HEINEMAN PREPARES FOR POSSIBLE GUBERNATORIAL BID

HEINEMAN PREPARES FOR POSSIBLE GUBERNATORIAL BID

FREMONT-  In a move that clears the path for his possible entry into the 2022 Republican gubernatorial race, former Gov. Dave Heineman has submitted his resignation as a member of the board of directors of the Conklin Company. Conklin is the manufacturing and distribution company in Kansas City owned and headed by Charles Herbster, who is seeking the GOP nomination for governor. 

Heineman's resignation is effective on June 30.

"I am in no rush to make a decision" about a gubernatorial bid, Heineman said Friday during a telephone interview. "I will continue to evaluate," he said. "I'm very much in the listening mode. I have a serious decision to make."

Heineman said he probably won't make a decision until sometime this fall, and perhaps not until late into autumn. He noted that growing workforce, high taxes, education funding and rural broadband were key issues facing the state.

The primary will be held on May 10th of 2022, and already includes Regent Jim Pillen, and business owner Herbster. State Senator Brett Lindstrom is also expected to enter the race.

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SPEAKER HILGERS POINTS TO BIG POSSBILIITES FOR THE LEGISALTURE AND STATE IN 2022

LINCOLN- In his closing comments to the members of the 2021 Legislature, Speaker Mike Hilgers had one message: It is now time now to think big. The resources will be there in 2022, Speaker of the Legislature Mike Hilgers says, as $500 million in new federal pandemic recovery assistance comes flowing into the state.

"It might be a once-in-a-legislative-generation opportunity for the state," Hilgers said.

And legislative dynamics shout that the moment is now: Some heavy-hitters, experienced senators who are leaders and doers and who already have racked up some big accomplishments for the state, will be serving their eighth and final year in the Legislature, the Lincoln senator noted. 

"Big thinkers with good working relationships," Hilgers said. The time is right, he said, and the resources will be there. "We're going to come to play next year," the speaker said.

After reviewing the pandemic-challenged 2021 Legislature's accomplishments during an interview in his office at the Capitol immediately after senators adjourned Thursday and headed home, Hilgers cast a look ahead. 

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NEBRASKA AMONG STATES CLAIMING SOCial SECURITY OWED TO FOSTER KIDS

LINCOLN — Advocates for children are raising concerns about a state effort to use Social Security payments owed to foster kids to help defray the costs of foster care — a practice state officials say is completely legal. Since 2009, Nebraska has paid a Virginia company, Maximus Health Services, to research which of the state’s 4,000 foster children might be eligible for Social Security, either due to a physical or mental disability or due to losing a parent, and then go after those benefits.

Over the past three years, the effort has captured about $2.7 million a year in Social Security benefits, which has been used to reimburse state expenses for foster care. The state spent $130 million on all child welfare services in fiscal year 2019-20, which includes both out-of-home care, like foster care, and in-home services.

The state last year signed a $301,500 contract with Maximus to continue finding Social Security benefits through September of 2023. The company has been providing similar services to the State of Iowa since 2004. 

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GROUP BEHIND PROPOSED CASINO AT OMAHA'S HORSEMANS PARK SEEKS $17.5 MILLION IN TIF

OMAHA- Developers behind a plan to transform Omaha’s Horsemen’s Park into one of Nebraska’s first casinos are counting on the city to pony up $17.5 million in tax incentives to bring the project over the finish line. A $220 million plan by WarHorse Gaming Omaha — a subsidiary of Ho-Chunk Inc., the economic development arm of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska — calls for a significant renovation and expansion of the current Horsemen’s campus near 60th and Q streets.

The development group seeks TIF to help complete the Casino funding. Tax increment financing, known as TIF, is a popular, sometimes controversial redevelopment tool based in state law that allows developers to take out a loan to help cover eligible redevelopment expenses in areas that have been deemed blighted.

The loan is paid back, generally over a 15-year period, by using the increased property taxes that are generated on the new development. During the TIF period, the property owner continues to pay a portion of property taxes based on the valuation that existed before any improvements. After the TIF loan is repaid, property taxes collected on the higher-value, improved property then start flowing to the tax rolls.

The TIF request faces opposition. Pat Loontjer, the executive director of Gambling With The Good Life who for decades has led the charge against legalized gambling in Nebraska, said she thinks the TIF request is an abuse of the program. 

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NEBRASKA OPENS UP MEDICAID EXPANSION, DROPS PLAN FOR RESTRICITONS

LINCOLN — State officials announced Tuesday that all Nebraskans covered by the Medicaid expansion program will get the full range of benefits, starting Oct. 1. State officials have estimated that eventually 90,000 Nebraskans will sign up for the program. The decision represents an about-face for Gov. Pete Ricketts’ administration and comes on the heels of a shift in policy from the Trump to Biden administrations. Ricketts had been pursuing a two-tier system of coverage since voters approved Medicaid expansion in November 2018.

