RICKETTS HAS THE AUTHORITY TO DISTRIBUTE NEBRASKA’S CARES ACT FUNDS, ATTORNEY GENERAL SAYS

LINCOLN - Gov. Pete Ricketts has the legal authority to distribute the $1.1 billion in federal CARES Act funds sent to the state to aid in the economic recovery from COVID-19, the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office said in a legal opinion released Friday.

State Sen. Steve Lathrop of Omaha had requested the opinion, citing several conflicting clauses in state law and in the Nebraska Constitution about the State Legislature’s authority to appropriate and questioning whether the governor could decide how to spend such federal money.

A 12-page opinion, written by Leslie Donley of the Attorney General’s Office, said that a budget bill passed by the State Legislature last year included language saying that “any additional federal funds” received by the state should be appropriated by the state agency designated by the federal government or, if none were designated, the governor.

The opinion said the Legislature, via the language, had legally appropriated the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funds sent by Congress and given the governor the authority to distribute it to help struggling Nebraskans.

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ASPIRING ATTORNEYS SAY COVID-19 COMPROMISES BAR EXAM

LINCOLN - David Sears was one of three law school graduates in the state to petition the Nebraska Supreme Court last week to allow aspiring attorneys to skip the examination for admission to the bar.

They want the court to grant all applicants emergency diplomas to allow them to start working as the coronavirus continues to endanger people in large gatherings, such as test sites. Many exam applicants wrote impact statements to the court telling of their angst and the danger they see in having to take that test in person with up to 148 other applicants.

In their petition to the Supreme Court, which denied it in a ruling on Saturday, the applicants argued emergency declarations and health directives have been made locally and nationally that allow for special circumstances. Ricketts has issued no less than 31 executive orders since March 31 related to the pandemic, they said.

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CHANGES IN NEBRASKA’S JUVENILE JUSTICE CENTERS RANKLE SENATORS, ADVOCATES

LINCOLN - Several state senators and child advocates said Thursday they are disappointed with a plan revealed Wednesday to move youths in the state's care.

"It was an orchestrated ambush, basically, is how I would classify it," said Sen. Tom Brandt of Plymouth, whose district includes Geneva, the longtime home of the Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center for girls.

The Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee was informed of the changes Wednesday, which will include moving girls from the Kearney and Geneva Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Centers to a new building on the Hastings Regional Center campus. Boys in a state-run substance abuse program in Hastings that were supposed to move into that building will now move to the Whitehall campus in north Lincoln.

The moves strain an already tense relationship between the Legislature and agencies under Gov. Pete Ricketts' administration.

Department of Health and Human Services CEO Dannette Smith said from Tuesday evening into Thursday, she and her team informed about 80 stakeholders about the changes to ensure complete transparency. They included legislators, city officials, judiciary and probation representatives, advocacy groups and the media.

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ENROLLMENT FOR MEDICAID IN NEBRASKA STARTS AUG. 1, ALMOST 21 MONTHS AFTER VOTERS APPROVED IT

LINCOLN - Low-income adults who have been previously shut out of Nebraska Medicaid can start applying for coverage on Aug. 1. They will be able to start getting care two months later, on Oct. 1.

Molly McCleery, director of health care access for Nebraska Appleseed, a Lincoln-based advocacy group that pushed the ballot measure, said she is excited that more Nebraskans will finally be able to get the health care they need.

State Sen. Adam Morfeld of Lincoln, who led the petition drive that put the issue on the ballot, criticized the long wait for implementation, which has exceeded that of any other state. He blamed the delay on Gov. Pete Ricketts, who fought the expansion as being unaffordable and favoring able-bodied Nebraskans over vulnerable citizens.

“The governor made an intentional decision to delay Medicaid expansion by adding unnecessary and unlawful requirements,” he said. “It has led to tens of millions of wasted taxpayer dollars, an unnecessary yearlong delay and nearly 100,000 Nebraskans without care that Nebraskans voted for in 2018.”

