORSEMENTS

LINCOLN – Incumbent Senator Ben Sasse deserves to win the Republican Party’s primary for U.S. Senate over challenger Matt Innis. Sasse has proven himself to be adept at drawing attention to the issues that he champions. He has done what he has set out to do for his constituents. Democrats will have a difficult time ousting Sasse, but Janicek offers them their best chance. With an organized campaign, Janicek has the capacity to further the issues of climate change and health care for all.

As for House District 1, State Senator Kate Bolz has proven to be an effective lawmaker in the Unicameral. Her experience on the Appropriations Committee has earned her the opportunity to face Congressman Jeff Fortenberry, who is running in the primary unopposed, in November.

Regarding Nebraska Legislative District 21, Senator Mike Hilgers and Brodey Weber get the endorsement of the Journal Star. Hilgers has proven capable of working with individuals of both parties. Weber brings a background of community service and activism.

Concerning Nebraska Legislative District 29, Eliot Bostar, Jacob Campbell, and Jennifer Carter are seen as neck and neck in the eyes of the editorial board. Each candidate has perspective that would be invaluable to his or her constituents.

As for city charter amendments, voters should approve both of the amendments. Both amendments simply serve to update the charter and do not change anything drastically. One of the amendments fixes a typo and alters language to be gender-neutral. The other raises the threshold for requiring competitive bids on city purchases from $25,000 to $50,000.

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NEBRASKA CASES AND DEATHS

LINCOLN- As of Friday morning Nebraska has at least 7,190 confirmed cases, up from 6,125 cases on Tuesday. Additionally, the state reported 92 deaths, up from and 79 during the same time frame.

 Leading counties with cases include Hall with 1,306 cases and 31 deaths, up from 1,281 cases and 28 deaths, Douglas county with 1,235 cases and 17 deaths, up from 977 cases and 16 deaths, and Dakota County with 1,046 cases, up from 1,005 cases and 3 additional deaths bringing their total to 5.  The New York Times continuously tracks county, state, and national data regarding confirmed cases and deaths, and provided this data.

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STATE HAS SPENT LESS THAN A THIRD OF CORONAVIRUS EMERGENCY FUNDS

LINCOLN – The Unicameral passed emergency funding for the coronavirus outbreak in the amount of $83.6 million in March. So far, the state has spent less than a third of the appropriated funds: $24.7 million. The intention of the appropriation was to go to the Department of Health and Human Services and the University of Nebraska Medical Center for such things as medical and laboratory equipment, personal protective equipment, UV lightboxes, staffing, and testing. Approximately $25 million has been spent on personal protective equipment since the outbreak began. 

About $58,000 has been spent on ventilators. Governor Ricketts has stated that these purchases have gone to good use and that, "We've had plenty of capacity, just about every place you go.”

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LIABILITY SHIELD IS THE NEXT CORONAVIRUS AID BATTLE IN CONGRESS

WASHINGTON - The effort by Senator Republicans to shield companies from liability during the pandemic has drawn the ire of Democrats. Senate Lawmakers returned on Monday to begin working on the next round of relief targeted at households. During this time, Majority Leader McConnell has said that liability protections are a red line. Without it, Democrats' calls for increased local aid will not be entertained.

U.S. businesses are fearing a wave of lawsuits as workers in meat-processing facilities, grocery stores, and other locations get sick or die from the Covid-19 illness caused by the new coronavirus. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the risk of class-action lawsuits could deter businesses from reopening, even after restrictions have been lifted. Senator Mitt Romney has supported the liability protections, saying “It’s essential if we’re going to get the economy going again not to have every business becoming sued by the players who are associated with Covid-19.” However, unions say that liability shields are the wrong message.

Some states have proposed expanding liability protections to manufacturers aiding in the crisis.

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FACING POTENTIAL $17M SHORTFALL, LINCOLN OFFICIALS EXPLORE DIFFICULT BUDGET QUESTIONS, LOBBY FOR FEDERAL HELP

LINCOLN - In his January report, City Finance Director Brandon Kauffman adumbrated that Lincoln will experience shortfalls of $6 million and $8 million that would require attention during the budget building process. Kauffman’s projections now appear somewhat vatic given developments with the pandemic. Now, Lincoln, according to Kauffman, will face an even greater shortfall, amounting to $17 million in the upcoming fiscal year and $22 million in the following.

Forecasts are predicting a 40% decline in sales tax revenue for the city of Lincoln. Hiring freezes and the elimination of certain vacant positions are under consideration by the city. Jennifer Brinkman, the Mayor’s Chief of Staff, has said that everything is on the table. Both Omaha and Lincoln were not eligible for the aid contained within the federal CAREs act.

Lincoln Mayor Gaylor Baird has lobbied Nebraska’s Congressional delegation to push for more direct aid to local governments. Lincoln’s 40 million cash reserve is not seen as an answer to the current problems associated with the pandemic.

