Latest news with #Nebraskans'
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Watchdog, senator want expenses against medical cannabis, other Nebraska ballot items disclosed
Deputy Solicitor General Zach Viglianco, left, gives an opening statement on the first day of the civil trial to determine the validity of the medical marijuana ballot measures at the Lancaster County Courthouse on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024, in Lincoln. (Kenneth Ferriera-Pool/Lincoln Journal Star) LINCOLN — A nonpartisan watchdog and a Lincoln state senator filed requests this week to learn more about private and state resources spent against 2024 ballot measures, namely medical cannabis. The first complaint came from executive director Gavin Geis of Common Cause Nebraska, a nonpartisan organization focused on government accountability. Geis filed a complaint Thursday with the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission requesting an investigation into whether John Kuehn, a former state senator and a lead opponent to medical cannabis in the state, failed to disclose related legal expenses in his late 2024 challenge of the related ballot measures before and through the election. Kuehn filed an initial lawsuit in September on his own behalf seeking to declare the ballot measures 'legally insufficient and invalid.' The Lancaster County District Court sided with the ballot measure, and Kuehn is appealing to the Nebraska Supreme Court. After the election, Kuehn filed a second lawsuit seeking to invalidate the laws, citing federal preemption. Thirty-eight other states have approved medical cannabis and lawmakers continue work to help implement additional regulations. The NADC confirmed receipt of a complaint from Geis. Under state law, neither the NADC nor Geis can speak about the investigation further until its conclusion, or if Kuehn speaks out. A 2001 advisory NADC opinion said expenditures against a ballot measure not related to its qualification, passage or defeat, such as constitutionality, are not a campaign service. Geis said in a news release that 'Nebraskans deserve to know who's working to influence our elections,' whether that is Kuehn or someone on behalf of Kuehn. 'Allowing special interests or individuals to oppose ballot measures without disclosing their spending undermines our citizen initiative process,' Geis said. 'If we want to ensure Nebraskans' voices are heard, we must enforce disclosure laws that show the public who stands against them.' Geis' complaint cites state law requiring an individual challenging the 'qualification, passage or defeat of a ballot question' over $250 to report such expense. Geis said that if lawsuits are not covered in this way under current disclosure laws, the Legislature should strengthen them. In 2021, the nonprofit Nebraska Families 4 Medical Cannabis filed a Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission complaint against Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner. He helped boot a medical cannabis constitutional amendment from the November 2020 election when the Nebraska Supreme Court agreed 5-2 with Wagner's attorney that the measure was too broad. The NADC complaint alleged that Wagner, as an elected official, needed to disclose any 'gift' over $100 he received to file and pursue the case on his annual disclosures. The NADC ultimately dismissed the complaint, finding that Wagner did not solicit the money and therefore was not a 'gift.' Wagner had said he didn't know who paid for the lawsuit in 2020, according to the Lincoln Journal Star. Kuehn, approached Thursday afternoon by a reporter, said it was the first he had heard of the complaint. He did not respond to multiple requests for comment, including on whether he or someone else funded the election-related challenge. As part of that first challenge — Kuehn v. Secretary of State Bob Evnen and the three sponsors of the ballot measure campaign — the Attorney General's Office joined Kuehn in seeking to invalidate the measures before the November election, alleging widespread fraud. Lancaster County District Judge Susan Strong rejected those arguments. More than 200,000 signatures were collected between the campaign's legalization and regulatory petitions. They passed with 71% voter approval and 67% voter approval, respectively. Kuehn's legal team included an attorney from Texas, and his team hired the services of an out-of-state cloud-based petition validation service, Signafide, to review the petitions. Artificial intelligence and manual labor were used in that process. State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln sent a Wednesday request to Attorney General Mike Hilgers 'in the interests of government transparency and legislative oversight.' 