NEBRASKANS FAILING TO CLAIM $200 MILLION IN STATE INCOME TAX CREDITS, OFFICIALS SAY

LINCOLN- Major tax breaks passed by the State Legislature two years ago are not being claimed by Nebraska residents, and there is almost $200 million left in the pot. Around 40% of Nebraskans have failed to claim the property tax refund on their state income tax forms. Gov. Ricketts joined a variety of state leaders to urge citizens to claim their money. "It's major money," the Governor announced.

Owners of $250,000 homes in Lincoln can claim up to $1,137 in refunds this year, but many are unaware of this. "That's a house payment. That's a big deal," stated Gov. Ricketts during the press conference. The Governor also claimed that Nebraskans may see a 30% reduction in their property tax bill if they take advantage of the income tax refund. These refunds and credits come from two programs, the automatically applied Real Property Tax Credit, and the Nebraska Property Tax Incentive Act, which must be manually claimed.

State Tax Commissioner Tony Fulton stated that, because the program is now new, it will take time for a majority of the population to become aware of it. "It takes time for it to sink in," said Fulton.

Some in the crowd asked the Governor why, like the Real Property Tax Credit, the new tax reductions aren't automatically applied. Gov. Ricketts stated that the way it's done now is "the best way to do it."

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$15 AN HOUR COULD HELP 150,000 NEBRASKANS, ANALYSIS SAYS

LINCOLN- The group Raise the Wage Nebraska has long fought to increase the minimum wage in the state. Last week, the group released an Economic Policy Institute analysis that suggested that raising Nebraska's minimum wage to $15 would benefit around 150,000 workers in the state.

According to the report, around 60% of those 150,000 workers are women, 43% have attended college, and another 40% live in rural Nebraska. A little over 20% also have children.

Kim Baker, a Lincoln citizen, stated, "I have been a hard-working employee in customer service and claims management since I was 17. I've done everything right, and I have never made more than $15 an hour. After 20 years, I should be able to live independently with my son but the cost of housing alone makes that impossible on my current wage."

Kate Wolfe, campaign manager for Raise the Wage Nebraska, shared a similar sentiment, stating that "working families can't make ends meet because wages haven't kept up and parents can't afford to pay rent and put food on the table at today's minimum wage of $9 an hour."

Raise the Wage Nebraska collected over 97,000 signatures to place a minimum wage increase initiative on the ballot, so it will be for Nebraskans to decide come November 8th.

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GROUP SAYS VOTER ID WOULD BLOCK THOUSANDS OF NEBRASKANS FROM VOTING

LINCOLN- Voting rights advocates argued that Nebraska’s Voter ID initiative on the November ballot is a blunt-force proposal aimed at fixing a nonexistent problem.

Omaha civil rights activist Preston Love Jr. spoke on a panel of people this week opposing Initiative 432. The ballot measure would require Nebraskans to show a valid photo ID to vote.

The anti-ID panelists — Love, ACLU Nebraska’s Jane Seu and Civic Nebraska’s Heather Engdahl — said voter ID laws reduce voting by people in communities of color and by people in poverty.

Seu cited studies from states that now require a form of ID to vote that indicated a 2-3 percentage point decline in turnout after requiring ID. That’s thousands of people shut out, Seu said.

Voter ID adds more complications and confusion to in-person voting and voting by mail, she said. People face longer lines and longer waits to vote, and more mailed-in ballots are rejected.

Gov. Pete Ricketts and backers of voter ID, including State Sen. Julie Slama of Dunbar, said that requiring ID is a “common sense” way to make sure elections remain secure.

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MEDICAL MARIJUANA INITIATIVE OFFICIAL VOICES 'DISGUST' AT LATE REVIEW OF ITS SIGNATURES

LINCOLN- Crista Eggers, in a letter to Secretary of State Bob Evnen, said Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana has yet to receive a final determination of whether it came close to submitting the required number of signatures and, because of that, has now lost the ability to legally challenge the count.

State law requires that groups file contests to a count within 10 days of submitting their signatures, a time period that has now expired.

The medical marijuana group was informed Aug. 22 that it had failed to turn in sufficient signatures to qualify for the November ballot.

After proponents raised some concerns that some signatures had not been counted, the Secretary of State’s Office agreed Aug. 24 to conduct an additional review. However, at that time, state officials insisted that the review wouldn’t make a difference in their determination that the petition drive fell short.

Officials with Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, meanwhile, have said they weren’t quite sure about that. They maintain that the additional review of signatures might have pushed their court close enough to the number required to lead to a legal challenge.

