WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. has gathered highly sensitive intelligence about Russian anti-satellite weapons that has been shared in recent weeks with the upper echelons of government, according to four people who have been briefed on the intelligence. The people, who were not authorized to comment publicly, said the capability was not yet operational.

The intelligence sparked an urgent but vague warning Wednesday from the Republican head of the House Intelligence Committee, who urged the Biden administration to declassify information about what he called a serious national security threat.

Rep. Mike Turner gave no details about the nature of the threat, and the Biden administration also declined to address it. But several leading lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, cautioned against being overly alarmed.

A congressional aide said he understood that the threat relates to a space-deployed Russian anti-satellite weapon. Such a weapon could pose a major danger to U.S. satellites that transmit billions of bytes of data each hour.

The aide, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said it was not yet clear if the Russian weapon has nuclear capability, but said that is the fear.

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov described the claims about a new Russian military capability as a ruse intended to make the U.S. Congress support aid for Ukraine.

“It’s obvious that Washington is trying to force Congress to vote on the aid bill by hook or by crook,” Peskov said in remarks carried by Russian news agencies. “Let’s see what ruse the White House will use.”

The threat Turner raised concerns about is not an active capability, according to U.S. officials familiar with the intelligence. One added that intelligence officials consider the threat to be significant, but it should not cause panic.

Turner issued a statement urging the administration to declassify the information so the U.S. and its allies can openly discuss how to respond.

He also sent an email to members of Congress saying his committee had “identified an urgent matter with regard to a destabilizing foreign military capability” that should be known to all congressional policy makers. He encouraged them to come to a SCIF, a secure area, to review the intelligence.

Turner has been a voice for stronger U.S. national security, putting him at odds with some Republican colleagues who favor a more isolationist approach. He has called for the renewal of a key U.S. government surveillance tool while some fellow Republicans and liberal Democrats have raised privacy objections.

And he supports continuing U.S. military aid for Ukraine in its war against Russia at a time that the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/house-speaker-johnson-ukraine-aid-06889e166a5417d5b4bc7795813e37ef">funding remains uncertain</a>&nbsp;because of opposition in the Republican-led House.

Johnson said he was not at liberty to disclose the classified information. “But we just want to assure everyone steady hands are at the wheel. We’re working on it and there’s no need for alarm,” he told reporters at the Capitol.

Democratic Rep. Jim Himes, the ranking member of the Intelligence Committee, said in a statement that the classified information is “significant” but “not a cause for panic.”

The Senate Intelligence Committee said it has been tracking the issue.

“We continue to take this matter seriously and are discussing an appropriate response with the administration,” Sen. Mark Warner, the Democratic committee chairman, and Sen. Marco Rubio, the Republican vice chairman, said in a statement. "In the meantime, we must be cautious about potentially disclosing sources and methods that may be key to preserving a range of options for U.S. action.”

The rapidly evolving threat in space was one of the primary reasons that the U.S. Space Force was established in 2019. A lot of that threat has to do with new capabilities that China and Russia have already developed that can interfere with critical satellite-based U.S. communications, such as GPS and the ability to quickly detect missile launches.

In recent years the U.S. has seen both China and Russia pursue new ways to jam satellites, intercept their feeds, blind them, shoot them down and even potentially grab them with a robotic arm to pull them out of their programmed orbits. One of the key missions of the Space Force is to train troops skilled in detecting and defending against those threats.

In its 2020 Defense Space Strategy, the Pentagon said China and Russia presented the greatest strategic threat in space due to their aggressive development of counterspace abilities, and their military doctrine calling for extending conflict to space.

The White House and lawmakers expressed frustration at how Turner raised his concerns. His announcement appeared to catch the Biden administration off-guard.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters at the White House that he already had been due to brief Turner and other senior congressional leaders on Thursday. Sullivan did not disclose the topic or provide any other details related to Turner’s statement.

“I’m focused on going to see him, sit with him as well as the other House members of the Gang of Eight, tomorrow,” Sullivan said. “And I’m not in a position to say anything further from this podium at this time.”

He acknowledged it was not standard practice to offer such a briefing.

