NEBRASKA MEDICINE, NU CLASH PUBLICLY AS $800 MILLION BUYOUT SLOWS AHEAD OF REGENTS VOTE

OMAHA —University of Nebraska leaders and Nebraska Medicine officials are publicly staking out opposing positions as a high-stakes proposal to consolidate control of the state’s largest health system moves forward amid growing calls for caution from lawmakers.

Nebraska President Jeffrey Gold told University of Nebraska Medical Center faculty and staff this week that the NU Board of Regents has no plans to use Nebraska Medicine funds, state appropriations or tuition dollars to finance the proposed buyout of Clarkson Regional Health’s 50% stake in the system. Gold said the roughly $800 million transaction would be handled separately from the university’s budget through debt service, letters of credit and revenue tied to real estate that NU would acquire as part of the deal. “There will not be a single dollar of state appropriation, tuition or research funding that goes into doing this,” Gold said during a campus forum.

As the debate intensified, the Nebraska Medicine board launched an informational website aimed at rallying opposition to the proposal, arguing that increased state involvement could threaten compensation for physicians, nurses and staff and undermine the system’s independence. The public pushback coincided with a decision by the NU Board of Regents to delay a planned vote on the deal after more than 30 state lawmakers urged the board to slow down, citing concerns about transparency, financial risk and limited legislative and public review. Regents postponed the vote to allow additional time for scrutiny as the dispute over the future governance of the nonprofit health system continues to play out in public view. The regents were set to meet at 3 p.m. Friday. They will now meet at 9 a.m. next Thursday. Thirty-one state lawmakers also sent a letter Thursday urging the regents to “tap the brakes” and delay the vote.

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UNL CHANCELLOR BENNETT TO RESIGN EARLY, RECEIVE $1.1 MILLION PAYOUT AMID BUDGET CUTS

LINCOLN  — University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor Rodney Bennett, who announced he will resign Jan. 12, will receive a one-time payment of about $1.1 million under a resignation agreement negotiated with University of Nebraska President Jeffrey Gold and approved by the NU Board of Regents. Bennett, 59, had been in the role since July 2023 and will leave nearly six months before his contract was set to expire. 

Bennett’s time leading UNL was marked by $27.5 million in budget cuts, including the elimination or merger of several academic programs last fall — decisions that drew significant criticism from faculty and contributed to a rare vote of “no confidence” by the UNL Faculty Senate. In his brief email to the campus community announcing his departure, Bennett cited his decision to conclude his service and expressed gratitude for the opportunity to serve. 

The resignation agreement, which Bennett signed Jan. 2, includes the lump sum plus continued salary and benefits through his resignation date, but also bars him from future employment at any NU campus for three years. The payout has been condemned by the UNL chapter of the American Association of University Professors, which says the severance package stands in stark contrast to the financial sacrifices being made elsewhere on campus and undermines the narrative of fiscal necessity that accompanied program cuts and layoffs.

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LAWMAKERS FAST-TRACK EXPULSION PROCEEDINGS AGAINST STATE SEN. DAN MCKEON

LINCOLN  — Nebraska lawmakers are moving swiftly on what could become the Legislature’s first-ever expulsion of a sitting state senator, suspending rules and setting a hearing date as formal allegations continue to unfold. Lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to suspend the rule requiring seven days’ notice before a hearing, clearing the way for the Legislature’s Executive Board to hold a hearing Jan. 12 on Legislative Resolution 282, the motion to expel State Sen. Dan McKeon of Amherst. The board unanimously recommended McKeon’s expulsion after an internal investigation found that he had inappropriately touched a legislative staffer and exhibited a pattern of conduct that violated workplace policy.

McKeon, who denies the severity of the allegations and has called parts of the case exaggerated, now faces a process that could move quickly if the resolution advances. An expulsion motion requires 33 votes and just one round of floor debate to remove a member and would take effect immediately if approved, leaving the seat vacant until an interim appointment and special election can be held. The Executive Board hearing will include invited testimony only, including from McKeon or his attorney and the outside counsel who conducted the investigation.

