News

Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Senators will return for two days (Thursday and Friday) to wrap-up this long legislative session. They will dispense with a few gubernatorial line-item vetos; vote on a handful of laggard bills on Final Reading, and suffer an hour of pomp...

Veto That? Speaker Scheer delivered a not unwelcome message last week. This Friday, the kids can gather up their toys and go home, a whole week early. UNLESS....the Governor nixes any bills that come to his desk this week. And he will. In that case, playtime is...

Tussles Wednesday, was Budget Day. It's always filled with anticipation for state department heads, state employees, state contractors, grant recipients, the Governor, taxpayers and your favorite lobbyist. Unicameral aficionados, who religiously tune-in to NET,...

Wonks Nebraska political wonks (and you know who you are) can scarcely contain their jubilation over this week's legislative agenda. In non-nerd terms, both the major tax bill and the appropriation bill will be debated back-to-back. Insert giddy emoji. Tune in Tuesday...

Death & Taxes Three things are certain in life: death, taxes and change. You can't avoid change, it's mandatory. Progress however is optional." - Unknown DEATH Sen. Chambers introduced LB44, his latest attempt to abolished the death penalty. In 2015, the senator...

Serenity Now! Revenue Committee Chair, Lou Ann Linehan, stepped-up her game at a press conference last Wednesday. She outlined a legitimate property tax plan that would shift some costs for funding K-12 and community colleges from property taxes to sales taxes. The...

Turnin' Up The Heat It's hot in the Capitol. Yes, it's literally hot in the building! Happens every year. Seasons change, temperatures fluctuate, and the building's heating and cooling system (patented by the Romans) cannot be adjusted without either a proclamation by...

Smarts and Insurgents Last week’s floor debate was mostly noise. Not to be critical of all noise. Just the chest-thumping, nose-twerking, bruised-ego kind of adult noise that entertains political wonks on public television and does little to move policy forward. Think...

Feelings In the 1949 comedy, "It Happens Every Spring", a college professor (Ray Milland) accidentally discovers a fluid that when wiped on an object (like a baseball) is repelled by wood (a bat). The Prof takes leave from the university to pitch in the Big's. Cute...