“I’ll just say that I personally reached out to the Gang of Eight. It is highly unusual, in fact, for the national security adviser to do that," Sullivan said. He said he had reached out earlier this week.

Johnson said he sent a letter last month to the White House requesting a meeting with the president to discuss “the serious national security issue that is classified.” He said Sullivan's meeting was in response to his request.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican head of the House Intelligence Committee urged the Biden administration on Wednesday to declassify information about what he called a serious national security threat. A senior congressional aide speaking to The Associated Press pointed to concerns about Russian anti-satellite weapons.

The congressional aide said he understood that the threat relates to a space-deployed Russian anti-satellite weapon that may or may not already have been launched. Such a weapon could pose a major danger to U.S. satellites that transmit billions of bytes of data each hour.

Turner earlier Wednesday sent an email to members of Congress saying his committee had “identified an urgent matter with regard to a destabilizing foreign military capability” that should be known to all congressional policy makers. He encouraged them to come to a SCIF, a secure area, to review the intelligence.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1707937254112.png" alt="File Rep. Mike Turner image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>File Rep. Mike Turner image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. has gathered highly sensitive intelligence about Russian anti-satellite weapons that has been shared in recent weeks with the upper echelons of government, according to four people who have been briefed on the intelligence. The people, who were not authorized to comment publicly, said the capability was not yet operational.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Statement from Chairman <a href="https://twitter.com/RepMikeTurner?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RepMikeTurner</a>: <a href="https://t.co/OA9yJuEPlf">pic.twitter.com/OA9yJuEPlf</a>&mdash; House Intelligence Committee (@HouseIntel) <a href="https://twitter.com/HouseIntel/status/1757805804885823775?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 14, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The intelligence sparked an urgent but vague warning Wednesday from the Republican head of the House Intelligence Committee, who urged the Biden administration to declassify information about what he called a serious national security threat.Rep. Mike Turner gave no details about the nature of the threat, and the Biden administration also declined to address it. But several leading lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, cautioned against being overly alarmed.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1707936857850.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>A congressional aide said he understood that the threat relates to a space-deployed Russian anti-satellite weapon. Such a weapon could pose a major danger to U.S. satellites that transmit billions of bytes of data each hour.The aide, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said it was not yet clear if the Russian weapon has nuclear capability, but said that is the fear.In Moscow, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov described the claims about a new Russian military capability as a ruse intended to make the U.S. Congress support aid for Ukraine.“It’s obvious that Washington is trying to force Congress to vote on the aid bill by hook or by crook,” Peskov said in remarks carried by Russian news agencies. “Let’s see what ruse the White House will use.”The threat Turner raised concerns about is not an active capability, according to U.S. officials familiar with the intelligence. One added that intelligence officials consider the threat to be significant, but it should not cause panic.Turner issued a statement urging the administration to declassify the information so the U.S. and its allies can openly discuss how to respond.He also sent an email to members of Congress saying his committee had “identified an urgent matter with regard to a destabilizing foreign military capability” that should be known to all congressional policy makers. He encouraged them to come to a SCIF, a secure area, to review the intelligence.Turner has been a voice for stronger U.S. national security, putting him at odds with some Republican colleagues who favor a more isolationist approach. He has called for the renewal of a key U.S. government surveillance tool while some fellow Republicans and liberal Democrats have raised privacy objections.And he supports continuing U.S. military aid for Ukraine in its war against Russia at a time that the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/house-speaker-johnson-ukraine-aid-06889e166a5417d5b4bc7795813e37ef">funding remains uncertain</a>&nbsp;because of opposition in the Republican-led House.Johnson said he was not at liberty to disclose the classified information. “But we just want to assure everyone steady hands are at the wheel. We’re working on it and there’s no need for alarm,” he told reporters at the Capitol.Democratic Rep. Jim Himes, the ranking member of the Intelligence Committee, said in a statement that the classified information is “significant” but “not a cause for panic.”The Senate Intelligence Committee said it has been tracking the issue.“We continue to take this matter seriously and are discussing an appropriate response with the administration,” Sen. Mark Warner, the Democratic committee chairman, and Sen. Marco Rubio, the Republican vice chairman, said in a statement. "In the meantime, we must be cautious about potentially disclosing sources and methods that may be key to preserving a range of options for U.S. action.”The rapidly evolving threat in space was one of the primary reasons that the U.S. Space Force was established in 2019. A lot of that threat has to do with new capabilities that China and Russia have already developed that can interfere with critical satellite-based U.S. communications, such as GPS and the ability to quickly detect missile launches.In recent years the U.S. has seen both China and Russia pursue new ways to jam satellites, intercept their feeds, blind them, shoot them down and even potentially grab them with a robotic arm to pull them out of their programmed orbits. One of the key missions of the Space Force is to train troops skilled in detecting and defending against those threats.In its 2020 Defense Space Strategy, the Pentagon said China and Russia presented the greatest strategic threat in space due to their aggressive development of counterspace abilities, and their military doctrine calling for extending conflict to space.The White House and lawmakers expressed frustration at how Turner raised his concerns. His announcement appeared to catch the Biden administration off-guard.National security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters at the White House that he already had been due to brief Turner and other senior congressional leaders on Thursday. Sullivan did not disclose the topic or provide any other details related to Turner’s statement.