The decision to suspend the notice rule highlights the urgency lawmakers have placed on resolving the matter early in the legislative session. The case has drawn heightened attention within the Capitol due to the rarity of expulsion proceedings and the broader questions it raises about legislative conduct, accountability and precedent.

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NU REGENT O’CONNOR RESIGNING, EFFECTIVE JAN. 9, IN WAKE OF DUI ALLEGATION, POSSIBLE IMPEACHMENT

LINCOLN — Embattled University of Nebraska Regent Elizabeth O’Connor, who increasingly faced likely impeachment proceedings, announced Tuesday that she is resigning her post. O’Connor, 35, faces a felony charge of drunken driving causing bodily injury from a Douglas County crash that police say totaled two vehicles and broke the back and pelvis of a passenger.

Authorities allege the Omaha-area regent and former student regent tested with a blood alcohol content of 0.321% after the May 21 crash in the Benson area, in her eastern Douglas County district. That’s four times the legal limit.

The father of three young children injured in the crash had lobbied the NU regent to resign and called on lawmakers and other politicians to ramp up the pressure on O’Connor to resign.

State Sen. Kathleen Kauth of Omaha, a Republican in the officially nonpartisan Legislature, had pledged to pursue impeachment if O’Connor, a Democrat, didn’t resign. Impeaching her would require at least 25 votes and the approval of her removal by the Nebraska Supreme Court. The Nebraska Legislature last impeached a state official in 2006, then-NU Regent C. David Hergert.

O’Connor, who has served as an elected member of the NU board since 2019, said in a statement that she did not want to “become a distraction to the Board’s important work.”“I am choosing to resign now because I want to do the right thing for our great university,” she said in a statement. 

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UNK FINALIZES PLAN TO CUT $4.5 MILLION, ROUNDS OUT NU-WIDE CUTS OF $43 MILLION

LINCOLN — The University of Nebraska at Kearney’s finalization this month of a plan to trim its budget by $4.5 million brings total cuts across the University of Nebraska in this budget year to $43 million.

UNK’s total annual budget is about $170 million, including $80.3 million primarily from tuition and taxpayer dollars.

UNK’s final budget proposal mirrors much of the original plan announced on Dec. 9, minus $300,000 following campus feedback. Campus leadership has chosen to preserve a family science bachelor’s degree and one related faculty position, resulting in fewer across-the-board cuts and reduced graduate assistantships than initially proposed.

A history instructor will also be retained as UNK seeks to revamp its online master’s degree in public history to increase demand via expanded online marketing.

The NU Board of Regents will consider eliminating four other UNK degrees in early 2026:

• Higher education student affairs, master of science in education (eight candidates).

• Music comprehensive – music business emphasis, Bachelor of Music (three majors).

• Modern languages — German emphasis, Bachelor of Arts (one major).

• Modern languages 7-12 teaching endorsement — German emphasis, Bachelor of Arts in Education (zero majors).

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NEBRASKA LAWMAKERS SEEK DETAILS ON SECRETARY OF STATE ‘NEGOTIATIONS’ WITH FEDS ON VOTER DATA

LINCOLN — A group of state lawmakers sent a letter Wednesday asking Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen to explain his “negotiations” with the federal government over the release of sensitive voter information.

Five state senators, all Democrats, referred in their letter to correspondence they had with Evnen in October when they reminded him of an “obligation to protect Nebraska voter privacy from unwarranted federal overreach.”

They said Evnen had indicated in a response at the time that he would not comply with the federal government’s request to turn over detailed voter information due to pending litigation. 

Voting advocacy group Common Cause Nebraska has sued to block the sharing of that voter data with the U.S. Department of Justice.

But Wednesday’s letter was penned in light of a more recent news story published in the Nebraska Examiner on Dec. 18, which led lawmakers to believe Evnen, a Republican, had been communicating with the DOJ regarding the release of the data. 

