LINCOLN, NE –&nbsp;Governor Jim Pillen issued the following statement after a bipartisan coalition of senators voted to advance property tax relief legislation:

“I am grateful to Senator Lou Ann Linehan for her strong leadership in achieving this first step toward property tax relief. Although there is much work yet to do to achieve a victory for Nebraskans facing spiraling property tax bills, this vote is a step in the right direction. I look forward to partnering with good faith members of the Legislature to continue the work of delivering transformative property tax reform and bringing this consensus bill into law.”

The state senators who voted to cut Nebraskans’ property taxes and limit government spending are as follows:

Office of Governor Jim PillenLINCOLN, NE –&nbsp;Governor Jim Pillen issued the following statement after a bipartisan coalition of senators voted to advance property tax relief legislation:“I am grateful to Senator Lou Ann Linehan for her strong leadership in achieving this first step toward property tax relief. Although there is much work yet to do to achieve a victory for Nebraskans facing spiraling property tax bills, this vote is a step in the right direction. I look forward to partnering with good faith members of the Legislature to continue the work of delivering transformative property tax reform and bringing this consensus bill into law.”The state senators who voted to cut Nebraskans’ property taxes and limit government spending are as follows:Senator Lou Ann LinehanSenator Ray AguilarSenator Joni AlbrechtSpeaker John ArchSenator Christy ArmendarizSenator Beau BallardSenator Carolyn BosnSenator Eliot BostarSenator Bruce BostelmanSenator Tom BrandtSenator Tom BrewerSenator Rob ClementsSenator Barry DeKaySenator Myron DornSenator Rob DoverSenator Steve ErdmanSenator Steve HalloranSenator Ben HansenSenator Brian HardinSenator Rick HoldcroftSenator Jana HughesSenator Teresa IbachSenator Mike JacobsonSenator Kathleen KauthSenator Loren LippincottSenator John LoweSenator Mike McDonnellSenator Fred MeyerSenator Mike MoserSenator Dave MurmanSenator Rita SandersSenator Tony VargasSenator Brad von GillernSenator Anna Wishart&nbsp;&nbsp;

Governor Pillen Issues Statement Thanking Bipartisan Coalition of Senators for First-Round Advancement of Consensus Property Tax Relief Plan

Offutt Air Force Base Press Release

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, NE., – The Defenders of Freedom Air &amp; Space Show returns on Aug 24 and 25 after a six-year hiatus. During this period, Offutt Air Force Base faced a significant challenge - a 100-year flood in 2019 that devastated two-thirds of the base. The flood’s impact was profound, and the base is still in the process of recovery and rebuilding.

As a result of these ongoing recovery efforts, available parking on base has been severely limited. To ensure all attendees have a smooth and enjoyable experience, we have developed a comprehensive parking and shuttle program.

Off-Base Parking Locations: Due to the restricted parking on base, several off-base parking areas have been designated for the convenience of attendees:

Shuttle Services: Shuttles will run from each of the designated parking locations with the following schedule:

8:30 a.m. – Close (Shuttles will transport attendees to the air show until 2 p.m. After 2 p.m., shuttles will continue to operate, returning spectators from the air show to the parking areas.)

Rising View Residents: For those living in Rising View, shuttle pick-ups will be available at Lemay Elementary School and Peter Sarpy Elementary School.

Ride Share Services: Attendees are encouraged to utilize ride share services. Drop-offs and pick-ups should be conducted at the designated parking locations.

On-Base Parking: Due to limited space, only DoD ID card holders (only one person in the vehicle must possess a DoD ID), vehicles with authorized handicap placards/license plates, and Premium Ticket holders will be allowed to park on Offutt AFB.

We ask for the community’s continued understanding and cooperation as we continue our rebuilding efforts. For additional information regarding the air show, including performers and parking details, please visit the official air show website at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.offuttairshow.com/" target="_blank">www.offuttairshow.com</a>.

Media wishing to attend the Defenders of Freedom Air &amp; Space Show must apply for credentials no later than Aug. 21. Credential applications can be found at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.offuttairshow.com/" target="_blank">www.offuttairshow.com</a>&nbsp;by clicking the “Media Kit” icon. There are media availability opportunities starting on Aug. 22 and 23 prior to the air show.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/8/1723642092268.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Offutt Air Force Base Press ReleaseOFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, NE., – The Defenders of Freedom Air &amp; Space Show returns on Aug 24 and 25 after a six-year hiatus. During this period, Offutt Air Force Base faced a significant challenge - a 100-year flood in 2019 that devastated two-thirds of the base. The flood’s impact was profound, and the base is still in the process of recovery and rebuilding.As a result of these ongoing recovery efforts, available parking on base has been severely limited. To ensure all attendees have a smooth and enjoyable experience, we have developed a comprehensive parking and shuttle program.Off-Base Parking Locations: Due to the restricted parking on base, several off-base parking areas have been designated for the convenience of attendees:Bellevue East High SchoolBellevue West High SchoolBellevue UniversitySouthroads Education &amp; Tech. CenterAmerican Heroes ParkNorthrop GrummanShuttle Services: Shuttles will run from each of the designated parking locations with the following schedule:8:30 a.m. – Close (Shuttles will transport attendees to the air show until 2 p.m. After 2 p.m., shuttles will continue to operate, returning spectators from the air show to the parking areas.)Rising View Residents: For those living in Rising View, shuttle pick-ups will be available at Lemay Elementary School and Peter Sarpy Elementary School.Ride Share Services: Attendees are encouraged to utilize ride share services. Drop-offs and pick-ups should be conducted at the designated parking locations.On-Base Parking: Due to limited space, only DoD ID card holders (only one person in the vehicle must possess a DoD ID), vehicles with authorized handicap placards/license plates, and Premium Ticket holders will be allowed to park on Offutt AFB.We ask for the community’s continued understanding and cooperation as we continue our rebuilding efforts. For additional information regarding the air show, including performers and parking details, please visit the official air show website at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.offuttairshow.com/" target="_blank">www.offuttairshow.com</a>.Media wishing to attend the Defenders of Freedom Air &amp; Space Show must apply for credentials no later than Aug. 21. Credential applications can be found at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.offuttairshow.com/" target="_blank">www.offuttairshow.com</a>&nbsp;by clicking the “Media Kit” icon. There are media availability opportunities starting on Aug. 22 and 23 prior to the air show.

Defenders of Freedom Air & Space Show: Parking and Shuttle Program Details

<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/08/13/gov-jim-pillens-political-legacy-and-future-could-hinge-on-property-tax-relief-push/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen pushed his property tax relief chips to the middle of the Legislature’s poker table Monday, staking his political reputation on state senators passing structural changes that cannot be easily undone.&nbsp;

He has held listening sessions. He has rallied supporters. He has funded polls and mailers. He has paid for bulk text messages. He has held secret meetings with select state senators and talked to reporters. He has pressured allies and enemies alike, lawmakers say.

Pillen’s approach to addressing what he calls the “property tax crisis” has left him on a bit of a political island as his proposals need public defenders and pathways forward.&nbsp;

He will have his defenders, including State Sens. Brad von Gillern and Kathleen Kauth of Omaha, two members of the Revenue Committee that have helped to craft the tax proposal. But his opposition is not simply partisan in nature. Republican State Sen. Julie Slama of Dunbar has said she won’t and can’t vote for what she describes as a major tax increase.

“I can’t support a plan like this,” she said. “I just can’t.”

Over several weeks of reporting, senators who have tried to work with Pillen on changes described meeting with him as being like running into a brick wall. He listens. He nods. And then he tells you why what he has proposed is better, several senators said.

sked about the stakes he faces personally and politically from passage or failure of meaningful property tax relief, Pillen said, “I don’t think about those things. I just am focused on doing what we believe is best and what the people need.”

“I’m very, very pleased how hard the majority of the Legislature is working to find solutions,” he said. “Human nature is … we don’t like a lot of change, and we’re pretty selfish. So we’ve got a lot of those things to work through.”

The first-term governor is gambling his chance at a second term on whether he can persuade enough senators to pass his vision of tax relief during the special session he called.

Pillen told the Examiner on Monday he wants any plan to include front-loading of the state’s income tax credits for property taxes paid. He said he wants spending caps or controls. And he wants the state to take over more funding for K-12 schools.

The latest proposal he favors includes each of those concepts and more parts of his original plan. The various parts were shoehorned into Legislative Bill 34 on Monday by State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Omaha and the Revenue Committee. Debate by the full Legislature begins Tuesday.

Pillen said his North Star for property tax relief is making sure young people can buy a first home, helping families afford a home and ensuring that senior citizens can stay in their homes. That should be something on which all Nebraskans agree, he said.

Like other owners of agricultural land, Pillen wants the State of Nebraska to shift more of the tax burden from land taxes to sales taxes. He runs a hog operation based in Columbus.&nbsp;

People who know and have worked with Pillen say it makes sense that he would wager the political capital he earned from his election win on reaching this point. He has long complained about the unfairness of the state relying on agriculture to pay for schools.

Farmers, ranchers and breeders account for significant portions of property tax payments, particularly those in rural school districts. And more than half of the $5.3 billion property tax cost Nebraskans pay comes from funding schools.&nbsp;

Pillen denied that he has any personal interest in making sure a property tax plan benefits him and his businesses, as some of his opponents have alleged. He said he would not have been elected governor if he were out for himself.&nbsp;

He did not discuss the specifics of his property tax plan during any of the 2022 campaign stops the Examiner attended. He did discuss the need for the state to fund more of K-12 education rather than relying so heavily on local property taxes.