'As always conscious stewards of taxpayer funds and in light of the present fiscal situation, it is important for senators to appreciate the expenses your office has incurred in pursuing an aggressive politically charged litigation agenda under and within your sole discretion,' Conrad wrote in her two-page letter shared with the Nebraska Examiner. The state currently faces a projected budget deficit for the next two fiscal years of $457 million, as the Appropriations Committee has worked to whittle that down to $0. As of Thursday, when the baseline budget advanced 7-1, it was still $124 million short under state law. Two bills advanced Thursday would help build a positive $7 million, if passed. That's before the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board returns Friday afternoon, where many senators expect to be hit with an additional $100 million hole, at the least. Conrad narrowed her request to expenses regarding ballot measures last year, including: Staff time. Filing fees. News conferences. Administrative costs. Social media or other paid advertising. Mileage, travel, lodging or related expenses. Litigation expenses such as deposition costs, discovery expenses, expert consultation, outside counsel (or co-counsel, experts or outside attorneys needed to be hired to defend other state actors). She specifically asked for related costs to State ex rel. Brooks v. Evnen before the Nebraska Supreme Court in September (abortion), State ex rel. Collar v. Evnen before the Nebraska Supreme Court in September (school choice), Kuehn v. Evnen and others in Lancaster District Court and now the Nebraska Supreme Court through 2024 and into 2025 (medical cannabis) and Kuehn v. Gov. Jim Pillen and others in Lancaster County District Court (medical cannabis). The AG's Office hired a forensic document examiner from Colorado as a handwriting expert to review a handful of petition pages in the election-related case from Kuehn last year. Conrad also included the state's criminal case against Jacy Todd of York in Hall County District Court and Hall County County Court. Todd is a public notary who helped the medical cannabis campaign and is believed to be the first notary ever criminally charged in this manner. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing. Hall County District Judge Andrew Butler this week questioned the extent of resources being used to pursue 24 counts of 'official misconduct' against Todd, when looking at the current climate of the state and voice of its residents.' The Attorney General's Office did not respond to multiple requests for comment. It has traditionally not disclosed specific litigation costs. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Yahoo
Historians seeking stories of Jim Crow-era travel utilizing the ‘green book'
'Green books' like this one offered Black travelers welcoming places to eat and stay when away from home. (Courtesy of Nebraska State Historical Society) LINCOLN — Stories from the public are being sought to complete research into the state's history during the Jim Crow-era, when African-Americans used a 'green book' to find food and lodging where they were welcomed. The stories from Nebraskans are needed to complete a two-year research project about this lesser-known chapter of state history. 'The goal is to increase awareness about Nebraska's Green Book sites, Black history throughout the state, and reasons to preserve and celebrate it,' said Jade Mendoza, survey coordinator in the State Historic Preservation Office, a division of the Nebraska State Historical Society. The Historical Society is collaborating with the Durham Museum, Great Plains Black History Museum and the Making Invisible Histories Visible program developed by Omaha Public Schools to seek Nebraskans' stories associated with Black American travel during the 1950s and 1960s. The Green Book was published during the Jim Crow segregationist era by Victor Hugo Green, a New York City mailman, to help Black American and international travelers find safe lodging, restaurants, gas stations and other businesses throughout North America. Publication of the Green Book lasted until 1967, and since then, many Green Book sites have been lost. 'We need Nebraskans' memories and stories about Black American travel in the state to help us tell this lesser-known Nebraska history,' Mendoza said. Those with memories of visiting Green Book sites in Nebraska or those who recall stories told by older relatives, can email information to or call 402-429-7465. Stories also can be submitted using the State Historical Society website at Mendoza said that once research and site visits are completed, two Green Book sites will be nominated in Nebraska to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Nebraska State Historic Preservation Office uses historic survey work like this to recognize historic places, understand potential impacts to historic places and to unlock access to preservation-based economic development programs. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
End is near, Pillen says, for persistent ‘wait list' for Nebraskans with developmental disabilities
