AG SUES CHANGE HEALTHCARE, TWO OTHER COMPANIES AFTER DATA BREACH HITS AT LEAST 575,000 NEBRASKANS

LINCOLN- Nebraska on Monday became one of the first states to sue Tennessee-based Change Healthcare, a medical payments company targeted in a data breach that cost at least 575,000 Nebraskans their personal information and medical records.

Nationally, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimated that 100 million people, nearly a third of the U.S. population, had data stolen by hackers in that February breach because a low-level employee posted login credentials online. Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers said he is suing because of the company’s carelessness in handling data and in how slowly it has notified people affected. He called the hack one of the “one of the largest” data breaches in modern history.

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OFFICIAL VIDEO ARCHIVE OF NEBRASKA LEGISLATURE TO BEGIN WITH 2025 SESSION

LINCOLN- A new state-run video archive of Nebraska legislative floor debates and committee hearings will be up and running on Jan. 8, when lawmakers reconvene for the 2025 session. Lawmakers passed Legislative Bill 254 in 2023, sponsored by State Sen. Tom Brewer of north-central Nebraska, to create the digital archive.

Per LB 254, the archive had to be set up by the start of the 2025 session. At that time, a new “all-encompassing video portal” will be accessible through the Legislature’s home page at nebraskalegislature.gov, according to Brandon Metzler, the clerk of the Legislature, whose office will maintain the digital archive.

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IMPROVING OVERSIGHT EYED AS A 'HALLMARK ISSUE' OF 2025 LEGISLATIVE SESSION

KEARNEY- Legislative leaders are embracing potential changes to state law meant to reinforce their oversight role after Nebraska’s top prosecutor last year questioned the constitutional scope of two legislatively empowered investigators.

The in-progress proposal, sitting at about 126 pages, would create a formal legislative division of oversight over the state’s other branches of government. It would cement the Legislature’s watchdogs for child welfare and corrections, the “inspectors general” of the two areas, underneath sections of law governing general legislative authority. The changes were outlined Friday at a retreat for the full Legislature in Kearney before lawmakers reconvene Jan. 8 for a 90-day session.

The watchdogs investigate incidents or complaints about cases largely handled by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services and Nebraska Department of Correctional Services, such as allegations of child sexual abuse or deaths of inmates in state care.

“This is like the beginning,” State Sen. John Arch of La Vista, speaker of the Legislature, said Friday. “We’re trying to lay out some foundational blocks and reorganize for the future.”

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NEBRASKA PLANS TO DEMOLISH STATE PEN HOUSING UNIT THAT FLOODED IN 2022, RECORD SHOW

LINCOLN- Though Nebraska prison officials remain mum about what they plan to do with the aging State Penitentiary following the construction of a $350 million replacement facility north of Lincoln, the state plans to demolish at least one housing unit on the 155-year-old prison's campus, according to internal emails and other public records obtained by the Journal Star.

Nebraska's Department of Correctional Services plans to raze the State Penitentiary's Housing Unit 1, which hasn't been in use for more than two years after a pipe burst in November 2022 and flooded the unit’s mechanical room, where door controls, heating and cooling systems, IT systems and a camera security system had operated.

Prison officials predicted at the time that the damage would force the unit — which housed 134 inmates prior to the flood — out of commission for at least two years..

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IMMIGRANT ADVOCATES CRITICIZE PILLEN'S PLEDGE TO FOLLOW TRUMP ON DEPORTATIONS

LINCOLN- Gov. Jim Pillen has announced that he will follow President-elect Donald Trump’s lead in deporting “dangerous criminals, gang members, and terrorists who are in the country illegally.” In a mid-week statement, Pillen said he stands with 25 other Republican governors who have said they are prepared to use every tool within their reach to follow Trump’s lead on immigration enforcement.

The GOP governors said they “took action” to secure borders during the Biden administration: “We mobilized state resources, including law enforcement and National Guard units, to protect Americans from disastrous open border policies and prevent illegal immigration from overwhelming our country.” Pillen, within the past two years, has deployed Nebraska National Guard troops and state troopers to the southern border at a cost of nearly $2.27 million.