Agricultural interests, including the Nebraska Farm Bureau, the Nebraska Farmers Union and others have argued that the state should step up and fund more of the load of K-12 education, pointing to a provision of the state constitution.

“I’m focused on working for Nebraskans that work their tails off every day, that don’t have lobbyists,” Pillen said. “They need a voice, and I’m going to work really hard to make sure they have a voice.”&nbsp;

The Farm Bureau did not return a call Monday seeking comment about the latest tax plan. The group opposed Pillen’s initial proposal for taxing agricultural and manufacturing machinery.&nbsp;The Revenue Committee this week decided to keep the state’s existing sales tax exemptions on both items.

The organization took the rare step of endorsing Pillen during the 2022 Republican primary election against multi-state agribusinessman Charles Herbster, whom Pillen defeated.

Herbster has said he is still thinking about whether to make another run for office. He said he had considered running for U.S. Senate against former Gov. Pete Ricketts but didn’t. The other office he has said he would consider was governor.

Political consultants told the Examiner they think that if Pillen falls short of the public expectations he has set for property tax relief, he risks making himself vulnerable in a 2026 GOP primary to a self-funded or a well-known candidate.

The governor has spent months telling Nebraskans he wanted to make sure they felt tax relief, proposing to offset 40% or 50% of property tax bills. The latest plan would offset less than a third, based on early estimates.

Several senators who have opposed Pillen’s proposals, including State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha, said he is trying to make life more expensive for people in her district, that people who can afford it the least might pay more in taxes.&nbsp;She said the governor is also trying to do too much too fast in a special session instead of a regular session, particularly addressing school funding changes that touch every person in Nebraska.

Pillen, she said, is out for personal and professional gain.

“Being singularly focused on property taxes is never going to be successful for anyone because it’s so much bigger than that,” she said. “It’s a holistic view of how do we fund government, of what is the role of government?”

State Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha, who has expressed some openness to Pillen’s proposals, said he can’t support any proposal that doesn’t include more significant relief for renters, including a fallback position being discussed.&nbsp;

He said Pillen’s plan doesn’t have the votes. And he called on his fellow Democrats to come back to the table.

State Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard, a Republican, questioned the order in which Pillen pursued the special session. He said the senators Pillen handpicked to work on a proposal should have held their meetings and drafted and shared a potential bill with all senators in early August.

That would have given lawmakers time to give the select group feedback so they had a consensus proposal before calling the Legislature into special session. Instead, he said, the process has seemed chaotic.

“They’re doing all the negotiations that should’ve happened before we met, they’re doing it during the special session,” Erdman said. “They’re doing it backwards. We should’ve gotten a consensus on what we wanted to do.”

Linehan defends Pillen’s work, committee efforts

Linehan, who has prodded her colleagues to support Pillen’s proposals, expressed frustration Monday that some senators have stopped negotiating.

“It makes no sense,” she said. “If you’re doing the right thing, you’re giving the schools more money. You’re lowering property taxes. You’re doubling the earned income tax credit. It’s not about doing what’s right — it’s raw politics.”

Linehan said Pillen has worked “as hard as any governor I’ve ever seen” on this proposal. She said he’s been clear about his priorities and has at least two more years to reach his goals. He’s not limited to a single special session to accomplish his goals, she said.

She said negotiations and work will continue behind the scenes until lawmakers settle on whatever can reach the 33-vote threshold for passage.

State Sen. Tom Brewer, whose LB 34 is the current vehicle for property tax relief, said he knows the governor is in a difficult spot but credited him for taking on an issue too many others have avoided. Brewer represents north-central Nebraska.

Pillen would not say Monday whether he would sign incremental steps toward his goals. Senators have told him and his staff they lack the 33 votes to overcome a filibuster, meaning his latest preferred proposal appears poised to die Tuesday after eight hours of debate.&nbsp;

He declined to say whether he might call senators back into session if they don’t pass reforms he considers sweeping enough.

“I obviously put out the plan I believe in exactly where that goes,” Pillen said. “What that means when it gets to me, we’ll decide that at that time. … I don’t get involved in speculation. There’s too many moving parts.”

He said the goal is making the state more competitive when a business owner or family is looking at relocating to Nebraska.&nbsp;

“I still have faith that everybody in this Unicameral knows what a crisis the property tax crisis is and that, in the end, then the games are going to stop and they’ll do the people’s work,” he said.

Paul Landow, a retired political scientist from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, said Pillen is about to learn either the price or payoff of raising public expectations on an issue people care about as much as property taxes.

Said Landow: “He will either be the hero who did it or the bum who couldn’t get it done.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/8/1723566815893.jpeg" alt=" Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen. June 10, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)" />
 <figcaption> Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen. June 10, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
 </figure>Aaron Sanderford<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/08/13/gov-jim-pillens-political-legacy-and-future-could-hinge-on-property-tax-relief-push/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen pushed his property tax relief chips to the middle of the Legislature’s poker table Monday, staking his political reputation on state senators passing structural changes that cannot be easily undone.&nbsp;He has held listening sessions. He has rallied supporters. He has funded polls and mailers. He has paid for bulk text messages. He has held secret meetings with select state senators and talked to reporters. He has pressured allies and enemies alike, lawmakers say.Pillen’s approach to addressing what he calls the “property tax crisis” has left him on a bit of a political island as his proposals need public defenders and pathways forward.&nbsp;He will have his defenders, including State Sens. Brad von Gillern and Kathleen Kauth of Omaha, two members of the Revenue Committee that have helped to craft the tax proposal. But his opposition is not simply partisan in nature. Republican State Sen. Julie Slama of Dunbar has said she won’t and can’t vote for what she describes as a major tax increase.“I can’t support a plan like this,” she said. “I just can’t.”Over several weeks of reporting, senators who have tried to work with Pillen on changes described meeting with him as being like running into a brick wall. He listens. He nods. And then he tells you why what he has proposed is better, several senators said.sked about the stakes he faces personally and politically from passage or failure of meaningful property tax relief, Pillen said, “I don’t think about those things. I just am focused on doing what we believe is best and what the people need.”“I’m very, very pleased how hard the majority of the Legislature is working to find solutions,” he said. “Human nature is … we don’t like a lot of change, and we’re pretty selfish. So we’ve got a lot of those things to work through.”<h2>Gambling a second term</h2>The first-term governor is gambling his chance at a second term on whether he can persuade enough senators to pass his vision of tax relief during the special session he called.Pillen told the Examiner on Monday he wants any plan to include front-loading of the state’s income tax credits for property taxes paid. He said he wants spending caps or controls. And he wants the state to take over more funding for K-12 schools.The latest proposal he favors includes each of those concepts and more parts of his original plan. The various parts were shoehorned into Legislative Bill 34 on Monday by State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Omaha and the Revenue Committee. Debate by the full Legislature begins Tuesday.Pillen said his North Star for property tax relief is making sure young people can buy a first home, helping families afford a home and ensuring that senior citizens can stay in their homes. That should be something on which all Nebraskans agree, he said.<h2>Debate over education costs</h2>Like other owners of agricultural land, Pillen wants the State of Nebraska to shift more of the tax burden from land taxes to sales taxes. He runs a hog operation based in Columbus.&nbsp;People who know and have worked with Pillen say it makes sense that he would wager the political capital he earned from his election win on reaching this point. He has long complained about the unfairness of the state relying on agriculture to pay for schools.Farmers, ranchers and breeders account for significant portions of property tax payments, particularly those in rural school districts. And more than half of the $5.3 billion property tax cost Nebraskans pay comes from funding schools.&nbsp;Pillen denied that he has any personal interest in making sure a property tax plan benefits him and his businesses, as some of his opponents have alleged. He said he would not have been elected governor if he were out for himself.&nbsp;He did not discuss the specifics of his property tax plan during any of the 2022 campaign stops the Examiner attended. He did discuss the need for the state to fund more of K-12 education rather than relying so heavily on local property taxes.Agricultural interests, including the Nebraska Farm Bureau, the Nebraska Farmers Union and others have argued that the state should step up and fund more of the load of K-12 education, pointing to a provision of the state constitution.“I’m focused on working for Nebraskans that work their tails off every day, that don’t have lobbyists,” Pillen said. “They need a voice, and I’m going to work really hard to make sure they have a voice.”&nbsp;<h2>A challenger could be emboldened</h2>The Farm Bureau did not return a call Monday seeking comment about the latest tax plan. The group opposed Pillen’s initial proposal for taxing agricultural and manufacturing machinery.&nbsp;The Revenue Committee this week decided to keep the state’s existing sales tax exemptions on both items.The organization took the rare step of endorsing Pillen during the 2022 Republican primary election against multi-state agribusinessman Charles Herbster, whom Pillen defeated.Herbster has said he is still thinking about whether to make another run for office. He said he had considered running for U.S. Senate against former Gov. Pete Ricketts but didn’t. The other office he has said he would consider was governor.Political consultants told the Examiner they think that if Pillen falls short of the public expectations he has set for property tax relief, he risks making himself vulnerable in a 2026 GOP primary to a self-funded or a well-known candidate.The governor has spent months telling Nebraskans he wanted to make sure they felt tax relief, proposing to offset 40% or 50% of property tax bills. The latest plan would offset less than a third, based on early estimates.<h2>Questions about process, renters</h2>Several senators who have opposed Pillen’s proposals, including State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha, said he is trying to make life more expensive for people in her district, that people who can afford it the least might pay more in taxes.&nbsp;She said the governor is also trying to do too much too fast in a special session instead of a regular session, particularly addressing school funding changes that touch every person in Nebraska.Pillen, she said, is out for personal and professional gain.“Being singularly focused on property taxes is never going to be successful for anyone because it’s so much bigger than that,” she said. “It’s a holistic view of how do we fund government, of what is the role of government?”State Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha, who has expressed some openness to Pillen’s proposals, said he can’t support any proposal that doesn’t include more significant relief for renters, including a fallback position being discussed.&nbsp;He said Pillen’s plan doesn’t have the votes. And he called on his fellow Democrats to come back to the table.“We can do better,” he said.State Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard, a Republican, questioned the order in which Pillen pursued the special session. He said the senators Pillen handpicked to work on a proposal should have held their meetings and drafted and shared a potential bill with all senators in early August.That would have given lawmakers time to give the select group feedback so they had a consensus proposal before calling the Legislature into special session. Instead, he said, the process has seemed chaotic.“They’re doing all the negotiations that should’ve happened before we met, they’re doing it during the special session,” Erdman said. “They’re doing it backwards. We should’ve gotten a consensus on what we wanted to do.”<h2>Linehan defends Pillen’s work, committee efforts</h2>Linehan, who has prodded her colleagues to support Pillen’s proposals, expressed frustration Monday that some senators have stopped negotiating.“It makes no sense,” she said. “If you’re doing the right thing, you’re giving the schools more money. You’re lowering property taxes. You’re doubling the earned income tax credit. It’s not about doing what’s right — it’s raw politics.”Linehan said Pillen has worked “as hard as any governor I’ve ever seen” on this proposal. She said he’s been clear about his priorities and has at least two more years to reach his goals. He’s not limited to a single special session to accomplish his goals, she said.She said negotiations and work will continue behind the scenes until lawmakers settle on whatever can reach the 33-vote threshold for passage.State Sen. Tom Brewer, whose LB 34 is the current vehicle for property tax relief, said he knows the governor is in a difficult spot but credited him for taking on an issue too many others have avoided. Brewer represents north-central Nebraska.<h2>Pillen has to sign off on backup plans</h2>Pillen would not say Monday whether he would sign incremental steps toward his goals. Senators have told him and his staff they lack the 33 votes to overcome a filibuster, meaning his latest preferred proposal appears poised to die Tuesday after eight hours of debate.&nbsp;He declined to say whether he might call senators back into session if they don’t pass reforms he considers sweeping enough.“I obviously put out the plan I believe in exactly where that goes,” Pillen said. “What that means when it gets to me, we’ll decide that at that time. … I don’t get involved in speculation. There’s too many moving parts.”He said the goal is making the state more competitive when a business owner or family is looking at relocating to Nebraska.&nbsp;“I still have faith that everybody in this Unicameral knows what a crisis the property tax crisis is and that, in the end, then the games are going to stop and they’ll do the people’s work,” he said.Paul Landow, a retired political scientist from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, said Pillen is about to learn either the price or payoff of raising public expectations on an issue people care about as much as property taxes.Said Landow: “He will either be the hero who did it or the bum who couldn’t get it done.”