Blake Hodgen, a participant at Madonna Ability Alliance, caps the lineup of speakers during an event Monday that closed Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month. Gov. Jim Pillen during a talk after a tour, said a goal he announced last March is nearly accomplished — eliminating the state's wait list for services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner) OMAHA — Gov. Jim Pillen said Monday that, by July, his administration expects to have accomplished a goal it announced a year ago: elimination of a long-running 'wait list' for Nebraskans seeking services for intellectual and developmental disabilities. Last March, the list contained about 2,700 people, and a projected wait for available funds stretched for up to eight years. The governor said the number has been whittled to about 700. 'This is the first time in the last 35 years that this wait list is going to be eliminated,' Steve Corsi, chief executive officer of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, said at a press conference in Omaha that also closed Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month. Pillen, Corsi and Tony Green, director of the DHHS Division of Developmental Disabilities, updated progress on cutting the wait, the public cost and what they've described as the state's reimagining of how services are offered to Nebraskans with developmental disabilities. After a tour of the recently opened new headquarters for Madonna Ability Alliance, which helps support Nebraskans with disabilities, state officials answered questions from reporters and mingled with Madonna families and participants filling the lobby of the building near 72nd and Pine Streets in Omaha. Among the lineup of speakers was Blake Hodgen, a Madonna participant who stole the show by relaying his educational, music therapy and job-training experiences since second grade at Madonna, which he and others said helped prepare him for his long-time catering job with the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Pillen told the group he took aim at shortening the list, known also as the Developmental Disabilities Registry, because it didn't make sense. 'You break the glass if that's what you have to do,' Pillen said. 'But when the most vulnerable Nebraskans' needs weren't being met for eight years, (it) popped my top off.' Eliminating the wait list, Pillen said, requires a roughly $40 million annual investment, with the state footing about $19 million each year and federal funds covering the rest. He foresees Nebraska becoming a model for other states with long waits to access developmental disabilities services — though advocates say they see some flaws, and they are still evaluating the full impact of changes. At one time, Green said, the Nebraska registry listed 4,500 names. Clearing the wait, he said, means that all the families will have been offered at least some specialized support through a Medicaid waiver program that lets states to tap federal funding for accessing home- and community-based services intended to keep people out of institutions. Key to the list shrinkage, said Green, is a new approach that 'meets families where they're at' — providing for a more immediate and targeted service, such as funding for child or respite care or vehicle modification. Family advocates have said a family support waiver was created, for instance, as an intermediary solution that provides up to $10,000 a year for such services. In the old system, Green said a family would put their name on the registry and wait as long as eight years to get what is known as a 'comprehensive' developmental waiver — which is more costly but provides access to a wider array of services, including full-time residential services outside the home, particularly for adults. Green said not all families require such a gamut, and state officials believe that the overall needs of the population are better met by providing more narrow services closer to when a family needs them. Also new and crucial, he and advocates said, is that the state now allows youths with disabilities access to medical care through Medicaid — even if their household income is beyond typical Medicaid limits. Said Green: 'What we're working on now is a system that says, 'What's your need that's being unmet?' And we'll figure out which waiver has the right service and supports for you. I would say it's a continuum of care … It will be individualized to the family and child.' Edison McDonald is executive director of The Arc of Nebraska, the state's largest membership organization for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. He said the state's new approach takes positive steps, including the Medicaid expansion that helps ensure that kids with developmental disabilities get access to health care. However, he cited drawbacks. For example, he said, the often lengthy wait used to be a pathway to guaranteed access to comprehensive services including the out-of-home residential services. That is no longer the case, McDonald said. 