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TIF DEFENDERS IN NEBRASKA SAY IT BOOSTS HOUSING, OTHER PROJECTS

OMAHA- Used in urban cities of Omaha and Lincoln as well as rurally, TIF will be sought to help revamp and add mixed-income housing to a blighted North Omaha site named after longtime state legislator Ernie Chambers. Trendier areas, including Omaha’s downtown and midtown, also have spiffed up with TIF-enabled projects such as Mutual of Omaha’s under-construction $600 million skyscraper and spots along the Blackstone commercial district.

During a half-day workshop Wednesday hosted by Urban Land Institute Nebraska, supporters touted the public benefits of those and other Nebraska projects made possible with TIF, a public financing mechanism used for decades to spur investment in blighted areas across the state. Organizers of the event, aimed at shedding more light on the incentive, called TIF one of the few redevelopment tools available to reverse blight.

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BALLOT INITIATIVE SEEKS TO BAN HOUSING DISCRIMINATION IN LINCOLN BASED ON SOURCE OF INCOME

LINCOLN- A coalition that has been advocating for a local ordinance banning housing discrimination based on a renter’s source of income plans to launch an initiative to get the question on the city ballot this spring. “We have been working on it for a while,” said Kasey Ogle, senior staff attorney with Collective Impact, a partnership between Nebraska Appleseed and Civic Nebraska to support resident-led investment and positive change in the city’s core neighborhoods.

Group leaders say the city offers no protections against source-of-income discrimination, which includes prospective tenants being turned away because they want to use federal Section 8 vouchers, Social Security or disability benefits, child support or other forms of legal income.

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PILLEN, LAWMAKERS CELEBRATE NEW LAWS FOR NEBRASKA NATIONAL GUARD RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION

LINCOLN- Gov. Jim Pillen and state senators joined leaders of the Nebraska National Guard this week to celebrate four new state laws to help with Guard recruitment and retention.

Pillen ceremoniously signed four bills passed this spring meant to help Guard members by removing a cap on tuition assistance at public universities or colleges (Legislative Bill 52), authorizing a dedicated financial incentives program for recruitment or retention (LB 895), and exempting weekend drill pay and two-week annual training pay from adjusted gross income for state taxes (LB 1394).

A fourth bill (LB 848) raised the maximum age at which the state adjutant general, who oversees the National Guard, can serve, from 64 to 66. “We think we’re turning the corner,” Adj. Gen. Craig Strong said of recruitment and retention.

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UNL WINS BIG TEN BLOOD DRIVE, RECEIVES $1 MILLION FOR STUDENT/COMMUNITY HEALTH

LINCOLN- The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has been awarded $1 million to advance student or community health after winning an inaugural blood drive competition among Big Ten Conference universities.

UNL and University of Nebraska officials accepted the monetary award and trophy during the Discover Big Ten Championship Game between the Oregon Ducks and the Penn State Nittany Lions on Saturday night. Global health care company Abbott sponsored the “We Give Blood Drive” with the Big Ten.

Dr. Jeffrey Gold, president of the NU system, said that of the many reasons he is proud to be a Nebraskan, this award is one of them because of his medical background.“As a cardiac surgeon, I have seen time and time again how important life-saving blood products can be, and as the president of the University of Nebraska, I’ve also seen firsthand the generosity of spirit and passion for helping others shared by so many of our students, faculty and staff,” Gold said in a statement. “It doesn’t hurt that Nebraskans also really like to win.”

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RICKETTS WANTS ROLL BACK OF EV MANDATES, YEAR-ROUND E15

NORFOLK- Nebraska U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts is a member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and last week spoke with President Elect Donald Trump’s pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Former Congressman Lee Zeldin.

Ricketts said he spoke with Zeldin on a number of topics including the senator’s wish to roll back the Biden Administration’s Electric Vehicle mandate, under which two-thirds of new vehicles would be required to be electric by 2032.

