Hope for a lost world

Merry Christmas! Christ is born! Hope has come to this lost world! What a wonderful message to remember and celebrate this season. Because of God's grace and love for the world, he came to live among us to set us free from our guilt and shame. Halleluiah! Don't miss the chance this Christmas to ponder this message amongst the business of this time of year.

It is hard to believe that Christmas is here again, a new year is upon us and the 2010 Legislative Session will be starting in a short couple of weeks. It has been an eventful year representing District 44, and I would like to express my appreciation to all my constituents for their support and kindness throughout this past year. Even those of you who have disagreed with me on some very controversial issues, your thoughts, and concerns have lead to greater understanding of such issues. Without the support, knowledge and feedback of my constituents the challenging and difficult issues that are brought to my door would be even harder to tackle and make the Legislative session a success.

Throughout 2009, I was fortunate to have success with several of my legislative proposals. One such proposal was Legislative Bill 430. It made changes to our concealed handgun permit laws gave Nebraskans, who carry permits, clearer guidelines allowing them to protect themselves more confidently throughout the state. This year I hope to improve our self-defense laws in Nebraska by strengthening your ability to use force justifiably when protecting yourself and loved ones against criminals breaking into your home, work place, or car. This has traditionally been referred to as the Castle Doctrine.

Another area of concern for me is to continue working for Pro-Life legislation and stricter laws regulating sexually oriented businesses to protect women and children from their influences and their negative secondary effects on communities.

This next session looks like we will have an opportunity to move ahead with either my bill, LB 650 that would license and register mini-trucks for operation on state highways, or another similar bill. This would allow small-business owners to use these fuel-efficient vehicles to increase their bottom lines. This is a good commonsense bill.

Lastly, water is an important issue that will remain a focus for me. I will continue to work hard on this issue for the upcoming 2010 session to help provide the tools necessary for local water officials to stabilize and lessen the potential negative economic effects of state regulations on water in the District. You all know the importance of getting this right for the District, so I ask for your help and cooperation as we try and resolve conflicts and disagreements to try to maintain economic health while managing our water resources wisely.

I look forward to the upcoming session and, Thank You, to my constituents and supporters. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns feel free to contact my office at 402-471-2805.