The ballot for the November election was finalized on September 16th, meaning it’s too late to add items such as the medical marijuana question.

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FINAL LIST OF CANDIDATES, BALLOT MEASURES CERTIFIED BY SECRETARY OF STATE OFFICE

LINCOLN- The final list of candidates for offices and ballot measures have been certified by Secretary of State Bob Evnen's office.

“My office has finalized the certification of candidates and ballot measures that file with the State of Nebraska,” Evnen said. “This certification is a vital part of the process and ensures that candidate names and party affiliations are listed correctly.”

The 2022 general election ballot will also allow voters to vote on two initiatives measures proposed by petition including: Voter ID Constitutional Amendment: Initiative Measure 432 and Minimum Wage Initiative: Initiative Measure 433.

“In accordance with the placement of the initiative measure on the ballot, my office will be hosting a hearing in each of the three congressional districts as required by law,” said Evnen. “These hearings will allow Nebraska voters to comment.”

Informational pamphlets will be created and distributed for each initiative. In addition, pamphlets will be available in county election offices and the office of the Secretary of State by the end of September.

Early ballots will begin to be sent starting Oct. 3.

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NEBRASKA STATE SENATOR PUSHING TO MAKE ELECTION DAY A HOLIDAY

LINCOLN- State Sen. Eliot Bostar, who represents south-central Lincoln, introduced two bills last legislative session to make Election Day a state holiday.

Senator Bostar has indicated that he will attempt again in the upcoming legislative session to have the day certified as a holiday. It is not yet clear if Senator Bostar will propose the same legislation or if it will be altered to encourage an easier route of approval.

The measure was opposed in this past session by multiple senators and the biggest opposer was Governor Pete Ricketts who said the measure was completely unnecessary.

Many states already recognize elections as state holidays, but the laws surrounding the holiday vary from state to state.

Senator Bostar, of District 29, also wants to automatically register everyone to vote at the Department of Motor Vehicles and provide postage for mail-in voting. Allowing for full voting engagement across the state is very important to him claimed Senator Bostar.

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NEBRASKA ELECTION OFFICIALS SAY THEIR JOB IS MORE STRESSFUL, UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT

LINCOLN- Three Nebraska election officials affirmed that the state is not immune to the rising threat of violence towards election workers seen all over the country. Brian Kruse, the Douglas County election commissioner, stated that "it's gotten more stressful, it's a little more grueling. We're obviously under the microscope more."

Lancaster County election commissioner Dave Shirley shared a similar sentiment, saying, "It's more challenging today in so many different ways."

While the three election officials haven't yet seen any substantial threats, they believe it's very possible that they will come November. However, some potential election threats have been reported over the past few years. In 2020, a suspicious package that looked like a bomb was mailed to the Hall County Election Commissioners Office, and the building had to be evacuated. 

During the 2020 presidential elections, Nebraska also received a multitude of public record requests associated with the false claims of widespread voter fraud, which workers saw as harassment. 

Since Covid-19 started, many Nebraska election offices lost several key election workers, and are having trouble hiring because many fear these threats and harassment. 

Hall County Election Commissioner Tracy Overstreet claimed that, since the bomb threat, the office has had to update much of its security. "We have to think about everything in a different light," said Overstreet, "We haven't seen the problems here, but we have to pay attention to what's happening across the country."

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ANOTHER WILDFIRE BREAKS OUT IN NEBRASKA'S PARCHED PANHANDLE

GERING- Nearly 30 volunteer fire departments battled erratic winds and a temperature inversion trapping smoke near the ground at a wildfire south of Gering in Nebraska’s Panhandle.

The 3,700-acre Smokey Fire broke out on September 13th, and its cause has yet to be determined.

Four single-engine air tankers (SEATs) from Nebraska and Wyoming were working the fire, along with a large air tanker from Colorado. Two Nebraska National Guard UH60 Blackhawk helicopters were also activated, according to the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency.

“The many air assets fighting this fire along with those firefighters on the ground are working tirelessly to get this fire under control,” said Tim Grubbs, fire chief for the Banner County Volunteer Fire Department.

Firefighters are working to establish fire containment lines around the fire’s perimeter but did not yet have a percentage of containment.

The fire has temporarily closed Williams Gap Wildlife Management Area in Banner County. Several hundred of the 1,800 acres had burned as of September 14th.

Drought conditions and high winds have served to provide prime conditions for wildfires across Nebraska this year.

