45minute filibuster to express concern of the administrations economic decisionmaking process for communities of color in particular in north omaha. President kelly, speaker arch and members of the 108th nebraska legislature, family, friends and distinguished guests, my fellow nebraskans, over the past 11 days, brutal Winter Weather sub zero temperatures back to back blizzards, unrelenting paralyzing winds that much of our state stranding hundreds of travelers preventing farmers and ranchers from getting farms and taking care of livestock, shuttering businesses, challenging our power grid, to meet this the emergency, nebraskans helped nebraskans just as we do in every single time countless times before. State troopers, sheriffs deputies, police officers, our First Responders, snow fighters from across the state moved swiftly to rescue thoserapped by the storms, clear roads, dig out communities and agriculture. These brave and women represent the best and the backbone of our state Public Servants who rush into the storm and into harms way to help their neighbors. Its because of them and because of the resilience of the toughest, hardest working people in this land that our state is as strong as ever. [applause] in the balcony today to my left we have the Nebraska State Patrol sergeant jesse, Air National Guard major david strong, department of transportation district Operations Manager and snow fighter tim, we thank them for their Tireless Service to nebraska and i request you to ask you to join me, First Responders and national highway workers. Could you please stand and be recognized. [applause] thank you. You know, we must never recognize, we must never forget the reality of the hazards that our Public Servants face every day, keeping us safe and getting us to where we go. This past year we nebraska last two of our dot highway workers in the line of duty. Their name mark wells and david schwartz. I ask you to join me in a moment of silence to honor their memories. [silence] united by these principles together in 23 we accomplished. District by investing in the billion dollar future fund to support k12 education. This included a critical step forward and Foundation Aid of 1,500 per student and then overdue increase in special education funding. We invested in our workforce by guarantying state funding for our dynamicty College System to help increase to trade school degrees. Will be the best fit for them. To no ones surprise the success of this program is obvious with thousands of nebraska kids already expressing interest in it. We are joined this morning including Scholarship Recipients niah bellny. Please if niah and destiny could please stand. Please welcome these students to our chambers this morning. [applause] on the side note we talked in the last hour about all of us being comfortable, being uncomfortable to grow and get better and they knew all about it. You guys are awesome. Its good. Tough stuff. Sadly union bosses and politicians are trying to rip scholarships away from kids like niah and destiny, if everybody understand that, that shouldnt be the case. I would work hard to protect what we call upon this body to do the same. Last year included major achievements in other areas. We took a big first step toward addressing Mental Health the challenges throughout the date with Behavioral Health clinics, 2023 was ground bacon year for conservatism as well. We believe that the State Government was spending too much money and taxing its people too much. We tightened our belts, we passed a historical conservative budget with only 2 growth. We agreed that taxes our Senior Citizens on Social Security is not the nebraska way and we ended it. Congratulations. [applause] we finally made our income tax codes competitive with our neighbors by reducing income tax rates to 3. 99 by 2027. Agriculture is the heart and soul of nebraskas economy and we made Big Investments in future and infrastructure and we supported valueadded agriculture by increasing consumer ethanol access. We created strength in Nebraska Broadband Office which will leverage once in a generation resources and farms and families can coec economy. Thank you, thats a big deal. And we created the financing tools needed to finally finish our state highway expressway thats been underway for over 40 years in our state. We defended the unborn by restricting abortions beyond 12 weeks. We will continue to embrace life here in nebraska with the launch of yearlong culture of life and initiative. It will provide resources to expecting moms especially those in crisis who need support more than ever. Much more remains to be done but this legislature should be proud of its investments in nebraskas future. I cant thank you and commend you enough for our Work Together the. Thank you. [applause] we nebraskans are people grounded in our values. Its about faith, family, freedom, life and love. We are a place of rich opportunities and one of the safest places to live in the world to raise our family. We have the gift of belief. It is among our greatest strengths but we believe we can compete with anyone anywhere in the world and we can and we do everywhere across the state. Blessed with these traits our economy can weather any storm and emerge stronger. Our Economic Diversity is founded, is the foundation of this resilience. If agriculture slows, our manufacturer keeps nebraskans at work and vice versa. Our banking sector, much of which is family owned and deeply familiar with the businesses and the farming operations it serves. It provides the stability and liquidity for growth across the state. Because of sound prudent regulation