Ricketts has said the time was needed so Nebraska could implement the program smoothly and avoid mistakes made by other states. His spokesman, Taylor Gage, noted the state had met the April 1, 2019, deadline to submit its expansion plan to the federal government.

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EDITORIAL: THE LEGISLATURE’S DUTY ON TAX RELIEF, BUSINESS INCENTIVES; GET IT DONE

LINCOLN - The challenges are many. Senators will have only a small window of time — a mere 17 days — to decide those and other issues. With 33 votes needed to override a filibuster, sponsors face tough sledding in moving the tax and business incentives proposals forward. And if some lawmakers fail to get all that they want, there’s considerable risk they may well sulk, disengage and allow the tax and incentives bills to die, putting their personal pique above the good of the state.

The Legislature must not let that happen. There’s an enormous need for property tax relief across the state. And the current business incentives law expires at the end of this year, which risks putting Nebraska at a major disadvantage against competitor states. The current incentives proposal, Legislative Bill 720, can achieve major improvements over existing policy. LB 720 imposes cost constraints, removes overly complicated procedures, provides incentives for higher-wage jobs and has specific provisions to help rural communities. It would position Nebraska for sound economic development.

So: Lawmakers, get it done.

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EDITORIAL: COOPERATION IS BEST SOLUTION TO ADDRESS NEBRASKA CLIMATE CHALLENGES

OMAHA - In 2018 the federal government’s most comprehensive climate study pointed to adaptions that Nebraska and other northern Great Plains states must make in coming years. This part of the country, the National Climate Assessment said, must adjust agricultural and other practices to cope with climate-related change: Higher average temperatures. Reduced soil moisture, threatening crop yields. Increased evaporation rates. “Low-probability, but high-severity and high-impact, events” such as heavy downpours, intense hailstorms, floods and droughts.

Our region can expect fewer hailstorms, for example, but those that occur will be more severe, increasing the probability of crop damage by 40%.

These conclusions were in line with what climate scientists at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln had reported in a Nebraska-specific study in 2014.

The best solution is cooperation among multiple parties — farmers and ranchers, natural resources districts, university researchers, Nebraska Extension, federal conservation agents, businesses, municipalities, utilities and households.

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REPUBLICAN OFFICIAL CALLS FOR CHAMBERS’ EXPULSION

LINCOLN - The Nebraska Republican Party on Tuesday called for the expulsion of Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers for remarks he made during a debate Monday about Sen. Julie Slama of Peru.

Republican Party Executive Director Ryan Hamilton said the statements by Chambers were disgusting and clearly out of bounds.

"He owes Senator Slama an apology, as does every senator who yielded time so he could continue his vile, misogynistic rant against Senator Slama. He should be censured and expelled immediately — there ought to be no place in Nebraska’s Legislature for this abhorrent language and mistreatment.”

Chambers, in his speeches Monday, was responding to a flyer sent out in District 1 on Slama's behalf that said her opponent, Janet Palmtag, also a Republican, "sides with Lincoln liberals, atheists and radical extremists." There are photos of Chambers and Palmtag on the flyer put side by side.

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STUDENT DISCIPLINE BILL GETS DEBATE BUT NO VOTE

LINCOLN - A bill that would put into law that teachers and other school personnel may use reasonable physical intervention to safely manage the behavior of students got about three hours of debate Tuesday afternoon but no vote.

The bill (LB147), introduced by Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte, is the answer for teachers, parents and students to protect them from physical injury, he said. “Education cannot occur without a safe and focused learning environment where all children can maximize their learning experience," he said. The bill also would allow physical intervention to take property in a student's possession if it poses a threat of physical injury to another person.

Sen. Justin Wayne, who opposed the bill, said it will destroy the relationship between parents and teachers, students and teachers, schools and their communities. And giving immunity to teachers creates a distrust, he said.