“I’m focused on going to see him, sit with him as well as the other House members of the Gang of Eight, tomorrow,” Sullivan said. “And I’m not in a position to say anything further from this podium at this time.”He acknowledged it was not standard practice to offer such a briefing.“I’ll just say that I personally reached out to the Gang of Eight. It is highly unusual, in fact, for the national security adviser to do that," Sullivan said. He said he had reached out earlier this week.Johnson said he sent a letter last month to the White House requesting a meeting with the president to discuss “the serious national security issue that is classified.” He said Sullivan's meeting was in response to his request.---------WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican head of the House Intelligence Committee urged the Biden administration on Wednesday to declassify information about what he called a serious national security threat. A senior congressional aide speaking to The Associated Press pointed to concerns about Russian anti-satellite weapons.Rep. Mike Turner gave no details about the nature of the threat, and the Biden administration also declined to address it. But several leading lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, cautioned against being overly alarmed.The congressional aide said he understood that the threat relates to a space-deployed Russian anti-satellite weapon that may or may not already have been launched. Such a weapon could pose a major danger to U.S. satellites that transmit billions of bytes of data each hour.The aide, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said it was not yet clear if the Russian weapon has nuclear capability, but said that is the fear.Turner earlier Wednesday sent an email to members of Congress saying his committee had “identified an urgent matter with regard to a destabilizing foreign military capability” that should be known to all congressional policy makers. He encouraged them to come to a SCIF, a secure area, to review the intelligence.Turner has been a voice for stronger U.S. national security, putting him at odds with some Republican colleagues who favor a more isolationist approach. He has called for the renewal of a key U.S. government surveillance tool while some fellow Republicans and liberal Democrats have raised privacy objections.And he supports continuing U.S. military aid for Ukraine in its war against Russia at a time that the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/house-speaker-johnson-ukraine-aid-06889e166a5417d5b4bc7795813e37ef">funding remains uncertain</a>&nbsp;because of opposition in the Republican-led House.Johnson said he was not at liberty to disclose the classified information. “But we just want to assure everyone steady hands are at the wheel. We’re working on it and there’s no need for alarm,” he told reporters at the Capitol.Democratic Rep. Jim Himes, the ranking member of the Intelligence Committee, said in a statement that the classified information is “significant” but “not a cause for panic.”The Senate Intelligence Committee said it has been tracking the issue.“We continue to take this matter seriously and are discussing an appropriate response with the administration,” Sen. Mark Warner, the Democratic committee chairman, and Sen. Marco Rubio, the Republican vice chairman, said in a statement. "In the meantime, we must be cautious about potentially disclosing sources and methods that may be key to preserving a range of options for U.S. action.”The rapidly evolving threat in space was one of the primary reasons that the U.S. Space Force was established in 2019. A lot of that threat has to do with new capabilities that China and Russia have already developed that can interfere with critical satellite-based U.S. communications, such as GPS and the ability to quickly detect missile launches.In recent years the U.S. has seen both China and Russia pursue new ways to jam satellites, intercept their feeds, blind them, shoot them down and even potentially grab them with a robotic arm to pull them out of their programmed orbits. One of the key missions of the Space Force is to train troops skilled in detecting and defending against those threats.In its 2020 Defense Space Strategy, the Pentagon said China and Russia presented the greatest strategic threat in space due to their aggressive development of counterspace abilities, and their military doctrine calling for extending conflict to space.The White House and lawmakers expressed frustration at how Turner raised his concerns. His announcement appeared to catch the Biden administration off-guard.National security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters at the White House that he already had been due to brief Turner and other senior congressional leaders on Thursday. Sullivan did not disclose the topic or provide any other details related to Turner’s statement.“I’m focused on going to see him, sit with him as well as the other House members of the Gang of Eight, tomorrow,” Sullivan said. “And I’m not in a position to say anything further from this podium at this time.”He acknowledged it was not standard practice to offer such a briefing.“I’ll just say that I personally reached out to the Gang of Eight. It is highly unusual, in fact, for the national security adviser to do that," Sullivan said. He said he had reached out earlier this week.Johnson said he sent a letter last month to the White House requesting a meeting with the president to discuss “the serious national security issue that is classified.” He said Sullivan's meeting was in response to his request.___