State Sen. Adam Morfeld of Lincoln, who led the petition drive that put Medicaid expansion on the ballot, welcomed the announcement but noted the delay in reaching that point. 

Expanded Medicaid offers coverage for working-age adults whose incomes fall below 138% of the federal poverty level — $17,774 for a single person or $36,570 for a family of four. The state has provided a full range of benefits to some groups covered under Medicaid expansion. Those are pregnant women, people considered medically frail and young adults ages 19 and 20.

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SIZE LIMITS ON NEBRASKA CHILD CARE GROUPS SHELVED AFTER UPROAR FROM PROVIDERS

LINCOLN — A public uproar over proposed limits on child care group sizes led to an about-face by the state on Wednesday.

Department of Health and Human Services officials announced that they will suspend their efforts to change regulations governing child care centers, school-age-only centers and preschools. In a statement, HHS officials said they appreciated the feedback from a recent public hearing at which several child care providers raised concerns about the proposed group size limits.

“The purpose of allowing public comment is at the very core of why these types of forums are so invaluable to serving Nebraskans,” the statement said.

As proposed, the youngest children, those ages 6 weeks through 18 months, would be limited to eight per group or room. The limits increase with the age of the children, until they reach 30 for school-age children. An HHS statement said the agency will work with providers to “chart our path forward” and “ultimately ensure a collective approach towards a best in class model.”

“We appreciate this opportunity to strengthen and enhance our child care system here in Nebraska and look forward to improving our systems and developing innovative solutions, especially because of all we experienced and learned in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dannette Smith, the HHS CEO.

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NEBRASKA CORRECTIONS MOVING FORWARD WITH PLANS FOR PRISON EXPANSION

LINCOLN — Nebraska prison officials are moving forward with planning for two construction projects, as well as an update of the agency’s master plan. The Nebraska Department of Correctional Services recently advertised for bids from consultants to guide construction of a 96-bed expansion at the Lincoln Correctional Center/Diagnostic Evaluation Center campus, according to a press release. The beds will be designated for mental health, older incarcerated individuals or other special-needs populations. Construction is already underway on a connection between the LCC and DEC that will add nearly 450 beds.

The department has also issued a request for proposals for the siting and design work of a proposed 1,512-bed prison to replace the aging Nebraska State Penitentiary. The new prison, expected to cost $230 million, was proposed by Gov. Pete Ricketts last year, but state lawmakers opted to study the need for a new prison before giving a final OK to the new facility, which would be one of the most expensive construction projects in state history. 

Nebraska’s prison system has struggled with overcrowding for more than a decade and at one point held 2,100 more inmates than the design capacity of its 10 prisons. Legislators did allocate $14.7 million to start designing and planning the proposed facility. 

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HOUSE DEMS UNVEIL $547B INFRASRUCTURE BILL AMID BIDEN TALKS

WASHINGTON- House Democrats released a plan Friday for spending $547 billion over the next five years on road, mass transit and rail projects, a blueprint for what they want parts of President Joe Biden’s broader infrastructure proposal to look like. 

Biden is holding another round of talks Friday with the lead Senate Republican negotiator, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia. In his meeting earlier this week with Capito, Biden offered tax concessions aimed at reaching a bipartisan compromise on his overall infrastructure proposal. The two sides are at odds over how to pay for infrastructure projects, with Republicans ruling out higher corporate taxes and the White House rejecting a GOP proposal to use unspent COVID-19 relief funds

Some Democrats have questioned the merits of that approach and are already unhappy with some of the compromises that Biden has offered. They support using a process that would allow Democrats to pass an infrastructure boost with a simple majority, which they did through a COVID-19 relief measure that delivered $1,400 payments to most Americans.

“Getting Republicans on board is not necessary. Getting the American people back on their feet is,” Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., said Thursday night.

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NEBRASKA OFFICIAL RAISES CONCERNS ABOUT DOUGLAS COUNTY JUVENILE DETENTION CENTER PLANS

OMAHA- State officials overseeing jails want Douglas County to address several concerns before receiving final approval for the downtown juvenile detention center plans. Those include a too-small space for visitation, parking for visitors and volunteers, room sizes that would prohibit the county from expanding the capacity in the future, staffing, food service for detained youths and natural light in their rooms. The concerns were spelled out in a letter to the Douglas County Board from Denny Macomber, director of the Jail Standards Division of the Nebraska Crime Commission. They won’t prevent the Jail Standards Board from approving the project. The plans as submitted meet the state’s jail design and construction standards, Macomber said Monday.