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STATE SENATOR SUZANNE GEIST ANNOUNCES GOP BID FOR LINCOLN MAYOR

LINCOLN- State Sen. Suzanne Geist announced a bid for Lincoln mayor saying she wants city voters to feel safer from crime, bounce less on city streets, secure a second source of city water and join fewer divisive political fights.

The Republican businesswoman said her 2023 mayoral campaign will not personally attack the state’s highest-profile elected Democrat, Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird. Geist said she will, however, contrast her approach to governing with Baird’s record.

“I have a different vision for what I think Lincoln could be than where we are going right now. I look at the climate that’s going on in our society, not just in our town, but in our country, and I think we’re very polarized,” Geist said.

“I see this job in the city as being a uniting job. It doesn’t have a lot to do with issues that are divisive.”

Political observers said they expect issues such as abortion, guns and public health mandates to affect the mayor’s race in Lincoln, because of the national political environment and opposing views between the major political parties. 

Geist said she knows that if she became mayor, she would have to work with a City Council that is likely to maintain a supermajority or majority of Democrats.

She said she would call on her experience working in the officially nonpartisan Legislature She also said one of her strengths is her ability to talk and connect with people who disagree politically and figure out what’s possible.

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DOZENS OF SMALL MEAT PROCESSORS SHARE IN FIRST-ROUND OF ARPA-FUNDED STATE GRANTS

LINCOLN- Pelican's Meat Processing Plant, and around a dozen smaller plants, will be awarded up to $80,000 each in federal ARPA grants to help bolster the state's beef and pork processing. Sandie Lavigne, daughter of Frank Pelican, stated that the funds will help alleviate one of the biggest problems many meat processing plants are facing today: staff shortages.

The rest of the funds, says Lavigne, will be used to pay off debt the plant has accrued, and may also be used to purchase a new meat wrapping machine. 

Whichever way Pelican's Meat Processing Plant decides to spend their new grant funds, it will help make life at the plant a little easier, says Lavigne. 

The program was launched earlier this spring by the Nebraska Legislature and Gov. Ricketts, and utilizes around $10 million of the $1 billion granted to Nebraska by Pres. Biden. The program seeks to jump-start the economy which was heavily slowed down by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The program also seeks out smaller meat processes, aiming to award plants that have fewer than 25 employees and less than $2.5 million in sales each year. 

Steve Wellman, director of the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, stated that the grants will help Nebraska strengthen the country's food supply. "These grants serve as a reminder that Nebraska is committed to the meat processing industry, and we value its importance to agriculture," said Wellman.

A second round of grants will be allocated in the first half of 2023, and will run until the funds run out.

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NEBRASKA RANKS HIGH AMONG STATES THAT LOST YOUNG AND WEALTHY

LINCOLN- SmartAsset.com, a financial advice, and ranking website looked into what states are losing the youngest rich professionals, Nebraska ranked 10th.

The researchers considered people younger than 35 years with adjusted gross incomes of at least $100,000. They used Internal Revenue Service data to compare where they lived from year to year. 

In Nebraska, SmartAsset said, 722 rich young professionals moved to the state between 2019 and 2020, compared to 820 who moved out of the state during that same time period. That’s a net loss of 98. 

The state that gained the most rich young professionals, Texas, had a net gain of 3,823.

Among the findings was that two states without state income tax — Texas and Florida — took the top spots for where wealthy millennials moved to. Other popular destinations were Washington, Colorado and New Jersey.

Places that lost the most high-earning young workers that year were, respectively, New York, California, Illinois, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Louisiana, North Dakota, Virginia, Oklahoma and Nebraska.

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USDA MORE THAN TRIPLES FUNDING FOR 'CLIMATE SMART' AGRICULTURE

LINCOLN- The Biden administration plans to distribute more than $3 billion to fund projects that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and sequester carbon in agriculture and forestry. This nearly triples the initial commitment that was announced in February. 

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said, "This is a really, really important day for American agriculture, I just hope everybody fully appreciates the significance of what we’re doing here.”

The program is being funded through the Commodity Credit Corporation, which has been historically used to support farmers with loans and payments and to fund conservation programs of the farm bill.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has said it can use the CCC to fund the new climate program without congressional approval because it will “aid in the expansion of markets for agricultural commodities,” a provision of its charter. A key goal of the program is to create markets for climate-friendly products.

The initial selected projects will get a total of about $2.8 billion over the course of five years, and the companies, universities, conservation groups and others that have proposed them will contribute a total of about $1.4 billion, Vilsack said. Funding for a second group of projects is expected later this year. 

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LINCOLN CASINO OPENING WILL HAVE TO WAIT AFTER COMMISSION HEARING IS POSTPONED

LINCOLN- The Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission canceled a meeting that had been scheduled for September 13th over Zoom. 

