Governor Jim Pillen shared his legislative priorities with local leaders and community members during a stop in Kearney, (Brian Neben, Central Nebraska Today)
KEARNEY — Governor Jim Pillen shared his legislative priorities with local leaders and community members during a stop in Kearney on Tuesday, Jan. 20.
Gov. Pillen spoke at the Younes Conference Center – South as a part of a tour of the state following his State of the State Address to the Nebraska Legislature last week. His focus areas include children, taxes, agricultural and state values.
Pillen started his comments by saying that too many people think the work of Nebraska is done in the Capitol rotunda, when it is really done everyday in the communities of the state.
He noted that hyper factional partisanship which rules in Washington D.C. has reached Lincoln. Pillen said it was “disappointing and frustrating.” In the same thought he said, local elections matter.
Pillen’s priorities this session include shrinking government by cutting costs and wasteful spending while focusing on improving services. He also wants to see the state reduce its reliance less on costly contractors.
Pillen said that the state will help support students, public, private or homeschooled, after he opted into the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit incentive.
He also wants to give power back to the classroom by creating a reading gate to ensure that students are reading proficiently before the third grade in order to advance to the next grade.
When it comes to property taxes, Pillen said these need to continue to be lowered. He said that past sales tax exemptions have proved to be a tax shift to property owners.
Pillen advocated for a broad-based sales tax, along with a decrease in spending, for avenues that will help provide property tax relief.
Speaking to agriculture, Pillen said a priority is protecting data created and owned by farmers and ranchers and prevent it from falling into the hands of those who would abuse, especially those nations hostile to the United States.
Pillen said he was in favor of the President Donald Trump’s enforcement of immigration laws and noted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center at the Work Ethic Camp in McCook.
Pillen noted he was not supportive of random roundups by ICE officials, but targeted operations to remove criminals from the streets. He said that many of the offenders come from county jails before being entered in the ICE facility in McCook.
Nebraska was also the first state in the country that banned the purchase of soda and energy drinks with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) vouchers, Pillen said
Another area of focus for Pillen was to increase electrical production in the state to handle the load of businesses that might show interest in coming to the state.
Pillen concluded by saying that his concerns lie with the people of Nebraska, water resources, food, fuel source and electricity.
Gov. Pillen spoke at the Younes Conference Center – South as a part of a tour of the state following his State of the State Address to the Nebraska Legislature last week, (Brian Neben, Central Nebraska Today)