“The issues we have and that I address there (in the letter) are things that they need to straighten out before they move in to avoid problems down the road,” he said.

The list includes serious concerns. The room size issue relates to the relatively smaller capacity, 64 people, at the county’s new detention center than at the current Douglas County Youth Center, which can hold more than 100.

At 77 square feet each, the rooms in the new detention center will be smaller than the 90-square-foot rooms at the current facility. The new rooms will big enough for one person each, Macomber said.

“We recognize this is by design,” his letter said. “However, making the rooms smaller than ninety square feet means that these rooms can never be double bunked should the county want to expand their options for housing in the future.” 

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GRETNA POISED TO DOUBLE IN SIZE AFTER NEBRASKA SUPREME COURT RULING

GRETNA- The City of Gretna is poised to double in size and add nearly 3,000 people after the Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday sided with the city in an annexation dispute with Sarpy County. At issue was a 2017 annexation package by Gretna to bring nearly 3,000 acres into the city. The area includes Vala’s Pumpkin Patch, Sapp Bros. and housing subdivisions including Lincoln Place, Willow Park and Standing Stone.

In a lawsuit that has delayed the annexation by nearly four years, the county argued that the annexation wasn’t legal because it included 22 parcels of agricultural land that were “almost exclusively unplatted, with rural roads and no sewer connection,” according to a filing by the state Supreme Court. State law says cities can annex only land that is “urban or suburban in character.”

Last year, a Sarpy County District Court judge sided with the county, accepting its arguments that the contested parcels qualified as agricultural land. The district court found that none of the parcels were currently being developed, and that Gretna’s growth as a city had not trended in the general direction of the areas that Gretna sought to annex, the filing states. But the high court Friday overturned that decision, ruling that the district court failed to consider future development plans in the annexed areas.

Gretna Mayor Mike Evans said he was pleased with the ruling and excited to welcome a new crop of businesses and residents to Gretna. He said it could take a few months until the area officially is part of the city.

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NEBRASKA WILL GET $65 MILLION MORE IN FEDERAL FLOODING AID

STATE- Nebraska will receive an estimated $65 million in additional federal funding assistance to help pay costs for repair of public infrastructure damaged as a result of historic flooding that ravaged the state in 2019. "This news is great for the state of Nebraska, but especially for the counties that were severely impacted," Bryan Tuma, assistant director of the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency, said. 

"This will significantly defray the cost of the disaster for state and local governments."

Tuma said he expects $437 million in public assistance costs will grow beyond $500 million over time.  An early estimate is $511 million. An anticipated additional $65 million in federal assistance benefits now will be "a significant benefit to the state," Tuma said.

The 2019 disaster was described as "a bomb cyclone" event. Warm temperatures and heavy rain melted a deep snowpack and the resulting flow of water moved rapidly over frozen ground into swollen rivers, many of which had accumulated thick ice during a cold winter. Resulting damage was estimated at more than $1.3 billion.

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UNMC RESEARCHERS IDENTIFY BETTER-TOLERATED THERAPY FOR PARKINSON'S DISEASE

OMAHA- A team of University of Nebraska Medical Center researchers has shown that a smaller dose of a drug repurposed as a Parkinson’s disease treatment produced fewer side effects than a larger dose while keeping disease signs and symptoms stable.

Now, the researchers are “incredibly well-positioned” to seek approval from federal regulators for a larger study, said Dr. Howard Gendelman, chairman of UNMC’s pharmacology and experimental neurosciences department and one of the lead researchers.

The study builds off a 2016 trial in humans in which the researchers used the drug to shift a population of white blood cells from a destructive mode to a protective state that can help defend parts of the brain from injury.

For the new trial, the researchers, working with drugmaker Partner Therapeutics of Lexington, Massachusetts, halved the original dose and followed five patients for a year. The drug, called sargramostim, or Leukine, sometimes is used in patients receiving chemotherapy.

The patients tolerated the drug and took it safely for a year. In addition, signs and symptoms of the disease, rather than progressing — as usually is the case with Parkinson’s — remained stable.

The results of the study were published recently in EBioMedicine, an online Lancet journal. Because the data proved promising, the study was extended to 24 months and enrolled additional patients.

Currently, drugs and other therapies can be used to fight the symptoms of Parkinson’s, but they don’t treat the disease itself.

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STOTHERT NAMES THOMAS WARREN SR., FORMER OMAHA POLICE CHieF, AS NEXT CHIEF OF STAFF

OMAHA- Mayor Jean Stothert has selected former Omaha Police Chief Thomas Warren Sr. to serve as her next chief of staff.