The main item on the agenda was the consideration of a permanent license for the WarHorse Casino proposed for the Lincoln Race Course near U.S. 77 and West Denton Road. 

WarHorse was prepared to open a temporary casino with 433 slot machines in the race course's simulcast building on Sept. 19 if it had received a license from the commission. 

Commission Chairman Dennis Lee said a couple of members of the commission, who he did not name, expressed concerns about making the decision to grant the state's first permanent casino license over a Zoom meeting. 

Instead, consideration of WarHorse's permanent license has been moved to the commission's regular monthly meeting on Sept. 23.

A spokesperson for the casino said, "if WarHorse receives its permanent gaming license on Sept. 23, the Lincoln casino will open the next day." 

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FORMER OMAHA POLICE CAPTAIN PREVAILS IN SUIT AGAINST CITY, POLICE CHIEF

OMAHA- A former Omaha police captain has prevailed in her claim that Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer retaliated against her by not promoting her to deputy chief for filing a discrimination complaint with the Mayor’s Office.

After deliberating for five hours, an eight-person jury unanimously agreed that former Capt. Kathy Belcastro-Gonzalez’s complaint played a role in Schmaderer’s choice to not promote her to deputy chief. 

Belcastro-Gonzalez had alleged that she was wrongly bypassed for the promotion in 2018, despite scoring No. 1 in the city’s third-party testing process. 

The jury awarded Belcastro-Gonzalez lost wages and benefits of $680,000 plus $20,000 in other damages after hearing evidence in a four-day trial. 

Belcastro-Gonzalez said her lawsuit represented all women who are afraid to speak out against their employer when they see or experience wrongdoing. 

“I’m disappointed the court didn’t allow the contents of her termination into the proceedings, as they would have provided more clarity and evidence as to why I could not promote Mrs. Gonzalez over other more qualified candidates,” Schmaderer said in a statement. 

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OMAHA CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS PUSH TO SPEED UP CLIMATE ACTION PLAN PROGRESS

OMAHA- Last November, Omaha Council members voted in favor of hiring a consultant to create the city's climate action plan, but not much progress has been made. 

Council President Pete Festersen voiced his frustrations, saying, "Every city our size has already done a climate change action plan to assess our current environmental footprint, to identify specific goals, to reduce our carbon emissions and reduce our impact on our environment. There's no reason why this hasn't started in the last 10 months."

Festersen introduced a resolution to speed up the creation of the climate action plan, and expressed his hope to allocate some of the city's budget toward the project. 

After the meeting, Mayor Jean Stothert's office said that the climate action proposal is still in the works, and that it will likely be approved by Sept. 21st. 

However, the Mayor's Chief of Staff, Thomas Warren, stated that "it will likely be 2023 before we actually hired a consultant, the consultant hired to prepare the plan, and that plan will form what will be the strategy to address this very important issue."

Warren also stated that funding for the consultant will likely come from next year's budget, and not the current one. 

During the hearing, some opponents argued that the plan was a "waste of time and money."

One citizen stated, "As they say, save the planet Earth, that's just ridiculous. Omaha's not going to do anything to save the planet."

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NEBRASKA BUSINESSES REPORT GREAT DIFFICULTY IN HIRING, GETTING APPLICANTS

LINCOLN- According to a recent state labor report, Nebraska businesses are struggling heavily to hire new workers. 

In a survey, 94% of Omaha businesses from northeast and southeast areas of the city reported that they had hiring difficulties and "labor availabilities."

84% of these businesses also stated that the problem wasn't hiring or lack of good applicants, it was a lack of applicants themselves. 

Based on the survey, Falls City, Fairbury, and Nebraska City had the most trouble hiring employees, with 92% of all businesses reporting difficulty hiring new staff. 

Bryan Slone, head of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce, stated that, since Nebraska has around 52,000 vacant positions, the lack of labor is the "number one, two, three, four and five" issue facing the business community in the state. 

Around 50% of all businesses in Nebraska used tele-work last year and the year before to protect their workers from Covid-19, but many in the survey reported that it's difficult to bring workers back. 

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MALCOLM X EDGES NU EDUCATOR LOUISE POUND FOR INDUCTION INTO THE NEBRASKA HALL OF FAME

LINCOLN- After three nominations and many attempts, Malcolm X has officially been chosen to be inducted into the Nebraska Hall of Fame.

Ron Hull, the chairman of the Hall of Fame Committee and a longtime public television broadcaster, cast the deciding vote, saying that Malcolm X continues to have influence worldwide with his story of transformation and reformation.