Gov. Jim Pillen’s political legacy and future could hinge on property tax relief push

NEW YORK — Donald Trump discussed the assassination attempt,&nbsp; shared a plan to shut down the U.S. Education Department and much more during an online visit with&nbsp;X, formerly Twitter, owner Elon Musk Monday evening.&nbsp;

The  conversation had technical glitches but was viewed by over a billion, according to Musk.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/8/1723512136730.png" alt="Photo by Deputy Director of Communications, Donald J. Trump for President&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>Photo by Deputy Director of Communications, Donald J. Trump for President&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK — Donald Trump discussed the assassination attempt,&nbsp; shared a plan to shut down the U.S. Education Department and much more during an online visit with&nbsp;X, formerly Twitter, owner Elon Musk Monday evening.&nbsp;<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://t.co/cPUMFx9Qu5">pic.twitter.com/cPUMFx9Qu5</a>&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1823254086126608862?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 13, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The conversation had technical glitches but was viewed by over a billion, according to Musk.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Combined views of the conversation with <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a> and subsequent discussion by other accounts now ~1 billion <a href="https://t.co/s8x8QmdmnY">https://t.co/s8x8QmdmnY</a>&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1823249070296797515?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 13, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

🎥 A billion combined views: The Trump-Musk full conversation

<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/08/12/veterans-club-within-nes-oldest-prison-saluted-at-vietnam-vet-reunion/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — Every year, a wreath is placed on the grave of Beryl Zich.

It has been a solemn tradition since her death in 2005, a way to pay tribute to her love and dedication for her son, Larry, a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War, who was listed as missing in action until his remains were identified in 2022.

The flowers aren’t from a traditional veterans organization, but from a group of inmates at the Nebraska State Penitentiary.

For more than 40 years, a “veterans club” has been among the betterment groups allowed to form at the state’s oldest prison.

Along the way, the 25 to 40 inmates/veterans who gather twice a month behind prison walls got interested in the MIAs and prisoners of war from the Vietnam War. Eventually, they connected with Beryl Zich, the mother of an MIA, who began coming to the State Pen for their meetings.

She eventually referred to the veterans club members as “my boys” as the years passed, and as her son — who disappeared during a mission in 1972 — remained missing.

“Sometimes, I think those boys are the only ones who care,” she once remarked.

Jaime Obrecht and Roy Schoen, two long-time volunteers for the inmate club, related that story and others about the prison veterans organization at the 39th annual Nebraska Vietnam Veterans Reunion held this past weekend at the Marriott Cornhusker Hotel in Lincoln.

The first motto for the State Pen veterans’ organization was “Forgotten and Disowned,” which, Schoen said, was how a lot of veterans felt back in the 1980s.

“We had a chip on our shoulder for quite a few years for how we were treated,” said Schoen, an Army veteran and a retired counselor with the veterans center in Lincoln.

He and Obrecht, a retired Lincoln teacher, first began volunteering with the prison group in 1984, shortly after it was formed.

The Nebraska Vietnam Veterans Reunion began in 1985, Schoen said. It was organized by a group of vets who felt that a gathering would be helpful, not only to share stories and common experiences, but also to learn more about veterans benefits and organizations.

“There wasn’t much going on back then for (Vietnam) veterans,” he said. “Things have changed quite a bit. Slowly.”

About 300 veterans and their spouses registered for this year’s reunion, which included presentations about the State Pen’s Veterans Club, Agent Orange, a book about fallen veterans from Norfolk and the evacuation from Afghanistan. A representative of the Nebraska Department &nbsp;of Veterans Affairs also offered remarks.

There were a lot of dark-blue “Vietnam Veteran” ball caps among the participants, as well as MIA/POW shoulder patches and veterans’ reunion T-shirts. Some aging vets used canes to walk, or carried small tanks of supplemental oxygen, a testament to the advancing age of soldiers who served in a war that ended 49 years ago.

The reunion serves many of the same needs as the veterans club at the State Pen, said Schoen and Obrecht — bringing those with common experiences, and challenges, together.

The State Pen’s club has several projects besides the annual wreath on the grave of Beryl Zich, said Obrecht.

Club members have made more than 511,000 red, paper poppies for the American Legion Auxiliary, which distributes them as a tribute and fundraiser on the Friday before every Memorial Day, he said. More recently, club members have been crocheting hats and scarfs for residents of the state veterans home in Kearney.

But club members have also served as mentors that “police themselves” in the sometimes challenging world of prison, Obrecht said. At times, they’ve served as informal counselors for inmates/veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress syndrome, Schoen said.

I can’t imagine what it’s like to live (in prison) … but the club gives them something to take pride in.

– Jaime Obrecht, volunteer with the veterans club at the Nebraska State Penitentiary

In 2016, the state corrections department established a special housing unit exclusively for military veterans, which the two volunteers said has been greatly appreciated by the inmates who live there.

“It really was a remarkable change,” Schoen said. “They were more relaxed, they didn’t have to deal with all the craziness in the rest of the prison.”

Obrecht said the club meetings at the State Pen are much like the meetings held by the Legion or VFW — there’s a business meeting, followed by reports on projects and then an hour for visiting.

The club holds annual programs on Memorial Day and Veterans Day, and purchased the black MIA/POW flags that fly on the flagpole at the State Pen. They also helped obtain new headstones for inmate/veterans buried at the State Pen’s cemetery outside the prison walls atop Grasshopper Hill.

He said they especially like contributing to causes that help veterans on the outside, such as the annual wreath for Beryl Zich.

“I can’t imagine what it’s like to live (in prison) … but the club gives them something to take pride in,” Obrecht said.

Research into the military service of his father and other relatives helped inspire retired social studies teacher Keith Walton to write about the nine soldiers from his hometown, Norfolk, who died in Vietnam.

Walton, now 71 and living in Montana, gave a presentation this weekend on his book, “The Last Full Measure: From America’s Heartland to the Battlefields of Vietnam. Remembering the Fallen from one Nebraska Town.”