No teacher or personnel could be subject to professional or administrative discipline for the use of physical intervention if it was reasonable, according to the bill. The immunity would begin as soon as the bill is in effect, but the training would take place over four to five years, Wayne said.

There is a disparity in our education system, Wayne said.

The bill will return to debate for another three hours if Groene can show he has the 33 votes to get the bill from filibuster to a vote.

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LEGISLATURE DEADLOCKS ON PROPERTY TAXES, BUSINESS INCENTIVES

LINCOLN - A last-ditch effort to provide substantial property tax relief stalled on Wednesday, triggering a long-threatened refusal to enact a new state business development tax incentives program to succeed the plan that will expire at the end of the year.

After debate on the much-amended tax bill concluded with insufficient support available to overcome an anticipated filibuster by its opponents, the bill's proponents trapped the business incentives package in a similar position following extensive debate. Neither measure was subjected to a vote.

In the wake of the deadlock, Speaker Jim Scheer of Norfolk said he will wait to see if proponents of the two major proposals are able to negotiate some sort of compromise agreement to unlock the logjam before considering whether to attempt to step in himself.

Rural senators had signaled earlier this session that they were prepared to take the business tax incentives proposal hostage if senators did not agree on a substantial property tax reduction plan.

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FOOTBALL PLAYERS COULD BE PAID FOR ENDORSEMENTS UNDER BILL GIVEN FINAL OK BY NEBRASKA LEGISLATURE

LINCOLN — Nebraska football players and other student-athletes could get paid for endorsing or promoting products under a bill given final approval on Tuesday by the State Legislature.

Legislative Bill 962, or the "Fair Pay to Play Act," was introduced by Omaha Sen. Megan Hunt, and was patterned after a California law passed last fall.

On a 35-6 vote, state senators sent the bill to Gov. Pete Ricketts for his approval or veto.

At least 20 other states have introduced similar laws — and two states have passed them — to allow college athletes to get a piece of the $14 billion college athletics industry. LB 962 was introduced amid a nationwide debate over whether college athletes should be paid.

The bill, if given final approval by the governor, wouldn’t go into effect until June 2023 to give colleges and athletes time to adjust. But Hunt has said that date could be moved up if regulations change on the federal or NCAA level.

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NEBRASKA LAWMAKERS TO DEBATE PROPOSED ABORTION METHOD BAN

LINCOLN — Nebraska lawmakers voted Tuesday to pull a controversial abortion bill out of committee and put it up for debate this session.

Legislative Bill 814, introduced by State Sen. Suzanne Geist of Lincoln and named the top priority for abortion opponents, seeks to ban a common second-trimester abortion method in Nebraska.

If passed, Nebraska would become the latest state to attempt to prohibit the procedure known medically as dilation and evacuation. The procedure involves dilating a woman’s cervix and removing the fetus in pieces. Opponents call the procedure dismemberment abortion.

But the bill's opponents vowed to use every means possible to stop the ban. Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha said there would be a filibuster taking up time at every stage of debate. If the bill passes, she said, it will be challenged in court.

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SEN. WAYNE WINS APPROVAL TO ALLOW NEBRASKA LEGISLATURE TO DEBATE POLICE OVERSIGHT BOARD PROPOSAL

LINCOLN – The Nebraska Legislature will at least debate the idea of requiring cities to set up citizen panels to provide oversight over police, an issue that arose during the riots and demonstrations following the police custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

State Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha won approval Thursday to allow debate on his police oversight board proposal on a 32-4 vote.

With only 14 days left in the 2020 session, Wayne said he understands he may not have enough time to get the proposal through a public hearing and three rounds of debate and be passed. But, the Black legislator said, the Legislature needs to respond now, not next year, to demonstrate that it "cares" about the pleas to do something about instances of racial injustice involving law enforcement.

