AFTER LITTLE FEDERAL ASSISTANCE, HEALTH DIRECTOR LOOKS LOCALLY FOR ANSWERS FOR REOPENING SCHOOLS

OMAHA - Douglas County’s health director voiced frustration Wednesday about the lack of leadership at the national level in providing guidance about safely reopening schools this fall.

Adi Pour, director of the Douglas County Health Department, said she and other health directors across the state have been working with the Nebraska Education Department to produce some common parameters for reopening based on best practices.

The Health Department is already receiving near-daily reports of cases of COVID-19 among sports teams and other groups that have resumed games, practices and rehearsals.

Pour said the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has produced some documents on school reopenings, but they’re relatively broad. So on Wednesday, she said, she sent a page of questions to an infectious diseases physician at the University of Nebraska Medical Center seeking more specific guidance, particularly regarding what public health agencies should do when a first case occurs in a classroom.

View article HERE.

SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA COMMUNITIES CLOSE PUBLIC BUILDINGS BECAUSE OF CORONAVIRUS

LINCOLN - Two counties in southeast Nebraska have had public buildings close because of a resurgence of coronavirus.

A recent spike in cases led Thayer County to close all of its county offices in Hebron earlier this week, just a month after they reopened.

"Due to a rapid increase of COVID cases in Thayer County, the Thayer County Commissioners have decided that all Thayer County buildings will be closed to the public until further notice," a post on the county's Facebook page said Tuesday.

In Saline County, Crete closed its city hall just a couple of days after it reopened when a staff member tested positive for COVID-19. Saline County had a large COVID-19 outbreak in the spring linked to the Smithfield Foods plant in town. It has had 16 cases over the past two weeks, after previously recording more than 530.

View article HERE.

NEW NEBRASKA CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE WEBSITE UNVEILED

LINCOLN - Gov. Pete Ricketts launched a new website on Wednesday that will track the state's ongoing response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The website at coronavirus.nebraska.gov will provide updates featuring information about the state's plans for coronavirus relief funding along with links to key public health and virus testing information.

Updates to the site are planned on a regular basis as the state continues to disperse virus response funding.

The federal government is providing $1.08 billion to aid the state in responding to the impact of the virus.

View article HERE.

CORONAVIRUS TOOK HIS FATHER’S LIFE. STATE SEN. TONY VARGAS SHARES HIS PAIN TO HELP OTHERS

OMAHA — The coronavirus killed Tony Vargas’ father. So the state senator from South Omaha, one of the hardest-hit parts of Nebraska, can honestly tell families struck by COVID-19 that he feels their pain.

Vargas has consoled. He has received consolation. But he would rather help people avoid the sickness, death and grief that the pandemic has brought to so many families. Even though it hurts to revisit his own grief, he uses his family’s experience to persuade people to take the virus seriously and take precautionary measures.

Vargas has become one of the main faces of wearing a mask, social distancing and being tested. The senator has advocated for more testing sites and capacity, and for more protection for workers in meatpacking and other jobs that have been struck by outbreaks.

“He’s putting himself out there to prevent others from the pain,” said Andrea Skolkin, CEO of OneWorld Community Health Centers.

The Nebraska Legislature will reconvene soon, and there will be policy to be debated, such as funding for public health departments and community health centers, equal access to health care and protections for meatpacking workers. Vargas will be in the middle of that, too.

View article HERE.

MAYOR CRITICIZES DHHS AFTER NEW HASTINGS YRTC PLANS ANNOUNCED

HASTINGS - Hastings Mayor Corey Stutte has confirmed he has talked with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services about bringing a new Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center to town. The new center would close the current facility in Geneva and open a new one for girls at the former Hastings Regional Center campus. Mayor Stutte is not happy those details were released.

Mayor Stutte wrote a letter to DHHS CEO Dannette Smith, which said:

"Dannette, I was under the impression that our phone call today was supposed to be confidential and that any announcement would come later after we had a chance to evaluate it. You requested my discretion last night, but that is now off the table. This is after all a net-neutral employment move for our community and not an addition to our community workforce. This also raises questions for our local law enforcement that needs to be addressed. Doing “what’s in the best interest of the youth” is something that needs a deeper conversation than a one sided explanation from your office. You said you’ll be happy to meet in person in the next couple of weeks—what happened to this statement? I am a former intelligence officer in the Navy and I had clearer lines of communication to our Five Eyes partner nations than I did with your office. This is unacceptable. I don’t appreciate reading this in the Omaha World Herald and this is not the first time DHHS did this (see the layoffs from 2017 at the cottages in Hastings). I expect better from our state agencies that we all pay taxes for and I look forward to your explanation. I have cc’d our local media on this and I’ll direct any questions to your office. Thank you and I hope you have a good rest of your week. Corey"

View article HERE.