"If you've looked at some of the things we've done, for example, with the technology that's available to take a hybrid vehicle and turn it into burning E85 that gets 38 miles to the gallon; that's the kind of thing that can help us reduce the impact on the environment, help the consumer save money at the pump and will be good for our farmers and ranchers," Ricketts noted.

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HILGERS, OTHER GOP AGs SUE BLACKROCK, OTHER INVESTMENT FIRMS OVER 'WOKE' CLIMATE ACTION EFFORTS

LINCOLN- Major institutional investors have artificially lowered coal production and raised energy costs for consumers in an effort to lower global carbon emissions, a federal lawsuit claims. Republican attorneys general in 11 states, including Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers, filed a joint lawsuit last month against BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street, claiming the organizations’ efforts to pressure coal companies to lower carbon emissions and respond to climate change amount to anti-competitive business practices.

All three companies, the lawsuit says, have acquired significant shares in the largest publicly traded coal companies to coerce their management. BlackRock is the world’s largest financial asset manager. The case was in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on behalf of the states of Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

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IN A RURAL-URBAN SPLIT, NU REGENTS DEFEAT PROPOSAL TO EXTEND TERMS FOR LEADERS

LINCOLN- The University of Nebraska Board of Regents will continue to select leaders annually after a proposal to extend the terms that its chairpersons serve failed Friday on a 4-4 vote. The proposal from Regent Rob Schafer of Beatrice would have extended the term that board chairs serve from one year to two years but failed to find the support of a majority of elected regents.

All four regents representing rural areas of the state voted in support of the measure, while those representing Lincoln and Omaha voted against it at the regents’ final meeting of 2024. Schafer, at the start of a lengthy and sometimes heated discussion on Friday, said a two-year term for board chairs would align that position more closely with leadership positions in the Legislature.

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NEBRASKA MENTAL HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS SAY CHANGES PUT 'POOREST OF POOR' AT-RISK

LINCOLN- Behavioral health providers across Nebraska say a change intended to expand federal health insurance coverage of mental health care has instead put vulnerable patients at risk of losing services. In expanding Medicare’s coverage to some behavioral health services like licensed independent mental health practitioners (LIMHP), providers say the reimbursements they were receiving through Nebraska’s Medicaid program have been slashed dramatically.

That has produced a 50% loss in payments for individuals who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid — so-called “dual eligible” individuals — resulting in losses of thousands of dollars to providers across the state. In turn, those providers have been forced to reduce the number of times they see dual-eligible patients, put those individuals on waiting lists, or cut off services to them altogether.

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FAR FEWER SEEK STATE CONCEALED CARRY PERMITS AFTER 2023 LAW ALLOWS CARRYING WITHOUT ONE

LINCOLN- Advocates for removing the requirement for a state permit to carry a concealed handgun argued that Nebraska gun owners would still obtain the license because it lets them legally carry in some other states, but state statistics indicate that hasn’t been the case. A year and three months after Nebraska became the 27th state to allow carrying concealed handguns without requiring state-mandated training and paying a $100 fee, the number of people applying for a permit has dropped significantly.

Less than half as many applicants applied for the permit during the first 11 months of 2024. Only 1,690 applications were filed in Nebraska. That’s down from the 4,002 applications for the permits over the same 11 months in 2023. The 2024 total is more than four times lower than during the same period in 2022, when 6,939 applications were filed, according to the Nebraska State Patrol, which administers the program.

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SEN. RICKETTS TO SHARE NEBRASKA POLICIES WITH DOGE

LINCOLN- Nebraska Senator Pete Ricketts is all for President-Elect Donald Trump’s decision to create the Department of Government Efficiency and to appoint Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead it. Ricketts said it has not been uncommon for his office to get involved to help Nebraskans clear the way through the government’s bureaucratic red tape.

