We are now more than a third of the way through the Legislative session. This phase of session involves the start of the budget process, the final month of hearings and the initial batch of floor bills moving through the three rounds of debate. Additionally, with the Omaha Municipal Elections upcoming in the spring, it’s a great time to connect with elected officials and hear their vision for our city and state.
We hope you plan to join us for our inaugural “Politics and Eggs” breakfast on Friday, March 7th at 7:30 a.m. You’ll have the chance to hear several of Omaha’s federal, state, and local elected officials and engage in dynamic conversations about the future of our region. Today is the last day to register and you can do so at this link.
Over the past two weeks at the Legislature, the Governor’s package of budget bills was heard in the Appropriations Committee. The Greater Omaha Chamber has concerns about the deep cuts to economic development, workforce development, and higher education. Many of these cuts are counterproductive to the goals of making Nebraska a great place to do business, and will further exacerbate our state’s worker shortage, brain drain and housing crises. While hearings for each state agency will go through March 20th, we’re taking a particular interest in the Department of Economic Development hearing on Wednesday, March 5th. At the DED hearing, in concert with other economic development organizations from across the state, we’ll be outlining the negative impact of the proposed cuts to the economic development programs our Chamber team utilizes daily.
A committee hearing was also held on March 3rd on LB 423, which would eliminate the InternNE program. InternNE is a highly successful partnership between the Nebraska Department of Economic Development and Aksarben Foundation, which has funded nearly 1,500 paid internships across the state over the past two years. By helping students in Nebraska gain valuable experience and career advancement with Nebraska companies, we encourage students to stay in state, and start their careers in Nebraska. InternNE is an example of a program that’s working to combat our state’s ongoing workforce shortages and brain drain challenges, and going backwards now would only serve to worsen our state’s shortage of potential employees.
Lastly, we are starting a new program this legislative session called “In the Legislative Loop.” This will give you the chance to sign on to a members-only biweekly Zoom call for a 30-minute update on the latest news from the State Capitol. Our first “In the Legislative Loop” Zoom call will be on Monday, March 10th. We’ll review ‘behind the scenes’ items from the session, as well as letting you know what to expect coming up at the Legislature over the next few weeks. You can sign up for this new bi-weekly legislative opportunity here. In the Legislative Loop (via Zoom) – Event Registration
If you’re interested in these bills, or any other legislative issues, we’d love to hear from you. While your Greater Omaha Chamber Public Policy team is hard at work right now at the State Capitol working to strengthen our business climate, never hesitate to share your insights with us on your state legislative priorities at advocacy@omahachamber.org.