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9,640 BUFFALO COUNTY RESIDENTS VOTING BY MAIL AHEAD OF TUESDAY’S PRIMARY

KEARNEY - Buffalo County Election Commissioner, Lisa Poff, has stated that Tuesday’s primary election will present special challenges due to coronavirus. Since the courthouse has been locked down since March 18th, the challenge of a potential poll worker shortage has emerged. However, many individuals have stepped up to the challenge and each of the precincts in the county will be staffed by at least four poll workers, with more on standby. Additionally, “A record 9,640 Buffalo County voters requested early ballots so they could vote by mail, and of that number, 6,658 voters already had returned their ballots by Wednesday afternoon.”

Poff has decline to speculate on turnout.

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HEALTH OFFICIALS TO STOP RELEASING TYSON NUMBERS FOR NOW

NORFOLK – The Elkhorn Logan Valley Public Health Department stated that it would no longer release specific COVID-19 numbers related to the Tyson Fresh Meats’ pork processing plant in Madison. During his press conference on Wednesday, Governor Ricketts stated that it is important for the state to follow the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which protects individuals’ medical records and other personal health information. Specifically, the Governor said, “unless the person who works for the employer specifically tells the employer they have coronavirus, and gives them permission to release that, the employer can’t do anything about that.” Thus, even if the state was able to ask for the information from the companies, there is no guarantee that the information would be reliable.

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LINCOLN, LANCASTER COUNTY TO RELUCTANTLY ADOPT EASED RESTRICTIONS RICKETTS OULTINED

LINCOLN- Lincoln and Lancaster County will implement eased restrictions beginning Monday, after Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird and her health director reluctantly agreed to adopt the plans Gov. Pete Ricketts sought.

The new restrictions match those already in place in Omaha and elsewhere in the state and would allow the reopening of barbershops and tattoo parlors provided staff and patrons wear face masks and give restaurants the ability to serve half the number of diners their establishments can hold.In her Thursday afternoon briefing on the local pandemic response, Gaylor Baird said she was disappointed Ricketts said he would not extend beyond Sunday the Lancaster County restrictions currently in place.

New case totals and the rate of positive tests continue to head in the wrong direction, and the ramifications of a growing outbreak of COVID-19 among Lancaster County residents working at the Smithfield plant in Crete remain unclear, she said.

With another week or two, data on the outbreak could provide clarity, she said. 

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IT GETS WORSE BEFORE IT GETS BETTER

WASHINGTON – According to Politico, “The pandemic has opened the floodgates for telehealth as federal and state governments rapidly roll back long-standing barriers. But not all patients can get online, and in-person treatment options are dwindling amid lockdown orders.” Safety net clinics are asking for help from the government to pay for treatment and connectivity dead zones. Nicol Turner Lee, a research fellow at the Brookings Institution's Center for Technology Innovation has said that “It's often the most vulnerable patients who can't access virtual care. Communities without the means to get online will not benefit from telehealth."

Lisa Cooper, founder of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity, stated that "People of color and people with low incomes are always the last to get access to any new technology. The disparity always gets worse before it gets better." Additionally, many rural and safety net clinics operate on thin margins, making it impossible to invest in telehealth.

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SENATORS POUNCE ON GOVERNORS' RFS REQUEST:

WASHINGTON – Politico reports that “A bipartisan group of senators called on the president to reject a previous request for Renewable Fuel Standard waivers from five oil-state governors.” According to Senators Joni Ernst and Tina Smith, “Waiving the RFS would cause further harm to the U.S. economy, especially our most vulnerable rural communities. It would also exacerbate the effects experienced by the biofuel sector as a result of COVID-19, causing far-reaching detrimental impacts on employment, farmers, food security, fuel prices, and the environment.” The Senators also stated that the pandemic has caused a 46% decline in ethanol production.

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DEMS’ BILL WOULD CUT FOSSIL FUELS OUT OF RELIEF PACKAGE:

WASHINGTON - Democratic lawmakers brought legislation Tuesday that would exclude fossil fuel companies from participating in coronavirus relief packages and prevent options that could be under consideration by the Trump administration to aid the oil sector. According to Politico, “The bill specifically bars fossil fuel companies from participating in the Federal Reserve's Main Street lending program, which the central bank expanded last week in ways that will enable more oil and gas companies to participate.”

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APPS AND ANTIBODIES

WASHINGTON - State health agencies using Apple and Google’s contact tracing technology will be barred from pinpointing users’ exact locations or using their data for other purposes including targeted ads. The tech giants outlined rules for public health officials Tuesday as they prepare to release the API later this month; they also plan to support only one app per country outside the U.S. but will work with state governments to support multiple apps.