Walton, who taught 27 years at Chadron, said that he’s always admired the way documentary film producer Ken Burns presented history — through the eyes of “average people,” not the generals or presidents.

So after producing papers on his father, a World War II medic, and a couple of other relatives, Walton embarked on telling the stories, in separate chapters, of the nine fallen soldiers Norfolk, “so they’re not just names on The Wall.”

He said he knew the names of a couple of the nine, but like many residents of Norfolk, didn’t know all of them — Jerry Allen, Dennis Anderson, Jerome Chandler, Roger Hunt, Jerold Meisinger, Thomas Scheurich, Steven Strube, Claude Van Andle and Michael Wemhoff.

Walton uncovered some remarkable, as well as understandably sad, stories.

Two soldiers were “enlisted by judges” who told them if they didn’t enlist, they would be going to jail for offenses.

One soldier’s mother had a routine of driving every Sunday to Grand Island to work all week in the ordnance plant producing bullets for war before driving back to Norfolk for the weekend. She continued that work even after her son perished.

Scheurich — who realized a life-long dream of being a pilot — is still listed as missing in action, although the remains of his bombardier were identified a few years ago after exploration of the 1968 crash site on an island off the coast of North Vietnam.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/8/1723493658661.jpeg" alt=" T-shirt produced by the veterans club at the Nebraska State Penitentiary proclaims that the club is about “veterans for veterans.” Hundreds who attended the 39th annual Nebraska Vietnam Veterans Reunion this past weekend in Lincoln heard stories about the prison veterans organization and more. (Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner)" />
 <figcaption> T-shirt produced by the veterans club at the Nebraska State Penitentiary proclaims that the club is about “veterans for veterans.” Hundreds who attended the 39th annual Nebraska Vietnam Veterans Reunion this past weekend in Lincoln heard stories about the prison veterans organization and more. (Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
 </figure>Paul Hammel<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/08/12/veterans-club-within-nes-oldest-prison-saluted-at-vietnam-vet-reunion/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — Every year, a wreath is placed on the grave of Beryl Zich.It has been a solemn tradition since her death in 2005, a way to pay tribute to her love and dedication for her son, Larry, a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War, who was listed as missing in action until his remains were identified in 2022.The flowers aren’t from a traditional veterans organization, but from a group of inmates at the Nebraska State Penitentiary.For more than 40 years, a “veterans club” has been among the betterment groups allowed to form at the state’s oldest prison.<h2>Her boys</h2>Along the way, the 25 to 40 inmates/veterans who gather twice a month behind prison walls got interested in the MIAs and prisoners of war from the Vietnam War. Eventually, they connected with Beryl Zich, the mother of an MIA, who began coming to the State Pen for their meetings.She eventually referred to the veterans club members as “my boys” as the years passed, and as her son — who disappeared during a mission in 1972 — remained missing.“Sometimes, I think those boys are the only ones who care,” she once remarked.Jaime Obrecht and Roy Schoen, two long-time volunteers for the inmate club, related that story and others about the prison veterans organization at the 39th annual Nebraska Vietnam Veterans Reunion held this past weekend at the Marriott Cornhusker Hotel in Lincoln.The first motto for the State Pen veterans’ organization was “Forgotten and Disowned,” which, Schoen said, was how a lot of veterans felt back in the 1980s.“We had a chip on our shoulder for quite a few years for how we were treated,” said Schoen, an Army veteran and a retired counselor with the veterans center in Lincoln.He and Obrecht, a retired Lincoln teacher, first began volunteering with the prison group in 1984, shortly after it was formed.<h2>A war that ended 49 years ago</h2>The Nebraska Vietnam Veterans Reunion began in 1985, Schoen said. It was organized by a group of vets who felt that a gathering would be helpful, not only to share stories and common experiences, but also to learn more about veterans benefits and organizations.“There wasn’t much going on back then for (Vietnam) veterans,” he said. “Things have changed quite a bit. Slowly.”About 300 veterans and their spouses registered for this year’s reunion, which included presentations about the State Pen’s Veterans Club, Agent Orange, a book about fallen veterans from Norfolk and the evacuation from Afghanistan. A representative of the Nebraska Department &nbsp;of Veterans Affairs also offered remarks.There were a lot of dark-blue “Vietnam Veteran” ball caps among the participants, as well as MIA/POW shoulder patches and veterans’ reunion T-shirts. Some aging vets used canes to walk, or carried small tanks of supplemental oxygen, a testament to the advancing age of soldiers who served in a war that ended 49 years ago.The reunion serves many of the same needs as the veterans club at the State Pen, said Schoen and Obrecht — bringing those with common experiences, and challenges, together.The State Pen’s club has several projects besides the annual wreath on the grave of Beryl Zich, said Obrecht.Club members have made more than 511,000 red, paper poppies for the American Legion Auxiliary, which distributes them as a tribute and fundraiser on the Friday before every Memorial Day, he said. More recently, club members have been crocheting hats and scarfs for residents of the state veterans home in Kearney.<h2>Special housing unit</h2>But club members have also served as mentors that “police themselves” in the sometimes challenging world of prison, Obrecht said. At times, they’ve served as informal counselors for inmates/veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress syndrome, Schoen said.I can’t imagine what it’s like to live (in prison) … but the club gives them something to take pride in.– Jaime Obrecht, volunteer with the veterans club at the Nebraska State PenitentiaryIn 2016, the state corrections department established a special housing unit exclusively for military veterans, which the two volunteers said has been greatly appreciated by the inmates who live there.“It really was a remarkable change,” Schoen said. “They were more relaxed, they didn’t have to deal with all the craziness in the rest of the prison.”Obrecht said the club meetings at the State Pen are much like the meetings held by the Legion or VFW — there’s a business meeting, followed by reports on projects and then an hour for visiting.The club holds annual programs on Memorial Day and Veterans Day, and purchased the black MIA/POW flags that fly on the flagpole at the State Pen. They also helped obtain new headstones for inmate/veterans buried at the State Pen’s cemetery outside the prison walls atop Grasshopper Hill.He said they especially like contributing to causes that help veterans on the outside, such as the annual wreath for Beryl Zich.“I can’t imagine what it’s like to live (in prison) … but the club gives them something to take pride in,” Obrecht said.<h2>Not just names on The Wall</h2>Research into the military service of his father and other relatives helped inspire retired social studies teacher Keith Walton to write about the nine soldiers from his hometown, Norfolk, who died in Vietnam.Walton, now 71 and living in Montana, gave a presentation this weekend on his book, “The Last Full Measure: From America’s Heartland to the Battlefields of Vietnam. Remembering the Fallen from one Nebraska Town.”Walton, who taught 27 years at Chadron, said that he’s always admired the way documentary film producer Ken Burns presented history — through the eyes of “average people,” not the generals or presidents.So after producing papers on his father, a World War II medic, and a couple of other relatives, Walton embarked on telling the stories, in separate chapters, of the nine fallen soldiers Norfolk, “so they’re not just names on The Wall.”He said he knew the names of a couple of the nine, but like many residents of Norfolk, didn’t know all of them — Jerry Allen, Dennis Anderson, Jerome Chandler, Roger Hunt, Jerold Meisinger, Thomas Scheurich, Steven Strube, Claude Van Andle and Michael Wemhoff.Walton uncovered some remarkable, as well as understandably sad, stories.Two soldiers were “enlisted by judges” who told them if they didn’t enlist, they would be going to jail for offenses.One soldier’s mother had a routine of driving every Sunday to Grand Island to work all week in the ordnance plant producing bullets for war before driving back to Norfolk for the weekend. She continued that work even after her son perished.Scheurich — who realized a life-long dream of being a pilot — is still listed as missing in action, although the remains of his bombardier were identified a few years ago after exploration of the 1968 crash site on an island off the coast of North Vietnam.

Veterans club in NE’s oldest prison is saluted at Vietnam vet reunion

<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/state-employees-union-appeals-remote-work-decision-to-nebraska-supreme-court/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN —&nbsp;The union representing Nebraska state employees has appealed a labor court’s July decision that sided with Gov. Jim Pillen to end most remote work assignments.

The Nebraska Association of Public Employees, which represents more than 8,000 state employees, announced Monday it had appealed the&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1561-Findings-of-Fact-and-Order.pdf">July 11 decision</a>&nbsp;from the Nebraska Commission of Industrial Relations. At the time, the commission said the state had&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/07/11/ne-labor-court-sides-with-gov-pillens-order-calling-state-employees-back-to-the-office/">unilateral authority</a>&nbsp;to set workplace locations and procedures.

The Nebraska Supreme Court will determine whether it will take up the appeal.

“We’ve made the decision to appeal not to debate the virtues of remote work, but rather to protect our members’ right to negotiate and to obtain clarity from Nebraska’s high court on when the state must negotiate the terms and conditions of employment,” Justin Hubly, executive director of the union, said in a statement.

An opinion from the commission upheld Pillen’s executive order that had been set to take effect Jan. 2, 2024, but stalled in the courts. Pillen in his&nbsp;<a href="https://govdocs.nebraska.gov/docs/pilot/pubs/eofiles/23-17.pdf" target="_blank">November 2023</a>&nbsp;order said the COVID-19 pandemic was over.