Applause broke out among most of the 30 people attending the commission meeting at the State History Museum in Lincoln.

Yshall Davis, a volunteer with the Malcolm X Memorial Foundation, pumped her fist in the air and wiped away tears as Hull stated his vote, which gave Malcolm X a majority of the seven-member commission.

“It says a lot about what Nebraska is becoming,” Davis said of the vote by the commission, which has no members of color.

Malcolm X will become the first African-American to be inducted into the Nebraska Hall of Fame. The hall currently has 26 members, of which five are female and three are Native American.

The initial vote by the commission was four votes for Malcolm X and three votes for Louise Pound, an educator, folklorist and author at the University of Nebraska — and the only woman in NU history to earn a letter in a men’s sport (tennis). Howard Hanson, the third finalist and a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, did not receive a vote.

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STATE STAFFING SHORTAGES HAS UNION LOOKING FOR RAISES THAT KEEP UP WITH INFLATION

LINCOLN- Nebraska's public employees, including snow-plow drivers, DMV employees, and Department of Roads diesel mechanics, are severely short-staffed as inflation soars. 

Justin Hubly, director of the Nebraska Association of Public Employees, stated, "We're falling behind." 

Many of Nebraska's public employees believe that there won't even be enough snow-plow drivers to clear our streets this winter unless job retention and wages can be increased.

To emphasize these points, a rally of Nebraska union members was held outside the State Office Building in Lincoln. 

Melissa Haynes, president of the union and a social service employee, stated, "The state remains critically short-staffed at many agencies, and investments are needed to make sure that critical services continue uninterrupted. Our members worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic, and now is the time to invest in them."

Justin Hubly listed several state service issues that have been affecting the state, including several DMV offices that have been closed, a lack of diesel mechanics to repair plows and drivers to operate them, and a backlog of economic assistance applications at the DHHS.

Hubly argued that low wages are causing these issues, claiming that many of these public positions are paying significantly less than the same jobs in private companies. 

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GOV. RICKETTS TAKES AIM AT TITLE IX CHANGES SOUGHT BY FEDERAL OFFICIALS

LINCOLN- The U.S. Department of Education proposed revisions to Title IX which would clarify that discrimination may include sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity. 

In a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, Gov. Ricketts stated that the proposal "purposely misinterpret[s] and misappl[ies]" the Supreme Court's opinion which sought to expand the definition of sex discrimination to include gender identity, sexual orientation, and sexual characteristics. 

Ricketts claimed that the proposed changes would also end the separation of restrooms, locker rooms, and other facilities based on biological sex, and instead separate these based on gender identity. 

"Federal efforts to dictate how schools respond to the transgender issue is blatant overreach...States have a right to determine how schools operate," stated Ricketts. 

Federal officials claimed that the changes would save recipients around $9 to $29 million over the span of a decade. 

The Department of Education went on to state that, while the expected amount of money that will be saved is broad, "the benefits of the proposed regulations to those who have been subjected to sex discrimination, the department recognizes that sex discrimination, including sex-based harassment, can have profound and long-lasting economic costs for students, employees, and other members of a recipient's surrounding community."

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$50 MILLION GRANT TO HELP RAZE BARRACKS-LIKE OMAHA PUBLIC HOUSING COMPLEX

OMAHA- A $50 million federal grant was awarded to Omaha to help launch a $300 million project to revamp the city's largest public housing complex and the South Omaha neighborhoods that surround it.

Those involved in the project, including the Omaha Housing Authority, Canopy South, and Brinshore Development, have been waiting to hear if they would receive the Choice Neighborhoods grant from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development committee. 

Nebraska is one of four states receiving the funds, which equate to around $180 million. 

The grant, along with around $25 million in philanthropic pledges, will allow the transformation to begin. The target area for the makeover is southeast of 30th and Q Streets, Cesar Garcia of Canopy South confirmed. 

Rep. Bacon, who was the first to hear of Nebraska receiving the grant, stated that he was impressed by the private-public alliance that formed around the redevelopment, and also the neighborhood input that was received. He stated, "I look forward to watching the progress of this project as it will improve the health, education, economic development and health disparities that residents in that neighborhood face every day."

The most important aspect of the project is the demolition of Southside Terrace Homes, a "barracks-like maze of 360 apartments that today houses roughly 1,300 people."

The redevelopment team plans to replace Southside Terrace Homes with a variety of dwellings, including houses, duplexes, and apartment buildings. In total, they plan on building around 760 new homes. 

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