State Sen. Margo Juarez of Omaha was joined in the request by Sens. Ashlei Spivey of Omaha,  Danielle Conrad and Jane Raybould of Lincoln and Victor Rountree of Bellevue.

The group sought to learn more about the “timing and results of negotiations” between Evnen’s office and the federal government. 

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MCKEON ROLLS OUT CHARACTER DEFENDERS AMID GROPING ALLEGATION, CALLS TO RESIGN

CAIRO, Nebraska — State Sen. Dan McKeon of Amherst tried making the case Tuesday close to home that attempts to remove him from the Nebraska Unicameral are a “political game.” 

McKeon, at the event he hosted Tuesday in central Nebraska, hinted that other lawmakers might be getting influenced by the governor to vote him out. He said people are “sick and tired of the false accusations that happen culturally” and that his colleagues jumped the gun and don’t have all the facts.

“I’ve officiated [in sports], if I’m not in the right position to make the right call … if I don’t have all my facts, and if I don’t know everything, how can I make that call?” McKeon said at Ol’ Ironsides Barbecue and Banquet Hall in Cairo. 

McKeon has been accused by a legislative staffer of making “inappropriate contact with her buttocks with his hand, over the top of her clothing,” according to an incident report filed with the Nebraska State Patrol that a spokesman relayed.

McKeon and his attorney, Perry Pirsch, have denied wrongdoing by the senator, saying his actions were not sexually charged. 

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NEBRASKA STATE AGENCY AWARDS MILLIONS TO OUT-OF-STATE NONPROFIT FORMERLY RUN BY AGENCY’S CEO

When Nebraska’s Department of Health and Human Services announced its plan to divvy up millions in opioid settlement money, one recipient stood out: The Central Wyoming Counseling Center.

The Wyoming nonprofit is the only out-of-state organization slated to receive some of Nebraska’s Opioid Treatment Infrastructure Cash Fund, receiving $3.4 million to build a crisis stabilization center in Kimball County, which borders Wyoming.

The Central Wyoming Counseling Center’s former acting CEO: Steve Corsi, now CEO of Nebraska’s DHHS. 

The state agency declined to release any application materials from the Central Wyoming Counseling Center and other grantees, citing state laws allowing “proprietary or commercial information” and “examination records” to be withheld from public records requests. 

Corsi had no involvement in the grant review or selection process, said DHHS spokesperson Jeff Powell. He also has had no involvement with the Counseling Center since leaving the organization in 2023, Powell said in a written response to Flatwater questions about the proposed project and Corsi’s former employer.

In total, 23 organizations applied for this round of opioid funding, Powell said. Two of those applicants were from outside Nebraska. The Central Wyoming Counseling Center’s proposed project was the only such project in the Nebraska Panhandle, Powell said. 

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NEBRASKA GRAND JURY INDICTS ALLEGED TREN DE ARAGUA MEMBERS IN ATM JACKPOTTING SCHEME

LINCOLN — A federal grand jury in Nebraska charged 54 people with deploying malware and stealing millions of dollars from ATMs around the country, Nebraska U.S. Attorney Lesley Woods announced this month. 

One indictment, returned Dec. 9, charges 22 people with offenses corresponding to their alleged roles in the conspiracy, including conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank burglary and fraud and related computer activity and conspiracy to commit money laundering. 

A related indictment, returned Oct. 21, charged 32 people, alleging 56 crimes, including one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit bank burglary and computer fraud, 18 counts of bank fraud, 18 counts of bank burglary and 18 counts of damage to computers, Woods’ office said. 

The indictments also allege that the gang Tren de Aragua used jackpotting to steal millions of dollars in the U.S. and transferred the proceeds among its members and associates to conceal the illegally obtained cash. Tren de Aragua is a Venezuelan gang that started in a prison and has since expanded into Central America and the U.S., including to Texas, New York, Colorado and Wisconsin. 