He described the July ruling as “vindication” of the state’s right to determine that workers come into the office to work “where they can be the most productive.” He also said any public employees still working remotely should be prepared to work in person days later, on July 15.

Pillen’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the appeal.

Another major component of the July decision came in requiring the employees union to pay legal fees on behalf of the state, arguing it engaged in a “disingenuous maneuver.”

“The totality of the record before the Commission demonstrates that Petitioner [the employees union] engaged in a pattern of willful, flagrant, aggravated, persistent and pervasive prohibited misconduct by pursuing this action in bad faith,” the commission wrote.

Hubly has said that could “chill” future labor complaints from being brought forward. He said Monday that public employees shouldn’t have to weigh filing a complaint with having to pay “exorbitant legal fees” if the commission disagrees.

“We will not be intimidated from exercising our rights,” Hubly said.

In September, the union will begin&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/12/07/nebraska-state-employees-union-renews-demands-to-bargain-for-remote-work/">negotiating</a>&nbsp;its next labor contract for the next two fiscal years. A news release states the union will prioritize new language to allow remote work where it is efficient and effective and that it hopes Pillen will meet with the union to end the litigation.

“We are confident that we can work with the Governor on a solution that sets the State of Nebraska up for success for years to come,” Hubly said. “We’re all better off when we work together.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/8/1723492315945.jpeg" alt="Justin Hubly, executive director of the Nebraska Association of Public Employees, leads a noon-hour news conference Dec. 7, 2023, in Lincoln regarding Gov. Jim Pillen’s executive order mandating state employees return to in-peson offices by Jan. 2, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)" />
 <figcaption>Justin Hubly, executive director of the Nebraska Association of Public Employees, leads a noon-hour news conference Dec. 7, 2023, in Lincoln regarding Gov. Jim Pillen’s executive order mandating state employees return to in-peson offices by Jan. 2, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
 </figure>Zach Wendling<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/state-employees-union-appeals-remote-work-decision-to-nebraska-supreme-court/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN —&nbsp;The union representing Nebraska state employees has appealed a labor court’s July decision that sided with Gov. Jim Pillen to end most remote work assignments.The Nebraska Association of Public Employees, which represents more than 8,000 state employees, announced Monday it had appealed the&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1561-Findings-of-Fact-and-Order.pdf">July 11 decision</a>&nbsp;from the Nebraska Commission of Industrial Relations. At the time, the commission said the state had&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/07/11/ne-labor-court-sides-with-gov-pillens-order-calling-state-employees-back-to-the-office/">unilateral authority</a>&nbsp;to set workplace locations and procedures.The Nebraska Supreme Court will determine whether it will take up the appeal.“We’ve made the decision to appeal not to debate the virtues of remote work, but rather to protect our members’ right to negotiate and to obtain clarity from Nebraska’s high court on when the state must negotiate the terms and conditions of employment,” Justin Hubly, executive director of the union, said in a statement.An opinion from the commission upheld Pillen’s executive order that had been set to take effect Jan. 2, 2024, but stalled in the courts. Pillen in his&nbsp;<a href="https://govdocs.nebraska.gov/docs/pilot/pubs/eofiles/23-17.pdf" target="_blank">November 2023</a>&nbsp;order said the COVID-19 pandemic was over.He described the July ruling as “vindication” of the state’s right to determine that workers come into the office to work “where they can be the most productive.” He also said any public employees still working remotely should be prepared to work in person days later, on July 15.Pillen’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the appeal.Another major component of the July decision came in requiring the employees union to pay legal fees on behalf of the state, arguing it engaged in a “disingenuous maneuver.”“The totality of the record before the Commission demonstrates that Petitioner [the employees union] engaged in a pattern of willful, flagrant, aggravated, persistent and pervasive prohibited misconduct by pursuing this action in bad faith,” the commission wrote.Hubly has said that could “chill” future labor complaints from being brought forward. He said Monday that public employees shouldn’t have to weigh filing a complaint with having to pay “exorbitant legal fees” if the commission disagrees.“We will not be intimidated from exercising our rights,” Hubly said.In September, the union will begin&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/12/07/nebraska-state-employees-union-renews-demands-to-bargain-for-remote-work/">negotiating</a>&nbsp;its next labor contract for the next two fiscal years. A news release states the union will prioritize new language to allow remote work where it is efficient and effective and that it hopes Pillen will meet with the union to end the litigation.“We are confident that we can work with the Governor on a solution that sets the State of Nebraska up for success for years to come,” Hubly said. “We’re all better off when we work together.”

State employees union appeals remote work decision to Nebraska Supreme Court

August 12, 2024 (Lincoln, Neb.)&nbsp;&nbsp;—&nbsp;The Nebraska State Patrol is now accepting applications to start a career serving Nebraskans as a State Trooper. Apply today at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nebraskatroopers.com/" target="_blank">NebraskaTroopers.com</a>.

The Nebraska State Patrol is looking to build the next class of troopers ready to serve across the entire state. Camp 71 will begin in January 2025 with graduation scheduled for June 2025. The application process is open until September 9, 2024.

Nebraska Troopers serve in many ways, with specialties positions such as criminal investigator, K9 handler, crash investigator, pilot, tactical flight officer, crisis negotiator, drone operator, hazmat technician, and many more. Troopers can also serve in specialty units including the SWAT Team, Carrier Enforcement, Bomb Squad, Executive Protection, Training Academy, Mobile Field Force, and the Husker Football Detail.

The starting salary for a Nebraska State Trooper is $31.50 per hour ($65,520 annually) upon graduation from the NSP Training Academy.&nbsp;Troopers also have opportunities for additional pay, including overtime hours at a pay rate of 1.5 times their base salary rate, shift differential pay of an additional $.85 per hour if they are regularly assigned to the night shift, and a 2.5 percent pay increase for qualifying as bilingual.&nbsp;Troopers also received an excellent retirement plan.

The NSP Training Academy offers an extensive 24-week training program. Recruits go through numerous life-like scenarios and hundreds of hours of instruction to prepare them for a career serving Nebraska.&nbsp;During the training process at the NSP Training Academy, recruits are paid $28.01 per hour.

Applicants must be a United States citizen and at least 21 years of age by graduation, when they take the oath of office. Applicants must have a high school diploma or GED equivalence. Additional information about the hiring process, benefits, opportunities, and recruiter contacts can be found at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nebraskatroopers.com/" target="_blank">NebraskaTroopers.com.</a>

Cody ThomasNebraska State PatrolAugust 12, 2024 (Lincoln, Neb.)&nbsp;&nbsp;—&nbsp;The Nebraska State Patrol is now accepting applications to start a career serving Nebraskans as a State Trooper. Apply today at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nebraskatroopers.com/" target="_blank">NebraskaTroopers.com</a>.The Nebraska State Patrol is looking to build the next class of troopers ready to serve across the entire state. Camp 71 will begin in January 2025 with graduation scheduled for June 2025. The application process is open until September 9, 2024.Nebraska Troopers serve in many ways, with specialties positions such as criminal investigator, K9 handler, crash investigator, pilot, tactical flight officer, crisis negotiator, drone operator, hazmat technician, and many more. Troopers can also serve in specialty units including the SWAT Team, Carrier Enforcement, Bomb Squad, Executive Protection, Training Academy, Mobile Field Force, and the Husker Football Detail.The starting salary for a Nebraska State Trooper is $31.50 per hour ($65,520 annually) upon graduation from the NSP Training Academy.&nbsp;Troopers also have opportunities for additional pay, including overtime hours at a pay rate of 1.5 times their base salary rate, shift differential pay of an additional $.85 per hour if they are regularly assigned to the night shift, and a 2.5 percent pay increase for qualifying as bilingual.&nbsp;Troopers also received an excellent retirement plan.The NSP Training Academy offers an extensive 24-week training program. Recruits go through numerous life-like scenarios and hundreds of hours of instruction to prepare them for a career serving Nebraska.&nbsp;During the training process at the NSP Training Academy, recruits are paid $28.01 per hour.Applicants must be a United States citizen and at least 21 years of age by graduation, when they take the oath of office. Applicants must have a high school diploma or GED equivalence. Additional information about the hiring process, benefits, opportunities, and recruiter contacts can be found at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nebraskatroopers.com/" target="_blank">NebraskaTroopers.com.</a>

Now Hiring Troopers! Nebraska State Patrol Opens Applications

<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/16-locations-identified-to-expand-nebraska-nuclear-footprint-shortlist-soon-to-be-narrowed/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN —&nbsp;The Nebraska Public Power District has identified 16 possible locations that could be candidates to expand Nebraska’s nuclear footprint and energy capabilities.

The Nebraska Department of Economic Development along with NPPD announced Thursday the next phase of a feasibility study that will eventually narrow down its shortlist to two to four sites for emerging nuclear technology: small modular reactors, or SMRs.&nbsp;

Compared to NPPD’s Cooper Nuclear Station near Brownville, SMRs take up less physical space and have been championed as augmenting existing power sources.

The 16 sites that will move on to the next phase of the feasibility study are located near the following cities: Beatrice, Brownville, Fremont, Grand Island, Hallam, Hastings, Holdrege, Kearney, Lexington, Nebraska City, Norfolk, Plattsmouth, Rushville, Sutherland, Valentine and Wauneta.

“We’re excited to help lay the groundwork for the potential future of this technology in Nebraska,” Department of Economic Development Director K.C. Belitz said in a statement. “Electrical generation is key to growing Nebraska’s economy and this study is the first step in creating a tremendous economic impact for any community where it’s located.”