Warren is the current president and CEO of the Urban League of Nebraska. He served 24 years with the Police Department, including four years as chief, before retiring in 2008. During his time with the city, and in the intervening years leading a nonprofit and serving on several local boards, Warren said he worked closely with city departments, learned the landscape of city government and established relationships with Omaha’s donor community that he said will be vital to future public-private partnerships. 

“Our economy is strong, the city of Omaha is very safe and this is a great opportunity for me to continue in my service to this community,” Warren said. 

Stothert said the chief of staff role requires someone with a wide knowledge base and skill sets: a “jack-of-all-trades” who understands relationships, negotiation, problem-solving, customer service, finance and city law. She called Warren a recognized community leader who shares her vision for Omaha’s future.

“Tom supports (the) goals of my administration to make Omaha a safe, growing, financially stable, diverse and inclusive city,” Stothert said.

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$43.5 MILLION RETAIL, RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT PLANNED FOR OMAHA'S BLACKSTONE DISTRICT

OMAHA- A new $43.5 million building, nine stories tall, is aimed at bringing more retail, apartments and parking to Omaha’s trendy Blackstone District. Developers say their planned mixed-use building, which replaces a surface parking lot and a few smaller buildings, would be a major addition to the midtown neighborhood. Proposed by developers Tom McLeay, Matt Dwyer and Jay Lund, the complex would face Farnam Street between 37th and 38th Streets. According to city documents, construction is tentatively scheduled to begin this October and be completed in September 2023.

“In some ways, this is the last big piece here on Farnam Street. In other ways, it’s the hole in the doughnut that we’re filling in for this area,” McLeay said. “I think it will be a really nice addition that will give the Blackstone a more elevated and bigger city experience. It will feel a little more like Denver or Chicago than Omaha when it’s all said and done.”

The building looks to offer over 20,000 square feet of retail space, enough room for 10 stores. It will house 161 apartments as well as 400 needed parking spaces to accompany the Blackstone District. 

“I think I speak for all three of us with 100% certainty that, without tax increment financing, the Blackstone District would be exactly the way it was 10 years ago,” McLeay said.

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CARRY-OUT ALCOHOL FROM RESTAURANTS BECOMES PERMANENTLY LEGAL IN NEBRASKA

Nebraska restaurants can now offer carry-out alcohol permanently under a new state law inspired by Gov. Pete Ricketts' efforts to help struggling businesses during the pandemic. Ricketts announced Wednesday that he signed the measure into law. It went into effect immediately.

The governor issued an executive order to allow carry-out alcohol in March 2020 to aid restaurants that were struggling financially because of the pandemic and mandatory social distancing restrictions.

The order proved popular with the public, and some restaurants reported that it had helped their sales. Ricketts said the order showed that the previous restriction on carry-out alcohol was unnecessary.

The law applies to restaurants and farm wineries with the proper liquor licenses. To-go alcohol must be sold in a sealed, tamper-evident container and not partially consumed.

Lawmakers approved the measure, 45-0.

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PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION OKs ONE COMPANY'SPLAN TO RECOUP NEBRASKA GAS COSTS FROM COLD SNAP

The Nebraska Public Service Commission has approved one natural gas company's plan to recoup costs related to the deep freeze that settled over the state in February. In an order issued May 11, the commission gave its blessing to a proposal by Northwestern Energy to recoup over a two-year period more than $25 million in gas supply costs incurred amid record-setting cold temperatures across a large swath of the central U.S.

By law, Black Hills and Northwestern Energy, the only two natural gas companies regulated by the PSC, are allowed to recoup the actual costs of the natural gas they provide to customers. However, the commission asked them to hold off adding them to bills right away and to come up with a plan to seek reimbursement over time to lessen the effects on ratepayers.

While the two companies provide natural gas to a large chunk of the state, many people get their natural gas service from municipal providers, ranging in size from Omaha Metropolitan Utilities District, which serves more than 200,000 customers, to small-town providers that have a few hundred customers.

Many of those providers faced the same astronomical cost increases to buy natural gas during the cold snap but did not have the financial wherewithal to defer repayment.

On Thursday, the Nebraska Legislature voted 40-7 to pass LB131, a bill that sets aside $4 million in emergency grants for small towns and villages that were hard-hit during the February cold snap. 

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'THERE'S MORE WORK TO DO' - RICKETTS HAILS HISTORIC LEGISLATIVE TAX CUTS IN ADDRESSING SENATORS

Lincoln-Gov. Pete Ricketts saluted the 2021 Legislature on Thursday for what he described as an historic record of tax reduction as it completed its regular session in a challenging pandemic year.