CHAMBERS RETURNS BIRTHDAY CARD FROM RICKETTS UNOPENED, CITING ‘RACIST’ CAMPAIGN FLYER

LINCOLN - Friday was Senator Ernie Chambers’ 83rd birthday. It may be the last one he spends as a state senator, Nebraska’s longest-serving one, as his term expires in January. Senator Chambers received a birthday card from Governor Pete Ricketts. However, he did not open it, and he explained why.

“Governor Ricketts,” he wrote, “I realize that card sending is merely a pro forma exercise. But due to the disrespect you consistently maintain (exemplified by the RACIST CAMPAIGN flyer you exuberantly endorsed in the Slama campaign) toward me, is so personally disgusting that I find this card to be the crowning insult from a deep-dyed RACIST.” And he signed his name.

Ricketts’ spokesman, Taylor Gage, said about Chambers’ reaction to the card: “The birthday cards are a courtesy the governor does for state senators, their wives and fellow governors.”

View article HERE.

NEW STATE PRISON COULD COST UP TO $750M OVER 30 YEARS, COMPANIES SAY

LINCOLN - Thirteen companies responded to a request for information on building a new prison in Nebraska. Only a few offered a potential cost, but one put out the notion that a public-private lease purchase could cost the state $750 million over 30 years. That one, CGL Companies of Sacramento, California, said construction alone, with support space and fees and contingencies, could cost $450 million.

Others proposed the prison could be built at a lower cost, and one of those — Hawkins Construction of Omaha — suggested the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services might be better off purchasing the land, contracting directly for design and construction, retaining ownership and operation and maintenance services.

CoreCivic of Brentwood, Tennessee, offered information on a project it completed this year in Kansas. It consists of four buildings — two maximum/medium security housing units totaling 1,920 beds, one 512-bed minimum security dormitory and one support building that houses medical, mental health, food services, recreation, spiritual life and staff support areas, totaling 380,000 square feet. The facility was privately financed with a lease term of 20 years. The annual lease rate starts at $14.9 million, including an annual 1.94% rent escalator. At the end of the lease term, the state of Kansas will own the facility.

The Nebraska companies were: Hawkins, Johnson Controls, Kitchell, The Weitz Co. and Shive-Hattery.

View article HERE.

RICKETTS CHALLENGED ON RADIO SHOW TO MANDATE MASKS

LINCOLN - Gov. Pete Ricketts was challenged Monday during his monthly call-in radio show to mandate the wearing of masks in public to better protect Nebraskans from COVID-19 and apply the brakes to spread of the virus before it breaks loose as it has in other states.

"Wouldn't it make sense if everybody just wore a mask?" Ann in Lincoln told the governor.

"If everybody wears a mask, you almost completely control the spread," she said.

Wearing a mask is "just one tool," along with social distancing and repeated hand-washing that's most effective in controlling the virus, Ricketts said, and "I think we get better compliance if you don't make it a mandate."

Ricketts pointed to declining coronavirus hospitalization numbers in Nebraska to argue that the state has been successful in slowing the spread of the virus while maintaining its ability to respond to any needs for hospital beds, intensive care unit beds and ventilators.

View article HERE.

NEBRASKA AG FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST OMAHA STEM CELL CLINIC

OMAHA - Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson on Thursday filed a lawsuit against an Omaha-based stem cell clinic. The lawsuit, filed in Douglas County District Court, alleges that the Regenerative Medicine & Anti-Aging Institute of Omaha and its owners, Travis and Emily Autor, made more than $2 million by making deceptive and misleading statements to consumers regarding the ability of their stem cell therapy to treat specific diseases and health conditions.

It seeks to stop the clinic from making deceptive and misleading claims regarding its treatments, to refund money to patients and to pay an undetermined amount of civil penalties.

“Consumers are entitled to accurate and truthful information about any product or service, but especially those products that affect their health and well-being," Peterson said in a news release.

View article HERE.

YEAR-END TAX COLLECTIONS $266 MILLION BELOW LATEST PROJECTION BUT NEBRASKA STILL IN THE BLACK

LINCOLN - Nebraska closed out its fiscal year in better shape than once feared but with little to spare for any new spending or tax initiatives, a key lawmaker said Wednesday. The State Department of Revenue released a report showing that the state collected $4.939 billion in net tax revenues for the year that ended June 30. That’s $10.66 million more than the certified forecast issued in July 2019 and represents a 4.2% growth in taxes compared to the previous year.

State Sen. John Stinner of Gering, the Appropriations Committee chairman, said the year-end tally looks much better than the estimates he got a couple of months ago, which had suggested the state would end the year about $95 million in the red because of economic disruption caused by the coronavirus.

Still, the year-end figure is $266 million less than the most recently updated revenue projections, issued in February. State lawmakers had been building their budget around that recent forecast before the session was interrupted by the coronavirus in mid-March.