The Legislature first appropriated $1 million of federal funds through the American Rescue Plan Act for the study&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=47196" target="_blank">in 2022</a>&nbsp;seeking to identify appropriate places to expand nuclear power.

The second study phase will be a more in-depth technical analysis, including criteria from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and engagement with the local communities. Local support will be an important factor, according to a news release.

State Sen. Tom Brewer of north-central Nebraska is chair of a select legislative committee tasked last year with examining the feasibility of&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/10/27/nebraska-lawmakers-explore-feasibility-of-small-modular-nuclear-reactors/">constructing and operating SMRs in Nebraska</a>. At an October hearing, lawmakers were told the work could begin without more legislation.

NPPD is one of 21 utilities licensed to operate a nuclear plant, and there are 94 reactors licensed to operate in the United States, a news release states.

“Nuclear energy has played a vital role in safely and reliably powering Nebraska for more than 50 years,” NPPD President and CEO Tom Kent said in a news release. “NPPD and many other utilities are closely following the progress of these next generation nuclear technologies.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/8/1723472071731.jpeg" alt=" Nebraska Public Power District’s Cooper Nuclear Station near Brownville, Nebraska. (Courtesy of NPPD)" />
 <figcaption> Nebraska Public Power District’s Cooper Nuclear Station near Brownville, Nebraska. (Courtesy of NPPD)</figcaption>
 </figure>Zach Wendling<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/16-locations-identified-to-expand-nebraska-nuclear-footprint-shortlist-soon-to-be-narrowed/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN —&nbsp;The Nebraska Public Power District has identified 16 possible locations that could be candidates to expand Nebraska’s nuclear footprint and energy capabilities.The Nebraska Department of Economic Development along with NPPD announced Thursday the next phase of a feasibility study that will eventually narrow down its shortlist to two to four sites for emerging nuclear technology: small modular reactors, or SMRs.&nbsp;Compared to NPPD’s Cooper Nuclear Station near Brownville, SMRs take up less physical space and have been championed as augmenting existing power sources.The 16 sites that will move on to the next phase of the feasibility study are located near the following cities: Beatrice, Brownville, Fremont, Grand Island, Hallam, Hastings, Holdrege, Kearney, Lexington, Nebraska City, Norfolk, Plattsmouth, Rushville, Sutherland, Valentine and Wauneta.“We’re excited to help lay the groundwork for the potential future of this technology in Nebraska,” Department of Economic Development Director K.C. Belitz said in a statement. “Electrical generation is key to growing Nebraska’s economy and this study is the first step in creating a tremendous economic impact for any community where it’s located.”The Legislature first appropriated $1 million of federal funds through the American Rescue Plan Act for the study&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=47196" target="_blank">in 2022</a>&nbsp;seeking to identify appropriate places to expand nuclear power.The second study phase will be a more in-depth technical analysis, including criteria from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and engagement with the local communities. Local support will be an important factor, according to a news release.State Sen. Tom Brewer of north-central Nebraska is chair of a select legislative committee tasked last year with examining the feasibility of&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/10/27/nebraska-lawmakers-explore-feasibility-of-small-modular-nuclear-reactors/">constructing and operating SMRs in Nebraska</a>. At an October hearing, lawmakers were told the work could begin without more legislation.NPPD is one of 21 utilities licensed to operate a nuclear plant, and there are 94 reactors licensed to operate in the United States, a news release states.“Nuclear energy has played a vital role in safely and reliably powering Nebraska for more than 50 years,” NPPD President and CEO Tom Kent said in a news release. “NPPD and many other utilities are closely following the progress of these next generation nuclear technologies.”

16 locations identified to expand Nebraska nuclear footprint, shortlist soon to be narrowed

United States Attorney Susan Lehr announced that Nicholas Murphy, age 44, of Phoenix, Arizona, was sentenced August 8, 2024, in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska for coercion and enticement of a minor. United States District Judge Brian C. Buescher sentenced Murphy to 57 months’ imprisonment.&nbsp; There is no parole in the federal system. After Murphy is released from prison, he will begin a 10-year term of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay a $20,000 fine and restitution to the victim.

Sometime in 2021, Murphy began a relationship with a 17-year-old who was a dancer at The Dance Authority, a studio in Omaha. Murphy’s wife was the former owner of The Dance Authority. Murphy had communication with the minor which developed into a romantic relationship. In October 2021, Murphy purchased the minor a first-class airline ticket after the minor’s mother, who did not know about the relationship, inquired if Murphy had any travel plans between Arizona and Nebraska, and if the minor could accompany Murphy. After flying to Arizona together from Omaha, Murphy had sex with the minor in his hotel. In Arizona, it is illegal to have sex with a minor under the age of 18 years of age. Murphy pleaded guilty to persuading and enticing the minor to travel in interstate commerce to engage in sex.&nbsp;

This case was investigated by&nbsp;the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

United States Attorney OfficeUnited States Attorney Susan Lehr announced that Nicholas Murphy, age 44, of Phoenix, Arizona, was sentenced August 8, 2024, in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska for coercion and enticement of a minor. United States District Judge Brian C. Buescher sentenced Murphy to 57 months’ imprisonment.&nbsp; There is no parole in the federal system. After Murphy is released from prison, he will begin a 10-year term of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay a $20,000 fine and restitution to the victim.Sometime in 2021, Murphy began a relationship with a 17-year-old who was a dancer at The Dance Authority, a studio in Omaha. Murphy’s wife was the former owner of The Dance Authority. Murphy had communication with the minor which developed into a romantic relationship. In October 2021, Murphy purchased the minor a first-class airline ticket after the minor’s mother, who did not know about the relationship, inquired if Murphy had any travel plans between Arizona and Nebraska, and if the minor could accompany Murphy. After flying to Arizona together from Omaha, Murphy had sex with the minor in his hotel. In Arizona, it is illegal to have sex with a minor under the age of 18 years of age. Murphy pleaded guilty to persuading and enticing the minor to travel in interstate commerce to engage in sex.&nbsp;This case was investigated by&nbsp;the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Former NFL Player Sentenced for Coercion and Enticement of a Minor

(LINCOLN, NEB.) — On Friday evening, Governor Jim Pillen hosted veterans and their family members for the state’s annual Welcome Home Dinner. The event, which started in 2016, is co-hosted by the Nebraska Department of Veterans’ Affairs (NDVA) and sponsored by Walmart. Nebraska’s newest veterans—those who discharged from service in the past 12 months—as well as their families are invited to attend.

Governor Pillen presented each veteran in attendance with a keepsake Welcome Home challenge coin. “We all know the sacrifices our service members and their families make in order to protect our great nation,” said Gov. Pillen. “We want to give them a warm, Nebraska welcome home. It’s a way to thank them and show them all the opportunities and support our state has to offer."

In addition to veterans and their families, exhibitors from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), state of Nebraska agencies, veterans service organizations, and other veterans support groups and non-profits were on hand to share resources, promote benefits and services, and showcase employment opportunities with attendees.

“Our Welcome Home program includes two parts: a packet that goes out to each returning service member that outlines everything the state of Nebraska and the VA has to offer them and the Governor’s Welcome Home Dinner where we get to meet our state’s newest veterans in person to shake their hand and thank them for their service,” said NDVA Director John Hilgert. “Getting to spend an evening with them to hear their stories, get to know their families, and share the ways we can support them is one of our most exciting and fulfilling events.”

“I wish all veterans the very best as they embark in their next stage of life, and may you enjoy the happiness of knowing you have honorably done your duty and performed a great service for your country,” said MG Strong.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/8/1723468319879.png" alt="Governor Pillen presents a “Welcome Home” challenge coin to a veteran at the 2024 Welcome Home Dinner. (Courtesy)" />
 <figcaption>Governor Pillen presents a “Welcome Home” challenge coin to a veteran at the 2024 Welcome Home Dinner. (Courtesy)</figcaption>
 </figure>Holden Armstrong(LINCOLN, NEB.) — On Friday evening, Governor Jim Pillen hosted veterans and their family members for the state’s annual Welcome Home Dinner. The event, which started in 2016, is co-hosted by the Nebraska Department of Veterans’ Affairs (NDVA) and sponsored by Walmart. Nebraska’s newest veterans—those who discharged from service in the past 12 months—as well as their families are invited to attend.Governor Pillen presented each veteran in attendance with a keepsake Welcome Home challenge coin. “We all know the sacrifices our service members and their families make in order to protect our great nation,” said Gov. Pillen. “We want to give them a warm, Nebraska welcome home. It’s a way to thank them and show them all the opportunities and support our state has to offer."In addition to veterans and their families, exhibitors from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), state of Nebraska agencies, veterans service organizations, and other veterans support groups and non-profits were on hand to share resources, promote benefits and services, and showcase employment opportunities with attendees.“Our Welcome Home program includes two parts: a packet that goes out to each returning service member that outlines everything the state of Nebraska and the VA has to offer them and the Governor’s Welcome Home Dinner where we get to meet our state’s newest veterans in person to shake their hand and thank them for their service,” said NDVA Director John Hilgert. “Getting to spend an evening with them to hear their stories, get to know their families, and share the ways we can support them is one of our most exciting and fulfilling events.”“I wish all veterans the very best as they embark in their next stage of life, and may you enjoy the happiness of knowing you have honorably done your duty and performed a great service for your country,” said MG Strong.