'They call it innovation when really it is barring a lot of people from that access to residential services. In some cases, it misses the mark and can potentially be harmful,' he said. McDonald said the comprehensive service option is still available, but for adults with the highest needs such as being homeless or being a danger to themself. He said advocates are still trying to grasp the breadth of the impact the changes will bring. In some cases, it misses the mark and can be potentially harmful. – Edison McDonald, The Arc of Nebraska McDonald said what advocates thought was an 'intermediary' solution — the family support waiver offering up to $10,000 of services annually — appears possibly to be more of a 'destination.' He also said the state's system includes what advocates view as an outdated rate schedule for service providers. Alana Schriver, executive director of Nebraska Association of Service Providers, applauded the Pillen administration's commitment overall. But she worries about the state rates allowed for service providers. Without better wages for more workers, she said, 'this whole conversation is moot.' 'If there is nobody to serve the people, what are we doing?' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Keeping tabs on a work week's quintet
The Nebraska State Capitol. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner) In case anyone asks, here are five things I accomplished in the last week: I noted, with disappointment and a little disgust, the appearance in the Nebraska Legislature of yet another voter suppression bill offered in the guise of election integrity. This just in: Nebraska elections already have integrity. We'd be solving a problem that doesn't exist except in minds mired in fiction from 2020. Like previous attempts to disenfranchise, Legislative Bill 541 would construct barriers between Nebraskans' right to vote, including the elimination of online voter registration, new restrictions on absentee voting, more security for ballot boxes and a requirement for hand-counting of election results, which science shows is the least accurate way to tally votes. Nor was the violent and ironic juxtaposition lost on me. While the Unicameral's Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee heard testimony, the rest of the country marked the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, when Alabama law enforcement officers beat and savaged marchers who were protesting — you guessed it — barriers to the ballot box. Sixty years and, apparently, still counting. I took to my knees in prayer for the swift end to several proposed laws in the Nebraska Legislature that would blur the lines between state and church. The lineup of proposals reads like something out of a catechism. LB 691 would make mandatory the display of Ten Commandments in public schools. LB 550 would require public schools to let students leave for part of the day for religious instruction. LB 549 would allow public schools to use volunteer 'chaplains,' individuals without professional educational licenses, in roles similar to counselors. And LB 122 would force districts to display 'In God We Trust' prominently in their schools. Chipping away at the very American principle of the separation of church and state does nothing to mend any shredding of our moral fiber, the reason many cite for offering such laws. Perhaps, instead, we should redouble our efforts to champion those who live virtuous, moral lives, especially among our leaders, to give students real-life guides. I seethed and shouted a couple times, too. First when the president called U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren 'Pocahontas' during his State of the Union and then later when Colorado U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Neb., said U.S. Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, was using his 'pimp cane' to protest during the president's address. Green is Black. I seethed and shouted, because it's time we use our outdoor voices to push back against the dog whistlers and race baiters. I found it especially galling that in the recent push to extinguish DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion programs) and rewrite American history, none of Nebraska's congressional delegation has, as of this writing, said a word about such language or the thinking behind it. The House Ethics Committee is taking up Boebert's insult so Nebraska Republican U.S. Reps. Don Bacon, Adrian Smith and Mike Flood may have a chance to take a side. A Bacon Facebook post after the State of the Union argued the toothless 'both sides are to blame' for what was a decorum-free fest at times. He, Smith and Flood will get a chance to tell us where they stand when they vote on the resolution to censure Boebert. Green has already been censured after he was removed from the chamber at the request of Speaker Mike Johnson. But wait, more irony: Any accounting of recent political give and take reveals a diverse, equitable and inclusive roster of ill-mannered outbursts … DEI for bad behavior if you will. I sold my Tesla and deleted my Twitter (X) account. Actually I did this a couple months ago but spent much of last week still feeling quite good about it. I viewed, with the appropriate derision, Nebraska's latest attempt to change how it determines Electoral College votes. The NINO (Non-partisan in name only) Nebraska Legislature will be debating whether to adopt a winner-take-all