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BUDGET FIRST: SPEAKER JOHN ARCH BREAKS DOWN BIGGEST TASKS FOR NEBRASKA LEGISLATURE

LINCOLN — Heading into his final legislative session as a term-limited Nebraska state senator, Speaker of the Legislature John Arch of La Vista said he expects the short, 60-day session to fly by.

The session begins Jan. 7, and between the possible expulsion of a senator, discord over the repurposing of a state prison facility into an ICE detention center and a continued push for property tax relief, Arch acknowledged there are more than enough issues to occupy lawmakers’ time before they adjourn in April.

Arch’s top priority among those issues is filling a $471 million budget hole by Day 50, he said, the deadline lawmakers have to complete budget adjustments and send the proposal to Gov. Jim Pillen’s desk.

“Honestly, there is the budget, and then there’s everything else,” Arch said.

Budget struggles also took precedence during the Legislature’s 90-day session this spring, when lawmakers worked to fill a budget deficit that at one point grew to $432 million. After making numerous cuts that senators acknowledged were painful, the session concluded with the state’s two-year budget projecting a modest $4 million surplus.

That surplus didn’t last long, because new economic projections made in July put Nebraska back into a projected deficit of $95 million. When Nebraska’s Economic Forecasting Advisory Board met again in October, projections brought the expected shortfall to $471 million. 

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NEBRASKA AG WILL DROP LAWSUIT AGAINST OPPD, NORTH OMAHA POWER PLANT — FOR NOW

LINCOLN — Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers is ending his lawsuit against the Omaha Public Power District, for now, after the public utility board delayed plans to modify power production in North Omaha until 2028.

Hilgers, on Tuesday, announced his office would voluntarily dismiss his lawsuit filed Oct. 9, but that it could be brought again “if circumstances change.” The OPPD board on Dec. 18 voted 6-2 for a resolution that puts off plans to “modernize” North Omaha Station and end coal production at the site until at least 2028, rather than 2026. OPPD Directors Eric Williams and Sara Howard opposed the resolution.

OPPD’s vote introduced new requirements before the North Omaha transition could occur. In a separate vote, OPPD approved average rate increases of 6.3%, effective Jan. 1. OPPD Director Amanda Bogner and Howard opposed the increase.

“We brought this lawsuit because public power providers should not achieve their self-imposed environmental goals by raising prices for Nebraska consumers,” Hilgers said in a Tuesday statement. “After last week’s vote, OPPD’s plans for the North Omaha Station now align with their twin mandates of affordability and reliability in delivering electricity to Nebraskans.”

Craig Moody, an OPPD member who voted in favor of the Dec. 18 resolution, said in a recent social media post that whether board directors supported or opposed the resolution would have still delayed changes at North Omaha Station until the end of 2028, if not later. 

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FAMILIES FEAR ‘DEVASTATING’ CHANGES TO NEBRASKA PROGRAM SERVING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES, ELDERLY

LINCOLN — A proposal from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services for changes to a Medicaid waiver allowing aging Nebraskans and those with a disability to remain at home is causing panic for some families and caregivers.

The 238-page proposal to the state’s Aged and Disabled Waiver would limit the need-determined reimbursable hours of caregivers from a current cap of 112 hours to 70. Of those hours, a paid live-in family caregiver could be reimbursed up to 40 hours, a part of the program with no current cap. 

The annual costs that Medicaid would reimburse under the waiver would also be limited based on changes in the yearly costs of nursing home care statewide.

“If they truly do this, it’s going to be pretty devastating to our family,” said Anna Keyzer of Lincoln, who has utilized the payments for up to 112 weekly hours to help afford to care for her 21-year-old son, Simon. “I don’t know how anyone would suddenly lose 72 hours’ worth of a paid job and be OK.”

Yearly nursing home costs were $92,438 in the last fiscal year, which ended June 30. Families would need an administrative review once costs reach 150% of the annual cost ($138,657), and families could be paid as much as 175% of the cost of that care ($161,767) if they pass a clinical review from a DHHS team. 

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THE CHANCELLOR REPORT NEBRASKA SAYS DOESN’T EXIST. UNIVERSITY PAID $15K FOR IT.