In an address to the Legislature, the governor hailed adoption of a new two-year state budget that will hold spending to 2.4% average annual growth. Legislative action in conjunction with his own budget recommendations will provide more than $430 million in property tax relief during each year of the coming biennium, he said.

Combined with increases in the current property tax relief fund and homestead tax exemptions, property tax relief will total nearly $1.7 billion over the next two years, the governor said.

Additional revenue measures approved by the Legislature, including tax cuts for retired military veterans and Social Security recipients, boost total tax reduction to more than $1.8 billion, Ricketts said.

"That's historic," he said. "That's the greatest amount of tax relief in a quarter-century," he said.

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LEGISLATURE OVERRIDES RICKETTS' VETEOS ON OPS PENSION MANAGEMENT, FOOD, AND HEATING AID

LINCOLN — Nebraska lawmakers went toe-to-toe with Gov. Pete Ricketts on Wednesday over three veto override motions and prevailed on all three. As a result, the state will take over the management, but not the liabilities, of the Omaha Public Schools retirement plan and more Nebraskans will be able to qualify for food aid and heating assistance.

Only a few senators changed their votes on any of the three bills, despite pressure from Ricketts for the vetoes to be sustained. His efforts include a video posted to Twitter Monday, in which he said he had vetoed “three bad bills.” He urged Nebraskans to contact state senators and ask them to back his vetoes.

Instead, lawmakers voted 31-18 to override the governor’s veto of Legislative Bill 147. The measure, introduced by State Sen. Mark Kolterman of Seward, puts the Nebraska Public Employees Retirement Systems in charge of managing the troubled OPS pension system, starting in 2024.

Earlier in the afternoon, lawmakers overrode the veto of LB 108 on a 30-19 vote. That measure, introduced by Sen. John McCollister of Omaha, increases income limits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to 165% of the federal poverty level, up from 130%, for two years.

The third measure, LB 306, was passed over the governor’s veto on a 32-15 vote. The bill, introduced by Sen. Tom Brandt of Plymouth, will provide federally funded heating and cooling assistance to more Nebraskans.

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NEBRASKA LEGISLATURE ADJOURNS 'HISTORIC' SESSION THAT PROVIDED TAX CUTS AND HELP FOR MILITARY FAMILIES

LINCOLN — The State Legislature on Thursday adjourned its 2021 session that state leaders labeled "historic" due to the increased tax relief provided.

Gov. Pete Ricketts said that the $1.8 billion in property tax credits and other tax cuts provided by lawmakers over the next two years were "the most, the greatest, the biggest in a quarter century and probably in the history of Nebraska."

The Legislature passed a bill that intends to phase out state income taxes on Social Security checks over 10 years, and enacted a law that will give military retirees a 100% exemption on their federal pensions.

In addition, taxpayers will see an increase in state credits offered to offset high property taxes, and will not have to pay sales taxes on residential water bills. Additional tax cuts were offered on inputs for ethanol plants and machinery used by farmers to cool livestock barns and haul combine heads.

Also passed in 2021 was a measure allocating $40 million over two years in state funds to expand broadband internet in rural areas, and a law to continue a pandemic-inspired policy that allows bars and restaurants to sell take-out cocktails.

Ricketts urged senators to keep working on one of his top priorities that failed to pass in 2021 — a bill limiting increases in property tax spending by schools and other local governments to 3% a year or less. The governor spoke a day after the Legislature overrode all three vetoes that he issued this session on unrelated bills.

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NEBRASKA PARENTS OF DISABLED CHILDREN RALLY AT ROTUNDA

Lincoln- On the last day of the legislative session, one group of Nebraskans stood over in the Rotunda as a reminder of one issue that didn’t get done. In many cases, they are the children who don’t feel the grass on their feet the same as other people, or get looks from other kids because they just don’t understand. Too many times, they feel, their voices aren’t heard. That’s what it felt again last week in the Unicameral Legislature.

For years, Nebraska families with intellectually or developmentally disabled children have been asking state legislators to help them fill a gap in coverage like other states, because the waiting line for financial assistance is too long. Shonda Knop, with Child on the Waiting List, attended the rally. “When parents think of what they want for their kids, they don’t think feeding tubes, catheters, epilepsy medications or trials for quality of life. we want our families to stay together. but with the filibuster and just 3 votes — you are asking families to divorce or give up a kid to the state or move.”

State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha, who has been pushing for change, believes next year will be different. “Before you turn 15 Jacoby, we’re going make this happen,” she said. 

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