The senator said his bill would require all Nebraska communities that have a full-time police officer to appoint a citizen committee to provide oversight over police activities. Lincoln, currently has such an oversight board, and Omaha has a six-member Citizen Complaint Review Board, but four years ago, several members resigned over complaints that the board was worthless.

A committee hearing about Wayne's proposal could be held no earlier than next Friday or the following Monday, under legislative rules. If the proposal is advanced from committee, it would require three rounds of approval by the Legislature. It could also be added as an amendment to another bill.

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RANCOR ERUPTS ON FIRST DAY OF LEGISLATURE’S RESUMED SESSION

LINCOLN - The Legislature opened Monday to Sen. Jim Scheer of Norfolk advising members to display decorum and courtesy to each other.

The cordial tone lasted until the afternoon when Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers spoke out against Sen. Julie Slama of Peru. Chambers criticized Slama with comments about the appointees' ties to Gov. Pete Ricketts and his campaign manager Jessica Flanagain. Sen. Chambers stated that Slama was being used by the governor.

Lincoln Sen. Suzanne Geist then stood up and said it was difficult to listen to Chambers, a male senator, talk about a female senator in that way, and his assuming Slama had bad character because of a "situation."

Sen. Chambers argued that it was not him who threw the first stone. Rather, Slama's use of a negative campaign flier that included his likeness was. Sen. Chambers said, "Don't put me in your mess if you don't want me to respond."

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PALMTAG MOVES TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT IN DISTRICT 1 ELECTION

NEBRASKA CITY- Janet Palmtag, the District 1 candidate at the center of intense legislative attention this week, said Wednesday she is setting the record straight after deceptive mailers were sent by her own party. 

Palmtag, who is running for the Southeast Nebraska legislative seat against Sen. Julie Slama, is firing back about the mailer, which went out in the spring but is still a hot topic. The mailer sent by the Nebraska Republican Party said she sided with Lincoln liberals, atheists and radical extremists, which she says is not true and a character assassination. 

She's sending out her own flyers to voters this week. One includes an apology from Dan Welch, Nebraska GOP chairman, for the party mailer. In that mailer, the party tried to pair her with Sen. Ernie Chambers, who was pictured. She says she has never met or spoken to Chambers, and he says the same. 

When asked about that Wednesday, Slama said only that she remained focused on the real issues facing her district, including property tax relief, broadband expansion and COVID-19 and flood recovery, and would not talk about the flyer. 

Read the full article HERE

NEBRASKA DEMS BACK ALISHA SHELTON FOR SENATE AS PUSH TO REPLACE CHRIS JANICEK CONTINUE

OMAHA - The Nebraska Democratic Party voted Sunday to back Alisha Shelton, the third-place finisher in May’s U.S. Senate primary, if nominee Chris Janicek calls it quits.

Nebraska Democrats asked Janicek to drop out of the race in June, after he sent staffers text messages that the party described as “sexually inappropriate.”

But Janicek has said he does not plan to drop out of the race against Sen. Ben Sasse, saying he is the Democratic Party’s best chance to beat the Republican incumbent.

Janicek has until Sept. 1 to quit and be replaced on the Nebraska ballot. Otherwise, the Omaha baker will remain listed as the party’s nominee on ballots in November.

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FORTENBERRY GEARS UP FOR BOLZ CHALLENGE IN VOLATILE ELECTION YEAR

LINCOLN - Nebraska's 1st Congressional District hasn't elected a Democratic member of the House since 1964. There are 187,325 Republicans and 121,968 Democrats in the 1st District. However, Sen. Kate Bolz is nonetheless vying for the seat.

Sen. Bolz has stated that the race will be fought over health care because that is the number one point of contrast. Sen. Bolz said, “Congressman Fortenberry has voted against the Affordable Care Act at every opportunity. It's hard to imagine how much more people could be hurting now.” Fortenberry says he welcomes a discussion about health care; it's atop his priority list, too.