He said broadly speaking, if you can reform some of the systems to allow customers to say they have problems and to get a response back, that’s going to make a big improvement. "To that end, I'm going to be joining the DOGE caucus that (Iowa) Sen. (Joni) Ernst is starting to be able to share my input that I have from being governor and implementing Lean Six Sigma which was our process-improvement methodology we use in the state of Nebraska to improve government operations to drive a higher level of service, better service levels and to improve efficiency and reduce costs.”

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PILLEN RECEIVES THREE NOMINEES FOR NEBRASKA SUPREME COURT VACANCY

LINCOLN- Gov. Jim Pillen will have his pick of three current judges as the next associate justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court for a vacancy in southeastern Nebraska. The Judicial Nominating Commission for the Fifth District of the Nebraska Supreme Court, chaired by Justice John Freudenberg, advanced the names of three applicants: two district judges and one member of the Nebraska Court of Appeals, after public interviews in Hamilton County. The commission consists of four attorneys, four laypeople, and a nonvoting justice.

The nominees are:

• Judge Lawrence E. Welch Jr. of Plattsmouth, for the Nebraska Court of Appeals, 5th Judicial District.

• District Judge David J. A. Bargen of Adams, for the Saline County District Court in the 1st Judicial District.

• District Judge Jason M. Bergevin of Columbus, for the Platte County District Court in the 5th Judicial District.

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UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA'S IMPACT ON STATE'S ECONOMY ESTIMATED AT $6.4 BILLION

LINCOLN- The University of Nebraska's impact on the state's economy continues to grow, a recent study commissioned by the university shows. Tripp Umbach, a Pittsburgh-based consulting firm that authored the report, said NU is responsible for $6.4 billion in economic activity annually in Nebraska.

That amount has grown roughly $600 million over the last three years, said Paul Umbach, who presented the findings of the study to the NU Board of Regents last week. "That's the spending of the university that stays in Nebraska, the spending by employees and staff, the spending by students, the spending by visitors that come to games and come to events and conferences," Umbach said.

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MEDICAL CANNABIS, PAID SICK LEAVE, ABORTION RESTRICTIONS AND SCHOOL CHOICE REPEAL TAKE EFFECT

LINCOLN- Gov. Jim Pillen on Thursday proclaimed the success of five ballot measures this November with his signature, formally legalizing medical cannabis, abortion restrictions, and a framework for paid sick leave. Pillen’s actions also officially end a state-funded program for private K-12 attendance costs.

The proclamations usher in the new laws as well as an abortion-related constitutional amendment after a years-long campaign that proved the most expensive year in Nebraska history for ballot measures. All take effect immediately, with the exception of the framework for requiring paid sick leave that supporters delayed implementation until Oct. 1, 2025. Questions remain on some of the final details of the measures and pending legal challenges.

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NEBRASKA DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE RELEASES GENERAL FUND RECEIPTS

LINCOLN - Tax Commissioner James R. Kamm reports that gross General Fund receipts for November were $709 million, which is 2.6% below the forecast of $728 million.

The comparisons in this report are based on the forecast made by the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board (Board) on October 31, 2024. The Board forecast was divided into monthly estimates by the Tax Commissioner and Legislative Fiscal Analyst on November 12, 2024. Previous monthly press releases are found at

https://revenue.nebraska.gov/about/news-releases/general-fund-receipts-news-releases

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NEBRASKA GOVERNOR'S PRIORITIES SHIFT FOCUS FROM SPENDING AND TAX CHANGES

LINCOLN- Republican Gov. Jim Pillen plans to satisfy his party's right flank next year before addressing the harder politics of closing Nebraska’s projected $432 million budget shortfall. One reason could be the potential of Pillen facing Republican primary challengers in 2026. Those could include his top 2022 GOP primary opponent, Charles Herbster.

Pillen denied “political” motivations for picking any of his top legislative priorities for the 2025 legislative session, which he announced last week and detailed in an interview Friday. But all four policies are likely to be popular with the GOP base that typically decides races for Nebraska governor. Echoing themes from his 2022 campaign and speeches around the state, he said his four goals for the session would benefit Nebraska’s “kids, taxes, agriculture, and values.”

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