Gov. Pillen, NDVA Host Veterans and Families at Annual Welcome Home Dinner

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jennifer-shutt/">JENNIFER SHUTT</a>&nbsp; State's Newsroom

WASHINGTON — Congress plans to spend just 35 days between now and the end of the year in the nation’s capital, a fitting end to one of the least productive sessions in decades.

The deeply divided 118th Congress so far has placed just 78 public laws on the books, a fraction of the hundreds enacted during prior sessions, regardless of whether one party held control or voters elected a divided government. While there’s time left to enact a handful of laws, the number is nearly certain to remain low.

Over the past several decades, lawmakers have become accustomed to bundling several bills together into sweeping legislative packages instead of voting on them individually, but that doesn’t entirely account for how unproductive this Congress has been.

Members have sought to approve bipartisan legislation on immigration policy and border security, railway safety, the farm bill, tax law and children’s online safety at various points during the last 19 months — but all those major initiatives failed to make it across the finish line.

Lawmakers have been able to reach consensus on must-pass items like the annual government funding bills, but did so six months behind schedule. They are on track to miss their deadline again this year, which will mean yet another stopgap spending bill.

While election-year politics and a truncated amount of time on Capitol Hill hampered lawmakers’ productivity, there are numerous other factors dragging down this Congress.

Molly Reynolds, senior fellow in governance studies at the nonprofit Brookings Institution, said Democrats are working to flip control of the House away from Republicans’ narrow majority, while at the same time the GOP is projecting it will push Democrats out of power in the Senate.

Those ambitions add “an additional structural layer” to the typical disagreements within Congress, she said.

Infighting within each of the political parties, as well as Democrats and Republicans moving further away from each other on policy goals, has contributed to the intransigence, she said.

“Those divisions within the parties pale in comparison to the size of the difference between the parties,” Reynolds said. “And so, that does make it more challenging to find issues on which both sides are willing and interested to come to the table.”

A bipartisan trio of senators spent months negotiating a deal on immigration just to have the agreement disintegrate when Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump came out in opposition. That disappointing outcome makes members of Congress reluctant to tackle tough issues, she said.

“When members put in the hard work to try and reach a compromise and then don’t have the backing of their leadership, it doesn’t necessarily incentivize them to come back to the table and try to do that same thing again in the future,” Reynolds said.

The 118th Congress included more than its fair share of drama and bickering. The turmoil prevented the Republican House and Democratic Senate from agreeing on much of anything other than the bare minimum, with even must-pass legislation finalized months behind schedule.

House Republicans set the tone for their razor-thin majority in January 2023 when they trudged through 15 rounds of voting over several days and nights before California Rep. Kevin McCarthy secured the speaker’s gavel.

McCarthy made several backroom deals during the stalemate and elicited anger from members of the party’s right flank, who nearly came to blows on the floor as he sought to lock in the necessary support.

Less than nine months later, the House voted to oust McCarthy from the speaker’s office. The GOP then kept the chamber frozen for several weeks as members voted behind closed doors to put forward four nominees, before Louisiana’s Mike Johnson garnered the votes necessary on the floor to lead his party and the chamber.

McCarthy, who repeatedly swore he would never quit, then did just that in December.

The Senate has spent much of its time confirming President Joe Biden’s nominees, rarely breaking from that pattern to negotiate necessary items like the annual defense policy bill, government funding measures and legislation that avoided a default on the national debt.

Senators appeared to be&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/details-proposed-major-overhaul-us-immigration-law-global-aid-package-unveiled" target="_blank">on the cusp of making bipartisan changes</a>&nbsp;to the nation’s border security and immigration policy following painstaking negotiations between Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford, Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy and Arizona independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. It would have been the most sweeping immigration legislation in years.

But that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-senate-kills-immigration-overhaul-hits-stalemate-israel-ukraine-aid" target="_blank">fell apart in February&nbsp;</a>after Trump signaled he didn’t want to lose the border and immigration as an election issue or see Biden claim a victory.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, had said the deal was necessary to move an emergency spending bill for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan through the chamber, though he later reversed course.

Congress finally&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-senate-sends-foreign-aid-bill-biden-mcconnell-chides-gop-isolationist-movement" target="_blank">approved $95 billion</a>&nbsp;in military and humanitarian assistance in April after House Republicans added in a ban on the social media app TikTok that would kick in if ByteDance, the Chinese parent company, didn’t sell the platform — one of the most significant laws of the year as it turned out.

Congress has also failed to negotiate a new version of the five-year farm bill, following months of delays and differences of opinion on how much nutrition assistance for low-income Americans should be in the package.

The 78 laws&nbsp;<a href="https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/laws/current.html" target="_blank">enacted</a>&nbsp;this Congress pale in comparison to earlier sessions.

During the 116th Congress, when the GOP controlled the Senate and Democrats held the House, lawmakers reached agreement on 344 measures that went on to become law.

When Democrats held control of both chambers and the presidency during the 117th Congress, they approved more than 360 measures that would later become law, the vast majority of which required bipartisan support to move through the Senate.

Lawmakers have consistently enacted more than 280 public laws during their two-year sessions, going back to at least the 82nd Congress, which began in 1951 and ended the following year.

During that seven-decade span, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.congress.gov/public-laws/84th-congress" target="_blank">number of laws</a>&nbsp;enacted per Congress fluctuated, reaching a low of 283 during the 112th Congress, which lasted from January 2011 through January 2013, and a high of 1,028 during the 84th Congress, which took place in 1955 and 1956. The number of laws enacted was consistently in the 400s or 500s, if not higher, during those years.

Reynolds pointed out during her interview with States Newsroom that not all laws are created equal — some simply rename post offices or are confined to one issue, while others bundle several major pieces of legislation together in one package and have a much greater impact than other public laws.

Congress, she noted, used to pass the annual government spending bills individually, but over time has settled into a pattern of approving just one or two omnibus spending packages, which roll together all dozen of the bills.

Other examples of this include the Democrats’ signature health care, tax and climate change package, approved in the summer of 2022, known as the Inflation Reduction Act. When the GOP had unified control of Congress during the first two years of the Trump administration, they passed an overhaul of the nation’s tax code in just one bill.

“If we look at the data on the number of public laws, and we look at the data on the number of pages of public laws, we do see that, on average, they have been getting longer,” Reynolds said. “Having said all of that, when we actually do dig into what the 118th Congress has been up to, it has not been an especially productive Congress.”

Lawmakers are set to return from their summer recess for a three-week session in September, before breaking again until after Election Day.

Members are expected to draft and vote on a stopgap spending bill to avoid a partial government shutdown when the new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1. But not much else is likely to move through as attention turns even more toward Nov. 5.

The House Appropriations Committee has approved all 12 of its spending bills for fiscal 2025 while the Senate committee has voted to send 11 to the floor. The two chambers, however, are working off very different spending levels and don’t seem inclined to conference their bills until after they learn who will control Congress next year.

The lame-duck session, which spans the time between the election and when the new Congress convenes, is scheduled to last five weeks spread through late November and December.

During that time, GOP leaders in the House and Democratic leaders in the Senate may seek to pass their overdue government funding bills and the annual defense policy bill.

There are several other bills that have passed one chamber or the other with bipartisan majorities or have strong bipartisan support through co-sponsors, which lawmakers could seek to move through to the president’s desk. But much of that will be determined by the outcome of the elections as well as whether there is any violence or unrest connected with the results.

Members of Congress interviewed by States Newsroom had varying answers for what they tell constituents back home about this Congress’ accomplishments.

Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat, said that he speaks with voters about the laws enacted during the previous Congress, when Democrats had unified control of government, as well as this Congress.

“Well, first of all, I tend to talk about the sweep of accomplishments, right? Both this Congress but also the previous Congress where we were enormously productive, right?” Van Hollen said. “So usually I don’t limit it to that timeline.”