Read GOP chairman's warning of serious national security threat

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — No charges will be filed against two off-duty officers who shot and killed two men while working security at a nightclub in Nebraska’s largest city because the police chief said one of the men had fired a gun at a group of people including the officers.

Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said in a statement that he reviewed witness statements and surveillance video and decided the Omaha police officers acted properly in using deadly force in the shooting early Saturday. Police identified the slain men as citizens of Mexico and Nicaragua who were in the country without legal permission.

Police presented a compilation of surveillance video Thursday from outside the Extasis Night Club around 2 a.m. Saturday, shortly after the bar closed. One of the officers had a body camera, but it wasn't turned on until after the shooting.

The video showed an argument with pushing and shoving outside the club between a group of people and the two men. The officers working security at the bar broke that up. Then, as the group was heading across a neighboring business' parking lot, the two men later identified as Fernando Rodriguez-Juarez and Jonathan Hernandez-Rosales pulled up in a Jeep and confronted them.

Police said Rodriguez-Juarez, the driver, held a gun out the passenger window and fired one shot at the group of people that the two officers were behind as they cleared the parking lot. The officers returned fire, shooting 21 times and striking each man three times, according to police.

The Jeep drove away into an alley after the shooting. Officers waited to approach the vehicle until backup arrived with a bullet-resistant shield, and paramedics couldn't get to the men for about eight minutes.

Rodriguez-Juarez, 26, and Hernandez-Rosales, 28, died afterward at a hospital.

Police Chief Todd Schmaderer said investigators determined both men were in the country illegally. Hernandez-Rosales was a citizen of Nicaragua and Rodriguez-Juarez was from Mexico.

Before police released details some community leaders had questioned whether a language barrier kept the officers from communicating with the men. Neither of the officers involved speaks Spanish, but authorities said every Omaha officer is trained to give commands in Spanish.

Schmaderer said investigators aren't sure how well the men understood English though one of them yelled for an ambulance in English after the shooting and the other man made English comments on social media sites. The chief said there was no time for the two officers to issue any commands in English or Spanish before firing their weapons.

"The communication was the gunshot. The officers had to react to that instantly,” Schmaderer said.

The police chief met with community leaders before the news conference, and he said he plans to deliver a detailed briefing on the shooting at a community meeting next week as the department works to rebuild trust with the Latino community.

A national civil rights group, the League of United Latin American Citizens, called for a federal investigation of the shooting to ensure the officers’ actions were warranted.

Elsa Aranda, the Nebraska state director for the group, said a federal probe is needed "to ensure that the truth prevails, rather than accepting a pre-packaged narrative that conveniently absolves those responsible."

The officers have been identified as Capt. Jay Leavitt, a 25-year department veteran, and Officer Robert Soldo, an officer for more than eight years. Leavitt was involved in a different shooting last June that he was cleared in.

In June, Leavitt and another officer were leaving a community meeting when they saw a man with a long gun firing at a house. Leavitt and the other officer opened fire, and the man with the gun was wounded in his wrist. The gunman and three other people with him were arrested.