Gov. Pete Ricketts said Nebraska did well to end the year by putting more than $10 million into the state’s cash reserve fund.

View article HERE.

DON WALTON: WHAT TO WATCH FOR AS LEGISLATURE NEARS RETURN

LINCOLN - The Legislature resumes its virus-interrupted session a week from now with big question marks hanging in the air. Property tax relief, creation of a new business development tax incentives program, some form of early commitment to state funding support for a transformational University of Nebraska Medical Center project and pandemic-related adjustments to the state government's 2019-2021 budget are the early headliners.

Nebraska's current business tax incentives program is due to expire at the end of the year, and an early commitment to the ambitious Medical Center project might be critical in gaining federal designation and support.

This is going to be an odd, socially distanced legislative session in which senators are spread across the breadth of the legislative chamber and the lobbying corps and news media are isolated from senators during floor proceedings.

View article HERE.

SENATORS BACK AGAIN, BUT NOTHING’S QUITE THE SAME

LINCOLN - The last days of the 2020 Nebraska legislative session, which will reconvene Monday, will look different, with Plexiglas barriers, masks for those who choose to wear them and physical distancing.

Senators will be advised to wear masks in the chamber, rotunda, offices and hallways, and be tested for the coronavirus this week. But Speaker Jim Scheer acknowledged it's up to individual members whether they will follow the recommendations. Senators will be advised to wear masks in the chamber, rotunda, offices and hallways, and be tested for the coronavirus this week. Long days, many priority bills and intense issues await senators, along with the threat of rising COVID-19 cases in the state.

In addition to the 49 senators, others allowed into the chamber will be limited, but could at any given time total about 75 to 80 people, including Clerk of the Legislature staff, pages, troopers, sergeants at arms, legislative and committee staff and others.

Lobbyists will not be allowed to send in messages or gather at the lobby doors.

Priority bills will be the focus of the session, Scheer said, and his goal is to get all those that are out of committee debate time. It is worthy of note that revenue could be down substantially because of the coronavirus impact.

View article HERE.

TIGHT RACE BREWING IN NEBRASKA HOUSE CONTEST: INTERNAL POLL

WASHINGTON - A tight race is brewing in Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District as Democrats are hopeful that progressive Kara Eastman can put up a stiff challenge to Rep. Don Bacon (R).

According to an internal poll from the Eastman campaign that was obtained exclusively by The Hill, Eastman has the support of 50 percent of likely general election voters, compared with 49 percent for Bacon. The results are similar to those of a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee poll conducted in May showing a narrow 48-47 margin in Eastman’s favor.

The battle between Eastman and Bacon is a rematch from 2018, when Bacon narrowly won reelection by 2 points in the Omaha district. Eastman won the Democratic nomination in May over attorney Ann Ashford, a centrist who is married to former Rep. Brad Ashford (D).

“I am happy to see in these numbers what I am hearing in talking to voters: that folks no longer want a Trump rubber stamp representing them in Congress,” Eastman said in a statement to The Hill.

View article HERE.

SECRETARY OF STATE’S OFFICE PREPARING FOR ELECTION AMID PANDEMIC UNCERTAINTY

LINCOLN - Nebraska’s Secretary of State, Bob Enven, said the department is still considering whether to send early ballot request forms to all Nebraskans this fall.

Evnen said the decision will be made in time to let voters know before the election. He anticipates early voting will be higher than previous elections, but not as high as the May primary.

Evnen said the November election may require adjustments, such as moving polling places, depending on the status of the pandemic.

“We gained a lot of knowledge and experience in May," Evnen said. "We had tremendous cooperation from vendors. We had great cooperation from a number of different professional groups to help us develop a new generation of poll workers. And I expect we will draw on our experience from the May primary to ensure that the election in November goes forward well.”

View article HERE.

NEBRASKA’S 3 LARGEST COUNTIES TO SEND BALLOT REQUEST FORMS

LINCOLN - Nebraska’s three largest counties plan to send ballot request forms to every voter before this fall’s general election, but it’s not yet clear whether those forms will be sent statewide as they were before the primary.

Officials in Douglas, Sarpy and Lancaster counties say they are planning to send out the ballot-request forms because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and because it will help them plan for the election. Nebraska also has 11 rural counties that routinely vote entirely by mail.

Heavy use of mail-in ballots during the May primary helped the state set a record for turnout when more than 471,000 people voted.

Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen told The Omaha World-Herald he hasn’t decided whether to send out ballot request forms to every registered voter in the state. He said anyone who wants to vote by mail can contact local election officials to request a ballot.

View article HERE.