Van Hollen said he was optimistic that Congress would be able to complete its work on the dozen annual government funding bills later this year.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/3/1614817353591.png" alt="File photo Members of the Kansas Congressional delegation - Jake LaTurner, Ron Estes, Jerry Moran, Sharice Davids, Roger Marshall and Tracey Mann&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>File photo Members of the Kansas Congressional delegation - Jake LaTurner, Ron Estes, Jerry Moran, Sharice Davids, Roger Marshall and Tracey Mann&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jennifer-shutt/">JENNIFER SHUTT</a>&nbsp; State's NewsroomWASHINGTON — Congress plans to spend just 35 days between now and the end of the year in the nation’s capital, a fitting end to one of the least productive sessions in decades.The deeply divided 118th Congress so far has placed just 78 public laws on the books, a fraction of the hundreds enacted during prior sessions, regardless of whether one party held control or voters elected a divided government. While there’s time left to enact a handful of laws, the number is nearly certain to remain low.Over the past several decades, lawmakers have become accustomed to bundling several bills together into sweeping legislative packages instead of voting on them individually, but that doesn’t entirely account for how unproductive this Congress has been.Members have sought to approve bipartisan legislation on immigration policy and border security, railway safety, the farm bill, tax law and children’s online safety at various points during the last 19 months — but all those major initiatives failed to make it across the finish line.Lawmakers have been able to reach consensus on must-pass items like the annual government funding bills, but did so six months behind schedule. They are on track to miss their deadline again this year, which will mean yet another stopgap spending bill.<h2>What is the problem?</h2>While election-year politics and a truncated amount of time on Capitol Hill hampered lawmakers’ productivity, there are numerous other factors dragging down this Congress.Molly Reynolds, senior fellow in governance studies at the nonprofit Brookings Institution, said Democrats are working to flip control of the House away from Republicans’ narrow majority, while at the same time the GOP is projecting it will push Democrats out of power in the Senate.Those ambitions add “an additional structural layer” to the typical disagreements within Congress, she said.Infighting within each of the political parties, as well as Democrats and Republicans moving further away from each other on policy goals, has contributed to the intransigence, she said.“Those divisions within the parties pale in comparison to the size of the difference between the parties,” Reynolds said. “And so, that does make it more challenging to find issues on which both sides are willing and interested to come to the table.”A bipartisan trio of senators spent months negotiating a deal on immigration just to have the agreement disintegrate when Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump came out in opposition. That disappointing outcome makes members of Congress reluctant to tackle tough issues, she said.“When members put in the hard work to try and reach a compromise and then don’t have the backing of their leadership, it doesn’t necessarily incentivize them to come back to the table and try to do that same thing again in the future,” Reynolds said.<h2>Speaker drama set the tone</h2>The 118th Congress included more than its fair share of drama and bickering. The turmoil prevented the Republican House and Democratic Senate from agreeing on much of anything other than the bare minimum, with even must-pass legislation finalized months behind schedule.House Republicans set the tone for their razor-thin majority in January 2023 when they trudged through 15 rounds of voting over several days and nights before California Rep. Kevin McCarthy secured the speaker’s gavel.McCarthy made several backroom deals during the stalemate and elicited anger from members of the party’s right flank, who nearly came to blows on the floor as he sought to lock in the necessary support.Less than nine months later, the House voted to oust McCarthy from the speaker’s office. The GOP then kept the chamber frozen for several weeks as members voted behind closed doors to put forward four nominees, before Louisiana’s Mike Johnson garnered the votes necessary on the floor to lead his party and the chamber.McCarthy, who repeatedly swore he would never quit, then did just that in December.<h2>Senate border deal goes to pieces</h2>The Senate has spent much of its time confirming President Joe Biden’s nominees, rarely breaking from that pattern to negotiate necessary items like the annual defense policy bill, government funding measures and legislation that avoided a default on the national debt.Senators appeared to be&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/details-proposed-major-overhaul-us-immigration-law-global-aid-package-unveiled" target="_blank">on the cusp of making bipartisan changes</a>&nbsp;to the nation’s border security and immigration policy following painstaking negotiations between Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford, Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy and Arizona independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. It would have been the most sweeping immigration legislation in years.But that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-senate-kills-immigration-overhaul-hits-stalemate-israel-ukraine-aid" target="_blank">fell apart in February&nbsp;</a>after Trump signaled he didn’t want to lose the border and immigration as an election issue or see Biden claim a victory.Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, had said the deal was necessary to move an emergency spending bill for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan through the chamber, though he later reversed course.Congress finally&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-senate-sends-foreign-aid-bill-biden-mcconnell-chides-gop-isolationist-movement" target="_blank">approved $95 billion</a>&nbsp;in military and humanitarian assistance in April after House Republicans added in a ban on the social media app TikTok that would kick in if ByteDance, the Chinese parent company, didn’t sell the platform — one of the most significant laws of the year as it turned out.Congress has also failed to negotiate a new version of the five-year farm bill, following months of delays and differences of opinion on how much nutrition assistance for low-income Americans should be in the package.<h2>Few laws passed</h2>The 78 laws&nbsp;<a href="https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/laws/current.html" target="_blank">enacted</a>&nbsp;this Congress pale in comparison to earlier sessions.During the 116th Congress, when the GOP controlled the Senate and Democrats held the House, lawmakers reached agreement on 344 measures that went on to become law.When Democrats held control of both chambers and the presidency during the 117th Congress, they approved more than 360 measures that would later become law, the vast majority of which required bipartisan support to move through the Senate.Lawmakers have consistently enacted more than 280 public laws during their two-year sessions, going back to at least the 82nd Congress, which began in 1951 and ended the following year.During that seven-decade span, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.congress.gov/public-laws/84th-congress" target="_blank">number of laws</a>&nbsp;enacted per Congress fluctuated, reaching a low of 283 during the 112th Congress, which lasted from January 2011 through January 2013, and a high of 1,028 during the 84th Congress, which took place in 1955 and 1956. The number of laws enacted was consistently in the 400s or 500s, if not higher, during those years.Reynolds pointed out during her interview with States Newsroom that not all laws are created equal — some simply rename post offices or are confined to one issue, while others bundle several major pieces of legislation together in one package and have a much greater impact than other public laws.Congress, she noted, used to pass the annual government spending bills individually, but over time has settled into a pattern of approving just one or two omnibus spending packages, which roll together all dozen of the bills.Other examples of this include the Democrats’ signature health care, tax and climate change package, approved in the summer of 2022, known as the Inflation Reduction Act. When the GOP had unified control of Congress during the first two years of the Trump administration, they passed an overhaul of the nation’s tax code in just one bill.“If we look at the data on the number of public laws, and we look at the data on the number of pages of public laws, we do see that, on average, they have been getting longer,” Reynolds said. “Having said all of that, when we actually do dig into what the 118th Congress has been up to, it has not been an especially productive Congress.”<h2>Lame-duck session on the way</h2>Lawmakers are set to return from their summer recess for a three-week session in September, before breaking again until after Election Day.Members are expected to draft and vote on a stopgap spending bill to avoid a partial government shutdown when the new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1. But not much else is likely to move through as attention turns even more toward Nov. 5.The House Appropriations Committee has approved all 12 of its spending bills for fiscal 2025 while the Senate committee has voted to send 11 to the floor. The two chambers, however, are working off very different spending levels and don’t seem inclined to conference their bills until after they learn who will control Congress next year.The lame-duck session, which spans the time between the election and when the new Congress convenes, is scheduled to last five weeks spread through late November and December.During that time, GOP leaders in the House and Democratic leaders in the Senate may seek to pass their overdue government funding bills and the annual defense policy bill.There are several other bills that have passed one chamber or the other with bipartisan majorities or have strong bipartisan support through co-sponsors, which lawmakers could seek to move through to the president’s desk. But much of that will be determined by the outcome of the elections as well as whether there is any violence or unrest connected with the results.<h2>How to explain it</h2>Members of Congress interviewed by States Newsroom had varying answers for what they tell constituents back home about this Congress’ accomplishments.Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat, said that he speaks with voters about the laws enacted during the previous Congress, when Democrats had unified control of government, as well as this Congress.“Well, first of all, I tend to talk about the sweep of accomplishments, right? Both this Congress but also the previous Congress where we were enormously productive, right?” Van Hollen said. “So usually I don’t limit it to that timeline.”Van Hollen said he was optimistic that Congress would be able to complete its work on the dozen annual government funding bills later this year.“Obviously, we’ve been able to adequately fund government agencies,” Van Hollen said. “So that may be a low bar, but in this divided Congress, it is something that I point to, because we’ve worked on the Appropriations Committee, at least in the Senate, to have bipartisan products.”Kansas GOP Sen. Jerry Moran said he predominantly talks with constituents about his work as ranking member on the Veterans Affairs Committee as well as the Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations subcommittee.“I talk about my own particular accomplishments as compared to bragging about Congress in general,” Moran said.Much of the work that members do while in Washington, D.C., he said, doesn’t resonate with constituents who are focused on their own lives and families.“No, I don’t think so,” Moran said. “Most people are paying specific attention to things that matter to them.”Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. Bob Casey, who faces a challenging reelection bid this November, said he tends to put more emphasis on the accomplishments of the upper chamber when talking with constituents back home.“I think the Senate’s been a lot more productive than the House, but we’ll let voters sort that out,” Casey said.While the Senate holds the advice and consent power to confirm certain presidential nominees, legislation must pass through both chambers of Congress and avoid the president’s veto pen, if it’s to become law.Casey said there are several occasions where the House and Senate agreed on major issues, listing off the appropriations bills for the last fiscal year, the emergency spending package for Ukraine and other U.S. allies, and a bill to address fentanyl abuse.“I think it’s a pretty long list and there’s still more work to do in the fall,” Casey said.<h2>More time at work?</h2>Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, criticized the number of days the chamber spends in session every week, saying the calendar has shortened during his decades in the chamber.“When I came to the Senate 44 years ago, we used to start at 10 a.m. on Monday and go to 4 or 5 on Friday,” Grassley said.The Senate typically comes into session around 3 p.m. on Monday, with its first vote at 5:30 p.m. The chamber usually holds its last vote of the week on Thursday around 1:45 p.m., with the vast majority of senators heading to cars to leave shortly afterward.The House keeps to a similar four-day schedule, though its “fly-in day” is sometimes on Tuesday, pushing its “fly-out day” to Friday. That chamber takes its first vote of the week around 6:30 p.m. with its last vote before noon on the fourth day.“There’s enough work for individual senators to do seven days a week if you want to work,” Grassley said. “But you can’t solve this country’s problems until you get 100 people together, and they’ve got to be together for more than two-and-a-half days a week.”