When I began my service as a State Senator in 2017, there were roughly 60,000 job vacancies in the skilled trades in Nebraska. Now the department of labor will say the number is closer to 80,000 job vacancies. South Dakota’s governor likes to boast there are about 25,000 vacant jobs in her State. ...

This week I will return to Ukraine for the fourth time since the war started. Through my travels I’ve been able to see all sides of the Ukraine conflict. While being an American, I’m still invested in the U.S. and how our assets are used. During the Ukraine conflict, I have become very disappointed in how the United States has acted. ...

Committing to a reliable energy future As my final session in the legislature is about to begin, I am busy making sure I leave the legislature better than I found it. There is one thing I know for certain: Nebraska’s future energy policy should not be based on “renewable” energy. In every case, it makes our electric grid more fragile and makes electricity in Nebraska cost more, to say nothing of what it does to the good people of Nebraska...

Now that LB 77 has become effective, Nebraska has statewide constitutional carry for law-abiding adults. In order to make Nebraska a constitutional carry state, I knew that my bill had to also include state preemption of local gun control schemes. The preemption language in my bill was as clear as we could make it. ...

I was recently contacted by a Nebraska resident who complained about my support for the Convention of States (COS) initiative. They argued the process was illegitimate and dangerous and could lead to a run-away convention wiping out our beloved constitution, etc. Over the years I have devoted a number of these weeklies to this topic, so here goes...

There is a petition being circulated gathering signatures from Nebraskans to repeal LB 753. This is a bill we passed in the last session creating a modest school choice program for parents. I urge registered voters not to sign it. The Nebraska State Education Association, the state teacher’s union, is strongly opposed to this bill. ...

In 2023, Nebraska finally joined the 48 other states that empower parents to choose the best education for their children despite their income or ZIP code. I was proud to cosponsor and support LB 753, the Opportunity Scholarships Act, joining with colleagues from across the state to pass a bill that was long overdue. Many of us may disagree on many other issues, but we came together on this...

Over the summer and fall, the committees of the Legislature hold “interim studies.” These are usually held in the capitol. An interim study is introduced by a senator as a resolution. One of the interim studies I introduced concerns small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). ...

In 1966, the good people of Nebraska had grown tired of paying high property taxes. They collected the needed signatures on a ballot initiative and they put the question on the November ballot. By a margin of 50.89% to 49.11% the people of Nebraska passed a constitutional amendment that did away with the “State Property Tax.”...