Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
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LINCOLN -- A legislative committee would be formed to study the tax system in Nebraska under a resolution advanced by lawmakers Thursday. LR155, introduced by Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, would create the Tax Modernization Committee to examine the state’s tax structure and submit recommendations to the governor and the Executive Board of the Legislature by December of this year. Chambers said the committee would look at sales, income, property and other taxes and solicit input from the public to determine the best tax structure for the state....
By Christine Scalora and Joseph Moore, Nebraska News Service LINCOLN - Disabled veterans would get a preference on state contracts under a bill state senators advanced Thursday. Sen. Charlie Janssen of Fremont introduced the bill. As amended, it would give resident disabled veterans a preference for bids on state contracts, if all other factors were equal. Helping Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans establish their own businesses is one of the best ways to reduce the unacceptably high unemployment rate of that group, Janssen said. The 2011...
LINCOLN – Juveniles convicted of Class 1A felonies would no longer face a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole under a bill introduced by Sen. Brad Ashford of Omaha. The bill (LB44), which the Legislature debated Monday, would establish a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a minimum sentence of 30 years imprisonment for juvenile offenders convicted of the most serious crimes, like murder, rape and kidnapping. The bill is an attempt to bring Nebraska state law in line with a recent Supreme Court decision that m...
LINCOLN – Nebraska judges would get raises under a bill senators advanced Wednesday to increase the salary of Nebraska Supreme Court judges by 5 percent annually over the next two years. The bill (LB232), introduced by Sen. Steve Lathrop of Omaha, would increase the judges’ annual pay from its current base of $145,600 to $152,900 in 2013, and again to $160,500 in 2014. It passed with a vote of 26 to 2. Because the salaries of all Nebraska judges are based on a percentage of what the Supreme Court judges make, this would mean a 5 percent rai...
LINCOLN – Nebraska would become the 18th state in the United States to abolish the death penalty under a bill introduced by Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha. The Legislature’s Judiciary Committee heard testimony March 13 on LB 543. The bill would get rid of the death penalty in the state and replace it with life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Nebraska has executed three people since 1976 when the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the resumption of executions after a two-year moratorium. There are currently 11 inmates on death row in the...
LINCOLN – Nebraska would become one of only two states in the country that offer tax credits for renewable energy generation under a bill introduced by Sen. Jeremy Nordquist of Omaha. The Legislature’s Revenue Committee heard testimony March 6 on LB 411. The bill would offer a new tax incentive for solar, wind, biomass and landfill gas energy producers just as the federal tax credit on renewable energy production is set to expire at the end of 2013. “Us having something like this in place would make us a magnet for renewable energy devel...
Panelists at a gun violence discussion at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln agreed that a lack of access to mental health care and family dysfunction are the roots of American gun crime. Point Blank: A Conversation About Gun Violence in America featured seven experts in law enforcement, psychology, constitutional law and policy to address issues involved in gun violence Tuesday, March 5. Discussion moderator and UNL Law School Dean Susan Poser began the evening by citing United States gun violence statistics. According to the Centers for...
LINCOLN – A statewide consensus appears to be growing on the need to address water resource sustainability in Nebraska. During a Feb. 13 hearing of the Legislature’s Natural Resource Committee, representatives from a diverse array of interest groups testified in support of LB 517, a bill introduced by Sen. Tom Carlson of Holdrege. The bill would create a Water Sustainability Project Task Force charged with developing a priority list of water resource programs and projects in need of funding throughout the state. The task force would submit its...