and allowtax burden, nebraska has become an insurance capital, attracting Strong Companies creating thousands of jobs and an industry that today ranks in the top 3 in the united states. Yeah. Thats incredible. [applause] and i might add, we are not too far from just passing iowa as well. We are a sophisticated national hub hosting air force space and providing Nuclear Deterrence necessary to secure a troubled world, to support and grow these incredible economic assets among our chief goals and State Government must be to get government out of the way and reduce regulations and bureaucratic hurdles and empower people in which we tried, to healthcare to businesses of all kind. We can do much in the executive branch but we need everyones help so we can partner with you to complete this task and stay viligant. Focus government encore functions, safety, education and infrastructure. This legislative education will be shortened fast and holds promise and opportunity for our state. There is a tremendous amount of peoples work we must accomplish to make this a better, safer and stronger place for every nebraska kid, family, business and farm. If we are thoughtful principled and keep the interest of nebraskans before us, i dont have a shadow of a doubt that this has the opportunity to be the most impactful legislative session in our history. First and foremost, the most importan we face is out of control property taxes. Anyone that has been out in the state, ive been everywhere in the last 3 years by the way, property taxes, property taxes, property taxes and property taxes. This crisis is not new, its been hurting nebraskas farmers, ranchers, homeowners and businesses for most or all of our lifetimes in the chamber. High property taxes hurt every nebraskan in every single part of our state. It must be fixed now. [applause] property taxes, they are the most regressive tax government imposes on its people. Fixed income nebraskans who have lived, worked and raised their families here now face the prospect of being forced out of their homes due to out of control property taxes. That is unacceptable, but we have several proposals for all of us to Work Together to fix. Senator has introduced a hard sn be overridden only by the vote of the people. This measure is critical, only a hard cap will force our local finally curve spending. Senator has a bill that will repurpose existing credits so all property taxpayers can benefit from this relief, not just those with the best accountants. His bill will also add one billion dollars in new property tax credits. Critical of all, these credits will be front loaded so the property taxpayers will see them directly under property tax statements instead of hanging to go through in the owners process to claim them in their income taxes months later. Through hard work, collaboration and setting politics aside, we must find the revenue to support this property tax relief. Senators, meyer, have offered several bills to close tax loopholes, created by special interest at the expense of the middle class. We have examined over 500 agency cash funds and we will transfer 274 million from those to support property tax relief. Just in case youre wondering, after that transfer and those 500 cash agency accounts we still have 2. 49 billion, thats with a b, billion dollars in those cash funds. And thats not counting the 1. 25 billion in our general and cash reserve fund. So add that up. It is not the job of government to hoard cash and we must give it back to the people. We must lower overall tax burden. Widen our tax base and end the era of special tax breaks. Tax policy must benefit our state as a whole, not whoever has the best lobbyists. With these changes, nebraska property tax bill will be cut by 40 this year. [applause] i know, i have 100 that theres a will and good faith and the knowledge and the ability in this chamber to solve it and i pledge to work with all of you as long as it takes to get this done. Nebraska government remains too big at every level. Since my inauguration we have been relentless in searching for efficiencies, cutting costs, ending bloating contracts and working to meet Performance Improvement targets this legislature set out before us last year. We must do more including by structurally reducing the excessive number of boards and commissions that have been built up in nebraska government over the years. At last count, we have over 200 state boards and commissions many of which are redundant and oversee activities that can be eliminated. 20 of boards and commissions, its a start. I to the best of your knowledge legislature to make the most of the opportunity to shrink unnecessary government. For over a century, nebraska has been the land of opportunity for newcomers. For years, we have used income tax abatement as our main tool to incentivize companies to come to nebraska. This has yielded Success Stories and thousands of goodpaying careers for hardworking nebraskans. But going forward, we must make sure we are not giving our topsoil away, by giving incentives to Foreign Companies who view nebraska merely is a conduit for cheap electricity and cheap labor. We must align economic incentives to strengthen not only value adding new businesses but also nebraska owned, nebraska Led Businesses which have been building our economy for generations. That is way im working with senator to reform incentive package to make nebraskas incentives competitive in the Manufacturing Sector for nebraska growing companies. While we want to create and incentivize careers in nebraska, we must focus more on recruiting people to the good life. We must