Interim hearings on NCORPE, deer damage set for McCook

Now that we are past Labor Day the legislature’s interim hearings start to gear up. Most interim hearings occur here in Lincoln at the state capitol, but as Chairperson of the Natural Resources Committee it is important to me to occasionally have interim hearings outside of Lincoln. In the coming weeks the Natural Resources committee will be traveling to western Nebraska for their first hearing to discuss LR 142. It is an interim study to examine any matter concerning the Game and Parks Commission. It will be held on Wednesday, September 18, at 9:00 am (MT) at the Western Nebraska Community College, Harms Advanced Technology Center located at 2026 College Park in Scottsbluff.

The following day on Thursday, September 19, in McCook at McCook Community College in McMillen Hall, Room 213 located at 1205 E. 3rd St. in McCook. We will have two hearings; the first will be LR 114, beginning at 9:00 am (CT). It is a legislative resolution to examine the conditions under which the board of directors of the Nebraska Cooperative Republican Enhancement Project (NCORPE) and the Rock Creek augmentation project may dispose of real property each owns related to the projects.

Then at 11 am (CT), we will have a second hearing on LR 142 to examine any matter concerning the Game and Parks Commission. During my years of serving as your Senator the second most brought up issue after property taxes is Game and Parks management of deer. I continue to have calls every week about the deer damage caused by the large number of deer in our area. Landowners, this will be your chance to come and tell me and my fellow Senators of the challenges you face and hopefully your thoughts on how to handle this problem. Game and Parks leadership will be there and listening as well. I hope you will come and give us and them your thoughtsl. I have tried working with G&P on solutions for 5 years and have made very little headway. I am hoping with a good turnout and lots of input we will be able to come up with solutions that will make up for some of the damage the states wildlife population is causing to landowners.

The public is welcome to attend and testify at any of these hearings. You can view the calendar for all upcoming hearings on the legislature’s website, www.nebraskalegislature.gov.

I want to remind everyone that if you know of any college students who may be interested in getting involved in the legislature I would encourage them to apply to work as a page for the 2020 legislative session. Legislative pages do a variety of jobs in the legislature such as: assisting the presiding officer, assisting committee staff, running errands for the senators, etc. The deadline for submitting applications and letters of recommendation will be Friday, Oct. 4, 2019 at 5 pm (CT), do not wait until the last minute because a letter of recommendation from my office will also need to be included in the application. Please contact my office if you have any questions, 402-471-2805.