Serving Nebraskans and Focusing our Priorities

January 31, 2025

For the first time this century, Nebraska’s property taxpayers opened their statements in December and saw a reduction.  The state’s economy continues to grow at a near record pace and our population has surpassed two million. We’re proud of our accomplishments, and 2024 will go down in history as a success. Now, with a new legislature in place, it’s time to turn our attention to the future and continue efforts to protect our kids, address the property tax crisis, grow our agriculture and defend our commonsense values.

It’s a big job, but we’re going to do it – for Nebraska.

Suzanne and I love celebrating those who have made a difference. The day after the State of the State, I traveled to the western part of Nebraska – Red Willow County and the incredible community of McCook – where I had the honor of presenting three WWII veterans with medallions to thank them for their service.

It was an amazing event. These heroes remind us of the deep meaning and responsibility that comes from stepping up to serve. As the legislative session moves forward, my challenge to the body is keeping in mind our collective purpose, which is serving others. With that perspective in mind, here’s where my focus lies:

Kids

We all agree our kids are our future, and we can’t ever give up on our kids. We need to provide protections like banning cell phones in schools, helping parents fight back against Big Tech giants, strengthening child pornography laws, and ensuring that women’s spaces are protected especially for our daughters and granddaughters.

Taxes 

We’ve made good progress in cutting property taxes over the past two years, but we have more work to do. We need to address the outdated TEEOSA school funding formula and make the Cornhusker State more competitive with its neighbors and more attractive to families and businesses who want to stay here or are thinking about moving here.

Nebraska gets a raw deal on federal mandates that provide us with less funding when our economy is doing well. We owe it to every person in our state to not only overcome the budget gap, but deliver a strong conservative budget that also provides investments in educating our kids and holding the line on property taxes. That means reducing spending, putting idle pillowcase money to work, reversing recent incentive and aid expansions, and finding ways to fix our tax structure.

Agriculture

It’s a privilege to be the first governor in 100 years to come from agriculture. Ag drives our state’s economy. Having met recently with President Trump and his Secretary of Agriculture nominee Brooke Rollins, I’m committed to seeing that Nebraska farmers and ranchers have a seat at the table in our nation’s capital. Here at home, we’re leading on legislation to ban the sale of lab-grown meat and are working hard to eliminate red tape and redundancies by getting government out of the way.

Values

I ask Nebraskan’s this question all the time: What is the thing you love best about our state? The answer is nearly unanimous. It’s the PEOPLE! 

We have a certain way of doing things, of treating people with respect and helping each other out.  Not everyone is a Republican, but our overall conservative approach includes being pro-family, pro-business, and pro-limited government. All are foundational to what makes this a great state. My administration is committed to making Nebraska the safest and best place to raise kids and run a business. Nothing is more important.

Back to McCook. After presenting a WWII medal to a veteran named John, he asked if he could take the opportunity to say something? With a chuckle, I told him he certainly earned the medallion, so of course, he could say anything he wanted! As Nebraskans do, this veteran thought of others first. He dedicated the medal to all his fellow service members who didn’t make it home. By the end of the event, which was filled with family members (including some lucky great grandkids who got to play hooky) and veterans from other wars, there was barely a dry eye in the room.

These men, all in their upper 90s, served our country in a time of need. It’s our job now to make sure that we honor their sacrifices. It’s with that heart of service and commitment to bettering Nebraska for the next generation that we turn to our work in this year’s legislature.