Last year, there were 1,165 people killed nationwide in shootings involving on-duty police, according to the database maintained by the Washington Post. The number of killings has been above 1,000 every year since 2020.

There were 15 officers nationwide charged with murder or manslaughter last year related to on-duty shootings, according to Bowling Green State University criminal justice professor Philip Stinson. He said statistics aren't readily available on off-duty shootings like the one in Omaha

Robert McCrie, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and an expert in security management, said off-duty security jobs are very common throughout the U.S.

“It’s always available as additional income if the police officers seek to do it,” he said.

He noted that businesses wanting someone with law enforcement authority for protection are willing to pay a premium for an officer, making side jobs lucrative. But having an armed officer present instead of just a security guard or bouncer trained in de-escalation techniques does create risks. Only about 5% of security guards nationwide are armed.

“The possibility of a lethal event like this is one of the downsides of having an armed, officer on your premises,” McCrie said.

Often, police departments will track the off-duty jobs their officers take and may even manage these jobs directly and require businesses to go through the department to hire officers. It wasn’t immediately clear how the Omaha department manages these jobs.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — No charges will be filed against two off-duty officers who shot and killed two men while working security at a nightclub in Nebraska’s largest city because the police chief said one of the men had fired a gun at a group of people including the officers.Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said in a statement that he reviewed witness statements and surveillance video and decided the Omaha police officers acted properly in using deadly force in the shooting early Saturday. Police identified the slain men as citizens of Mexico and Nicaragua who were in the country without legal permission.Police presented a compilation of surveillance video Thursday from outside the Extasis Night Club around 2 a.m. Saturday, shortly after the bar closed. One of the officers had a body camera, but it wasn't turned on until after the shooting.The video showed an argument with pushing and shoving outside the club between a group of people and the two men. The officers working security at the bar broke that up. Then, as the group was heading across a neighboring business' parking lot, the two men later identified as Fernando Rodriguez-Juarez and Jonathan Hernandez-Rosales pulled up in a Jeep and confronted them.Police said Rodriguez-Juarez, the driver, held a gun out the passenger window and fired one shot at the group of people that the two officers were behind as they cleared the parking lot. The officers returned fire, shooting 21 times and striking each man three times, according to police.The Jeep drove away into an alley after the shooting. Officers waited to approach the vehicle until backup arrived with a bullet-resistant shield, and paramedics couldn't get to the men for about eight minutes.Rodriguez-Juarez, 26, and Hernandez-Rosales, 28, died afterward at a hospital.Police Chief Todd Schmaderer said investigators determined both men were in the country illegally. Hernandez-Rosales was a citizen of Nicaragua and Rodriguez-Juarez was from Mexico.Before police released details some community leaders had questioned whether a language barrier kept the officers from communicating with the men. Neither of the officers involved speaks Spanish, but authorities said every Omaha officer is trained to give commands in Spanish.Schmaderer said investigators aren't sure how well the men understood English though one of them yelled for an ambulance in English after the shooting and the other man made English comments on social media sites. The chief said there was no time for the two officers to issue any commands in English or Spanish before firing their weapons."The communication was the gunshot. The officers had to react to that instantly,” Schmaderer said.The police chief met with community leaders before the news conference, and he said he plans to deliver a detailed briefing on the shooting at a community meeting next week as the department works to rebuild trust with the Latino community.A national civil rights group, the League of United Latin American Citizens, called for a federal investigation of the shooting to ensure the officers’ actions were warranted.Elsa Aranda, the Nebraska state director for the group, said a federal probe is needed "to ensure that the truth prevails, rather than accepting a pre-packaged narrative that conveniently absolves those responsible."The officers have been identified as Capt. Jay Leavitt, a 25-year department veteran, and Officer Robert Soldo, an officer for more than eight years. Leavitt was involved in a different shooting last June that he was cleared in.In June, Leavitt and another officer were leaving a community meeting when they saw a man with a long gun firing at a house. Leavitt and the other officer opened fire, and the man with the gun was wounded in his wrist. The gunman and three other people with him were arrested.Last year, there were 1,165 people killed nationwide in shootings involving on-duty police, according to the database maintained by the Washington Post. The number of killings has been above 1,000 every year since 2020.There were 15 officers nationwide charged with murder or manslaughter last year related to on-duty shootings, according to Bowling Green State University criminal justice professor Philip Stinson. He said statistics aren't readily available on off-duty shootings like the one in OmahaRobert McCrie, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and an expert in security management, said off-duty security jobs are very common throughout the U.S.“It’s always available as additional income if the police officers seek to do it,” he said.He noted that businesses wanting someone with law enforcement authority for protection are willing to pay a premium for an officer, making side jobs lucrative. But having an armed officer present instead of just a security guard or bouncer trained in de-escalation techniques does create risks. Only about 5% of security guards nationwide are armed.“The possibility of a lethal event like this is one of the downsides of having an armed, officer on your premises,” McCrie said.Often, police departments will track the off-duty jobs their officers take and may even manage these jobs directly and require businesses to go through the department to hire officers. It wasn’t immediately clear how the Omaha department manages these jobs.