retool our incentives to be people focused, one priority brought by senator brewer will be strengthening in the ranks of our great nebraska National Guard by exempting its members from state income tax while significant this is the least we can do to honor them for all they do for our state and our nation. Thank you colonel brewer, thank you for your own service and your commitment to the rn services, thank you colonel brewer. [applause] we will incentivize new nebraskans to join our private workforce too. Senator bellard has introduced innovative bill that will give Nebraska Businesses credit for bringing new residents to our state. Passing this bill will be another investment to our workforce but we must recognize that investing in the 21st century workforce is far different than what weve ever done before. No longer can we focus on tax breaks for companies that are takers and do not share our values. I partnered to create a micro center network. This will allow local communities and businesses to get creative with existing space and resources to meet their Child Care Needs to build the housing we need for our workforce we should invest an additional 25 million into the world Workforce Housing fund. [applause] all across rural nebraska the demand for Workforce Housing isd before the darts are even hung but its just not a rural house. Housing affordability and availability is an incredible issue in our metropolitan communities as well. Part of the shared problem is local overregulation of affordable housing. Thats why im partnering with senator on lowering the regulatory burden. A recent study showed that regulation is a component of construction is over 40,000 higher here in nebraska than the national average. Simply makes no sense and unacceptable. We must cut the red tape out and make our homes more affordable in nebraska. Im partnering with senator waltz to break down barriers for potential teachers to enter the workforce. I ask this question all of the time. I like for us to think about it, who are the top three people who impacted your life the most . I guaranty when we take the time to think about it all 49 of us will answer one of the three is a teacher or a coach and i tell you what, if someone were to told me that or i would have known and understood that impact, i would have been a coach. It is one of societys most important that impact young people. That way more nebraskans can choose this honorable profession. Finally im working with senator toha to direct them toward housing child, housing child care and Early Childhood education for nebraska. Outside the building the State Government must do more collectively to allow our institutions of Higher Education to meet the Workforce Needs of tomorrow. I look forward to partnering with our university of nebraska, our state College System and community College System to launch the one nebraska initiative. The goal will be to eliminate endless duplication and efficient and inefficient competition between statefunded schools along with finally harmonizing and strengthening our regions scholarship program. We will make sure that our Higher Education keeps our best and brightest here and trains them to lead nebraska the future. These efforts will stop the brain drain and welcome new nebraskans and will help businesses, ranchers and farmers thrive. In speaking of attracting people to nebraska, its really tough to do with the slogan that says nebraska, not for everyone. Are you kidding me . We must bring our economic development, our people recruitment and Tourism Promotion work back under the same leadership so that they can be better coordinated or run it less administrative expense to the taxpayers. Senator mcdonald has a carryover bill from last session that would correct a decadeold mistake of separating tourism from economic development. I urge you to pass this bill so we can again tell the world the good life is here in nebraska for everyone. Nebraska has become a mecca for womens athletics. With our women sports drawing tremendous inspiration, excitement from all over the world, our female athletes are superstars. Supporting women athletes takes more than buying tickets and watching games. It also means protecting them in the arena and in the locker room. Simply put i dont want my granddaughter to bear the fundamental unfairness of competing against a boy and i certainly dont want to suffer the indignity of showering next to a boy. Our boys shouldnt be sharing showers with girls. This is common sense stuff that the overwhelming majority of nebraskans support. Senator, sports and safety act carried over from last year reflects simple nebraska common sense. I believe in sports. I believe in women sports and i believe in protecting women athletes and i urge you to pass lv575. [applause] this diverse area of Economic Activity encompasses everything from Sustainable Aviation fuel to plastics to amino acids, acrylics, the potential of making nylon from corn. All of this can happen in nebraska. Nebraska is uniquely well equipped to be the leader in this new economy. We are blessed with constantly renewed Water Resources that are not only a natural buffer against drought but also enable to grow crops more sustainably than anywhere else, literally in the world. We already produced a Building Blocks of the new bio economy. This will provide more value for our Agricultural Products more research and innovation and more wealth right here in nebraska we are the envy of the nation when it comes to our people, our safety, our Energy Independence and our food security. Center to it all is our pot of gold, one of the few truly sust