LINCOLN - The University of Nebraska hired an outside consultant to evaluate the performance of Rodney Bennett as chancellor of the system’s flagship campus earlier this year.

But despite paying $15,000 to the Center for Applied Research (CFAR), according to a contract obtained by the Journal Star, NU said it is not in possession of the “360-Degree Assessment” of Bennett’s time leading the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “Upon searching, the university did not identify any records of or belonging to the University responsive to your request,” the university told the newspaper in response to a formal public records request filed in November.

It’s not unusual for universities to outsource a review of top administrator’s performance to a third party. Bringing in someone outside the institution can create more comfort for those who work for an administrator to be more candid with their thoughts.

The timing of the review ordered by NU President Jeff Gold on June 16 has raised eyebrows for some on UNL’s campus, however. 

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NEW OMAHA CHAMBER REPORT URGES STATE BUSINESS INCENTIVES OVERHAUL, WAYS TO STEM ‘BRAIN DRAIN’

OMAHA — Critical that Nebraska has “stepped back” from its award-winning focus on economic development, Omaha area business leaders have launched an offensive plan to regain a competitive edge.

The Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce today released a 24-page “Omaha Competes” report that urges major updates to the state’s key business incentive program and outlines strategies to help reverse what it says is a trend pushing quality jobs and talent elsewhere. “Nebraska is at a crucial moment in its approach to economic development,” begins the report that included participation from the Omaha Mayor’s Office, Omaha Public Power District and numerous corporations.

The recommendations will be used to form legislative and policy proposals and guide the chamber’s outreach and programming over the next few years, said Heath Mello, president and CEO of the chamber, which represents corporate and business interests in the state’s largest metro area. 

Authors describe state business attraction efforts as having retreated since hitting a “high water mark” from about 2016 to 2019. That period, which the report described as one of “better jobs, stronger communities and more robust budget revenue,” was reflected in a three-year streak of winning Site Selection Magazine’s “Governor’s Cup.”

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UNK FINALIZES PLAN TO ELIMINATE FOUR DEGREE PROGRAMS TO HELP CLOSE $4.5M BUDGET GAP

KEARNEY - University of Nebraska at Kearney Chancellor Neal Schnoor forwarded a plan to eliminate four degree programs to the Board of Regents for its consideration in February.

A fifth academic program that was initially included in Schnoor’s plan to address a $4.5 million budget deficit — a Bachelor of Science in Family Science — will not be part of the budget-cutting package. On Monday, Schnoor said the program will undergo a realignment and shift to online delivery in order to continue meeting strong workforce demand instead of being cut.

UNK will also keep one family science faculty position as well as a history position to meet an anticipated increase in demand for an online master’s degree program in public history, Schnoor said. 

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PILLEN WILL FULLY FUND $15 MILLION BUSINESS STARTUP PROGRAM HE HAD CUT BY 25%

OMAHA — On the same day the Greater Omaha Chamber released a report seeking updates to Nebraska business incentives, Gov. Jim Pillen announced plans Monday to restore funding to a state program that invests early in local startups.

Pillen’s proposal to restore funding to $15 million for the state’s Business Incentive Act — which provides seed capital for local businesses — reverses course on state money he previously proposed cutting. He originally proposed trims of $5 million a year and directed his Department of Economic Development to evaluate the program’s effectiveness.

Earlier this year, the Legislature accepted most of Pillen’s proposed cut. During budget negotiations, lawmakers restored about $1.25 million a year after statewide testimony from business leaders. The state also briefly paused grants under the program late this year, spurring concerns from Nebraska’s startup community.

Pillen on Monday said his team’s research now backs up what many in the business community had told him about the return on state investment, which strengthened his support for the program. 

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OVERTIME OVERDONE? 27 STATE EMPLOYEES DOUBLE PAY BY WORKING VAST AMOUNTS OF OVERTIME

A small number of state employees dramatically boost their annual salaries by clocking extreme amounts of overtime hours. 