WHY REPUBLICANS MIGHT KNOCK ON YOUR DOOR, BUT DEMOCRATS MIGHT NOT – YET

OMAHA - After leaning heavily on phone and digital outreach, many political campaigns are sending volunteers to voters’ doors ahead of the general election. So far, it’s mostly Republicans campaigning at the stoop. Democrats are still debating whether and how to safely canvass for the Nov. 3 election. Most door-to-door campaigning was put on hold in March as the country shut down during the coronavirus pandemic. Republicans started ringing doorbells again in mid-June in Nebraska’s most competitive congressional race, the Omaha area’s 2nd Congressional District.

Volunteers for Rep. Don Bacon wear masks and practice social distancing, said Kyle Clark, a Bacon campaign spokesman. Clark said the response from GOP voters answering doors has been “overwhelmingly positive.”

Bacon’s key challenger in the 2nd District House race, Democrat Kara Eastman, is not yet ready to knock on voters’ doors. She said through a campaign spokesman that she wants to be smart with people’s health.

Not all Republicans are resuming door-to-door campaigning. State Sen. Julie Slama of Peru, who’s in a hotly contested legislative race with another Republican, real estate agent Janet Palmtag, said her campaign is sticking with phone calls and virtual meetings for now. “We’re closely monitoring the confirmed cases in District 1,” Slama said.

View article HERE.

FORMER GOVERNOR, POLITICAL CONSULTANT CLASH OVER ATTACK ADS IN NEBRASKA LEGISLATIVE RACE

LINCOLN - On Friday, former Gov. Dave Heineman said that Jessica Flanagain, a top political adviser for Gov. Pete Ricketts, “directed and orchestrated” a campaign mailer in May attacking Janet Palmtag, a longtime Republican Party campaign worker from Nebraska City.

The attack ads accused Palmtag of “going Lincoln” and siding with “radical” Sen. Ernie Chambers. If, as Heineman says, the Nebraska Republican Party ads were orchestrated by Flanagain, that would run counter to the party’s recent, amended campaign filing, which reported a $66,000 “independent” contribution to the Slama campaign.

Flanagain, when reached Friday, denied that she directs spending by the GOP. She added that state law does allow campaigns and the party to use the same vendor to distribute mailers and other political advice.

View article HERE.

GOP DELEGATES WILL HEAD TO FLORIDA FOR CONVENTION, WHILE DEMOCRATS TAKE VIRTUAL ROUT

OMAHA – Hal Daub, Omaha’s former mayor and congressman, has attended the past 11 GOP assemblies — a run that goes back 44 years — and is excited to make it an even dozen next month in Jacksonville. And the 79-year-old says Florida’s recent surge in coronavirus cases gives him no pause about traveling there.

The two parties are taking different approaches as they scramble to make last-minute changes to their nominating conventions in the age of COVID-19.

Republicans plan to conduct some business meetings in Charlotte, North Carolina, as originally scheduled before moving on to Jacksonville for the main festivities during the week of Aug. 24.

Democrats delayed their own gathering in Milwaukee, which is now set for the week before the Republicans’, and have decided to make theirs a mostly virtual affair. A few top Nebraska Democrats will likely travel to Milwaukee in person, but others can anticipate breakfast meetings and caucus gatherings conducted via video teleconference.

View article HERE.

DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES ARE FEELING SOME MOMENTUM AFTER STRONG FUNDRAISING

OMAHA - Democratic congressional candidate for Nebraska's 2nd District, Kara Eastman, is ahead of the fundraising pace she set last cycle. Her campaign says it raised about $710,000 from April 1 to June 30, bringing the total for this election cycle to just over $1.45 million. Eastman is running against the incumbent congressman, Jeff Bacon.

Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., also has yet to release his most recent numbers, but at the end of the last reporting period, his campaign had a full $1.9 million cash on hand. Fortenberry represents Nebraska’s 1st District, which covers much of eastern Nebraska and includes both Lincoln and Bellevue.

Pitted against Congressman Fortenberry in the 1st District race is State Sen. Kate Bolz. The Bolz campaign said in a statement that she raised about $264,000 for the most recent quarter, bringing her total for the overall cycle to more than $500,000. She has $253,462 cash on hand. Although that leaves her far behind Fortenberry, it also indicates that she will have the means to mount the best-financed campaign against him in years.

Incumbent Republican Sen. Ben Sasse has brought in millions of dollars in campaign contributions this cycle. His embattled Democratic challenger Chris Janicek, meanwhile, has raised a tiny fraction of that and faces a push from his own party to stand aside over sexually explicit comments he made about a staffer in a group text.

View article HERE.

PLATTE INSTITUTE WEBINAR: ‘BACK IN SESSION’ WITH SEN. LOU ANN LINEHAN

Kissel Kohout ES Associates offers the following notes on Wednesday’s Platte Institute webinar with Sen. Lou Ann Linehan. The webinar primarily dealt with the issue of property tax reform and how that will be dealt with when the Legislature reconvenes this July.

View notes HERE.