system in presidential elections. As the entire free world knows, only Nebraska and Maine can split their Electoral College votes. That's been the law for the past nine presidential elections, and in 2008, 2020 and 2024, we indeed split electors when the Democratic candidate won the 2nd District in Omaha, creating Nebraska's 'Blue Dot.' Now, as Republicans could have enough votes in the NINO Legislature, they — at the urging of Gov. Jim Pillen — believe this is the session in which the GOP will deliver the goods. Never mind winning on the merits of arguments and ideas. Winner-take-all is not about arguments or ideas. It simply changes the rules. That's my five: I noted, prayed, seethed and shouted, sold and deleted, and viewed. That was surely enough to keep my job. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pillen's nudge helps Nebraska's winner-take-all proposals advance out of Government Committee
State Sen. Loren Lippincott of Central City, left, joins Gov. Jim Pillen for a ceremonial bill signing for a bill aimed at boosting Nebraska National Guard recruitment and retention. Dec. 10, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN – After public pressure from Gov. Jim Pillen, Nebraska lawmakers advanced to the full Legislature a winner-take-all bill and a separate proposed constitutional amendment to let voters alter how the state awards Electoral College votes for president. The Government, Military, and Veterans Affairs Committee of the officially nonpartisan Legislature advanced both proposals Monday along party lines. The chair, State Sen. Rita Sanders of Bellevue, had said in the past that she wouldn't put anything out of committee if it didn't have the 33 votes needed to overcome a promised filibuster, which could grind the Legislature to a halt, at least for a time. But that changed when the emails and phone calls came in, she said. 'Lippincott making it a priority…so people are speaking, and most of them said, 'Let's get the vote,'' Sanders said after the vote to advance. Sanders added that any attempt to pull any bill out of a committee, if it ends up in gridlock, would weaken the bill and said it should go through the committee process. State Sen. Loren Lippincott of Central City, who filed LB 3 and made it his priority bill for the session, told the Nebraska Examiner on Friday that he was grateful for the 'opportunity to try and get Nebraska back to the same rules' as the rest of the country. The Government Committee also advanced Legislative Resolution 24CA, a proposed amendment to the state constitution from State Sen. Myron Dorn of Adams, allowing voters to decide whether to change to winner-take-all. Nebraska is just one of two states — Maine is the other — that parcel out some electoral votes by the winner of the presidential popular vote in each congressional district. The approach, adopted in Nebraska in 1991, has led to Democrats claiming a single electoral vote from the Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District three times — in 2008, 2020 and 2024. Nebraska Democrats have dubbed the 2nd District the 'Blue Dot.' The Nebraska Democratic Party has called LB 3 an attempt to 'suppress the voices of Nebraskans' and said it 'will work hard to ensure this bill fails.' Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb released a statement Monday calling the proposed move 'short-sighted.' 'We have a competitive primary for both parties in 2028, and we should all want candidates asking for our votes. That will only happen if we keep the split electoral vote system. Nebraska is unique. Let's not be like all the rest of the states. Let the other states follow our lead in true representative democracy. We urge senators from all parties to vote no on the final version of the bills,' Kleeb said in her statement. State Sen. Dave Wordekemper of Fremont said that just because he voted to advance the bill out of committee doesn't mean he agrees with the two proposals. 'We can have a debate on those [proposals] on the floor and decide as a body,' Wordkemper said. Wordkemper said he would keep an 'open mind' on both proposals. Lippincott said after the vote that he always feels 'hopeful' about his bill's chances. Pillen, in a statement, said the bill's advancement was 'great news for Nebraska, and I'm grateful to Chair Rita Sanders and the great senators who voted to advance WTA.' He said switching to winner-take-all 'would restore unity to Nebraska's allocation of Electoral College votes and strengthen our voice in presidential elections.' The state's Republicans have pushed for winner-take-all for decades. The effort has gained steam since Trump expressed support for the initiative during his 2024 campaign. The latest push likely signals that Pillen's political future with Trump could depend on whether he can deliver winner-take-all. Sander said the committee would have another executive session late this week to possibly combine the two proposals. It was not immediately clear when the two proposals would reach the floor for debate. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