At least 27 state employees made more money in overtime than they did from their base salaries during the fiscal year that ended in June 2024. They did so even as the majority of the state’s 19,000 employees work no or negligible amounts of overtime.

One, Tarnue Korvah, a corporal with the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services, made $127,231 in overtime on top of his regular $66,206 base salary, according to data provided by the Nebraska Department of Administrative Services following a Flatwater public records request. Korvah couldn’t be reached for comment.

The 27 overtime overachievers all work in either Nebraska’s corrections system or for the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. And nearly all of the DHHS employees who doubled their take-home pay through overtime are “mental health security specialists,” a position similar to correctional officers, who work at the state’s two state psychiatric hospitals, the Lincoln Regional Center and the Norfolk Regional Center.

The Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 88, represents both corrections workers and DHHS mental health security specialists in Nebraska. The union’s president, Jay Wilson, said that both roles face similar challenges with staffing. 

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FORMER U.S. SEN. BEN SASSE ANNOUNCES TERMINAL STAGE-FOUR CANCER DIAGNOSIS

OMAHA — Former Nebraska Republican U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse is dying of “metastasized, stage-four pancreatic cancer,” he announced on social media Tuesday.

“Advanced pancreatic is nasty stuff; it’s a death sentence. But I already had a death sentence before last week too — we all do,” Sasse wrote.

Most of the political world knows Sasse from his time tussling with President Donald Trump over the direction of the Republican Party, including being one of seven Republicans who voted to convict the president following his impeachment in 2021. Sasse has been, in many ways, a traditional small-government conservative with an intellectual bent. He often critiqued the GOP’s turn toward populism under Trump and paid a price in public.

He made waves as a candidate running from academia, as then-president of Midland University in Fremont before being elected to the Senate in 2014. His friends describe him as an intense and philosophical thinker. 

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NEBRASKA AG MIKE HILGERS FORMALLY LAUNCHES 2026 REELECTION BID

LINCOLN — Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers formally launched his 2026 reelection campaign Monday, vowing to continue to fight for Nebraskans and the state’s conservative values.

Hilgers, in an interview with the Nebraska Examiner, said his team has sought to make good use of every day since taking office in 2023. 

He said that includes infusing a business background into his office’s “DNA” and working to fight “otherwise unaccountable powerful interests who are taking advantage of or otherwise harming Nebraskans.” “It is an honor every day to wake up to be the attorney general, to be able to take on these fights,” Hilgers told the Examiner. “They matter so much, and I’m just beyond grateful that Nebraskans trusted me in this particular role.”

Under his leadership, Hilgers said his office has a mission to be the most tenacious, energetic, entrepreneurial and conservative AG’s office in the country. Hilgers now serves as vice chair of the Republican Attorneys General Association. 

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STATE SEN. DAN MCKEON CHANGES PLEA TO NOT GUILTY ON MISDEMEANOR DISTURBING THE PEACE CHARGE

LINCOLN — After initially filing a plea of no contest that wasn’t accepted when he didn’t attend his hearing, State Sen. Dan McKeon of Amherst has changed course and now plans to fight the allegation against him.

On Tuesday, the day before his rescheduled arraignment on a misdemeanor charge of disturbing the peace, McKeon filed a new plea of not guilty and waived his formal arraignment. The court accepted the plea and set his next court date for January 26, ordering him to appear.

A legislative staffer accused the state lawmaker of groping her at an end-of-session party in May. The Nebraska State Patrol received a report in September that McKeon had allegedly “made inappropriate contact with her buttocks with his hand, over the top of her clothing,” Patrol spokesman Cody Thomas said.

McKeon’s second arraignment was scheduled for Wednesday morning after his arraignment was delayed when he tried to file a no-contest plea by written waiver. Lancaster County Court Judge Matthew Acton said a no-contest plea must be submitted in person and postponed the arraignment one week. A no-contest plea would have allowed McKeon to accept any criminal penalties without formally admitting guilt and would waive his right to a trial.

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