Fortenberry approaches this year's re-election challenge with a hefty $1.9 million in campaign cash on hand (as of April 22), a conservative voting record and established name recognition. All political pluses.

Bolz is aggressively attempting to raise money — a substantial TV ad campaign is no doubt required and it would be expensive — and she could use some national Democratic funding assistance to buttress her steady stream of online fundraising efforts.

Additionally, the Fortenberry campaign has geared up for a fight this year with an aggressive early telephone and field campaign.

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UNMC JOINS HUNDREDS OF MED CENTERS WORLDWIDE IN STUDY ON TREATING CRITICALLY ILL COVID-19 PATIENTS

SCOTTSBLUFF - When COVID-19 emerged in the U.S. roughly five months ago, doctors had to quickly figure out how to treat those infected with the virus that causes the illness, particularly those who became critically ill.

To that end, researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and clinical partner Nebraska Medicine have joined 350-plus medical centers in 48 countries in a study intended to help supply intensive care clinicians with the most up-to-date information so they can improve patient outcomes.

What researchers are trying to decipher, said Thompson, an assistant professor of anesthesiology, are the factors that lead to critical illness in COVID-19 patients and how such patients’ illnesses progress from the time they’re first hospitalized until they require critical care.

Further, they will be looking at which patients progress to treatment with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO, a form of life support that partially replaces heart and lung function.

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BRYAN ADDS MORE TESTING SLOTS TO MEET DEMAND

LINCOLN - Bryan Health on Thursday said it is expanding the hours of its drive-thru testing site and increasing the number of COVID-19 tests available to meet a growing need.

Bob Ravenscroft, Bryan's vice president of advancement, said 30 slots were added for Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the site at Bryan LifePointe near 27th Street and Pine Lake Road.

Before it added the additional slots, all available testing times for Thursday and Friday were filled by Wednesday morning. "Things were filling up really quickly yesterday," he said.

The increase in testing demand comes as Lincoln has seen a marked increase in COVID-19 cases over the past couple of weeks. Lancaster County had 230 cases last week, the third-highest weekly total, and as of Wednesday it already had 164 this week.

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TEACHERS UNIONS ASKS LPS TO DELAY FULL SCHOOL REOPENING IN FACE OF SPIKING COVID-19 CASES

LINCOLN - The Lincoln Education Association, in a rare break with the school district that employs 2,300 of its members, issued a statement Thursday asking the district to delay fully reopening Lincoln Public Schools until the spike in COVID-19 cases ends.

The statement says, “There is a very real probability that adults in our school system will become ill or even die with COVID by reopening now. That is not a price that our community should pay.”

The teachers union said its preference is to delay reopening of schools until the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department’s “risk dial” is firmly in the green (safest) range, or until the county has 14 days with no new cases. It is now in the orange, or high-risk, range.

LPS has been moving forward with plans to reopen schools on Aug. 12, and will release the specifics of their plan on Tuesday during the daily briefing by the mayor and Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department.

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LINCOLN MAYOR: RISE IN CORONAVIRUS CASES THREATENS NEW RESTRICTIONS

LINCOLN - A rise in coronavirus cases in the Lincoln area may require a return to tougher restrictions, Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird said Tuesday. The mayor said the surge threatens public health and the reopening of schools and businesses.

Officials point to the following trends: » For the week ending Saturday, 230 new cases were reported, the highest weekly total since the week ending May 23.

» About 57% of the new cases in the past two weeks have been among people in their 20s, an age group that makes up only 18.5% of Lancaster County.

» The weekly positive rate has increased from 3.1% at the end of June to about 7.5% last week.

» On Tuesday, 21 virus patients were hospitalized, up from nine on July 3. That includes 11 Lancaster County residents and 10 from elsewhere. Three of those people are on ventilators.

With 44 new cases Tuesday, Lancaster County stands at 2,226 total cases. Thirteen people have died.

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