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NOVEMBER REIGN

WASHINGTON - Senate Republicans are settling on their pandemic message as they fight to save their majority. The coronavirus has killed more than 70,000 Americans, tanked the once-soaring U.S. economy, and shows no signs of abating. Democrats pin the blame on President Trump. Still, nearly all Republican U.S. Senators have not seen it to be advantageous to break with Trump. If the economy recovers and the virus dissipates by the fall, Republicans could benefit by sticking with Trump.

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MEDICAID ADJUSTMENT

WASHINGTON - Medicaid, the largest budget item in most states, provides health insurance to roughly 70 million poor adults, children, pregnant women, and people with disabilities. As millions come on to the Medicaid roles due to the loss of jobs created by coronavirus, the program will be gutted. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine stated that “The cruel nature of the economic downturn is that at a time when you need a social safety net is also the time when revenues shrink.” State Medicaid programs in the last economic crisis cut everything from dental services to podiatry care — and reduced payments to hospitals and doctors to balance out spending on other needs like roads, schools, and prisons, but according to Medicaid officials, the gutting could be far worse this time.

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WHY WEREN’T WE READY FOR THE CORONAVIRUS?

NEW YORK – In 2006, the idea that a virus would spill out of an animal and into a human seemed distant to many people. But Ali S. Khan, of the National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-Borne, and Enteric Diseases, was tasked with dreaming that nightmare by daylight.

Many of the viruses that Khan ended up examining were zoonotic in nature, the West Nile virus, Ebola, and others. They emerge unexpectedly and are very difficult to treat.

SARS was most interesting according to Khan, despite only infecting around 8,000 people. Khan stated that “Because it was so contagious and so lethal,” we were very lucky to stop it.

Khan is now the dean of the College of Public Health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, in Omaha. He went to Omaha in 2014, leaving the directorship of the C.D.C.’s Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response, which included overseeing the Strategic National Stockpile of emergency medical supplies, supervising eight hundred employees, helping assemble a national biodefense strategy against pandemic threats, and much else.

Khan stated that the poor response to COVID-19 is about “lack of imagination.” There were warnings of the virus, including Khan’s favorite, SARS. MERS was also a warning. Superspreading events also drove that outbreak. Khan stated that the COVID-19 response is partly due to “failure to appreciate the sars and mers warnings, both delivered by other coronaviruses; and loss of capacity at high government levels, within recent years, to understand the gravity and immediacy of pandemic threats.” Khan said that “The time has come for us to move beyond seeing public health as the ax in the display case, where the sign says in case of emergency, break glass.”

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U.S. UNEMPLOYMENT RATE HITS 14.7%, WORST SINCE GREAT DEPRESSION WITH 20.5 MILLION JOBS LOST IN APRIL

WASHINGTON- The Labor Department said Friday that the economy shed more than 20.5 million jobs in April, sending the unemployment rate to 14.7 percent — devastation unseen since the Great Depression.

The report underscores the speed and depth of the labor market’s collapse as the coronavirus pandemic took a devastating toll. In February, the unemployment rate was 3.5 percent, a half-century low. And even since the survey was taken, millions of people have filed claims for jobless benefits.The April job losses alone far exceed the 8.7 million in the last recession, when unemployment peaked at 10 percent in October 2009. The only comparable period came when the rate reached about 25 percent in 1933, before the government began publishing official statistics.

If anything, the report understates the damage. The government’s definition of unemployment typically requires people to be actively looking for work. And the unemployment rate doesn’t reflect the millions still working who have had their hours slashed or their pay cut. 

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US SHELVES CDC REPORT THAT ADVISES ON REOPENING THE COUNTRY.

LINCOLN - President Trump has decided to shelve a document that was created by the nation’s top disease investigators with step by step advice to local authorities on how to loosen restrictions on restaurants and other public facilities. The report title, “Guidance for Implementing the Opening Up America Again Framework,” was supposed to be published last Friday. The AP received a copy from a federal official who was not authorized to release it. 

A CDC official said that the report, that was designed to inform faith leaders, business owners, educators, and state and local officials, “would never see the light of day.”

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RICKETTS: MEAT PROCESSING APPROACH SIMILAR TO WYOMING’S UNREALISTIC FOR NEBRASKA

SCOTTSBLUFF – Nebraska cannot take an approach similar to Wyoming with respect to its meat processing plants during the pandemic because, according to Governor Ricketts, Nebraska suffers from overcapacity of meat processing plants and the lack of a state meat inspection. For context, Wyoming has passed a law that allows meat producers to sell directly to consumers without USDA inspections to circumvent some of the challenges posed by COVID-19. Ricketts has also stated that status quo law in Nebraska does not have a state inspection process, so Nebraska must rely on the USDA.

Melody Benjamin, Nebraska Cattlemen Association’s vice president of members services has said that a majority of Nebraska meatpackers are at full capacity for up to a year scheduled in advance due to the pandemic. Ricketts has stated that producers can look for national help through the USDA.

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