No charges for off-duty officers in fatal shooting of 2 men outside Nebraska bar

&nbsp; LINCOLN, Neb. (Feb. 14, 2024) —&nbsp;Nebraska Tourism was honored for travel marketing excellence by the&nbsp;<a href="https://visitnebraska.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=30cc1cad235a879fac111c22b&amp;id=243f3089f7&amp;e=65d6a9d786" target="_blank">Hospitality Sales &amp; Marketing Association International</a>&nbsp;(HSMAI) at the annual Adrian Awards Celebration at the New York Marriott Marquis, February 13, 2024.

The Adrian Awards, now in their 67th year, are the largest and most prestigious competition in global travel marketing. Nebraska Tourism received a Silver Adrian Award for its winning entry in the Integrated Marketing Campaign category.

“We're honored to receive the Silver Adrian Award from HSMAI for our 2023 Summer campaign. This recognition highlights our success in sustaining momentum and driving significant growth in economic impact of the tourism industry in the state. More travelers are considering Nebraska as a vacation destination than ever before and are visiting in record numbers - and that is the goal,” said John Ricks, Nebraska Tourism executive director.

The 2023 Summer campaign not only sustained industry momentum but also fueled growth, with a 26% increase in arrivals compared to the same period last year. Day trips surged by 86% year-over-year, indicating a growing interest in what the state has to offer. Web traffic on&nbsp;<a href="https://visitnebraska.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=30cc1cad235a879fac111c22b&amp;id=ba14160842&amp;e=65d6a9d786" target="_blank">visitnebraska.com</a>&nbsp;experienced significant growth, with a 96% increase in engaged sessions, contributing to record-breaking lodging tax revenue of $3.3M for the summer, marking a 14% rise from the previous year.

“The Adrian Awards celebrate the innovation and ingenuity that fuel our success and recognize the marketing leaders whose extraordinary efforts literally ‘open the doors’ to exploration and excitement,” said Robert A. Gilbert, CHME, CHBA, president and CEO of HSMAI. “Their work inspired the world to get out and create memories through travel, and HSMAI is proud to honor them.”

Nebraska Tourism previously won Adrian Awards in 2019 and 2020.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Nebraska Tourism&nbsp; LINCOLN, Neb. (Feb. 14, 2024) —&nbsp;Nebraska Tourism was honored for travel marketing excellence by the&nbsp;<a href="https://visitnebraska.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=30cc1cad235a879fac111c22b&amp;id=243f3089f7&amp;e=65d6a9d786" target="_blank">Hospitality Sales &amp; Marketing Association International</a>&nbsp;(HSMAI) at the annual Adrian Awards Celebration at the New York Marriott Marquis, February 13, 2024.The Adrian Awards, now in their 67th year, are the largest and most prestigious competition in global travel marketing. Nebraska Tourism received a Silver Adrian Award for its winning entry in the Integrated Marketing Campaign category.“We're honored to receive the Silver Adrian Award from HSMAI for our 2023 Summer campaign. This recognition highlights our success in sustaining momentum and driving significant growth in economic impact of the tourism industry in the state. More travelers are considering Nebraska as a vacation destination than ever before and are visiting in record numbers - and that is the goal,” said John Ricks, Nebraska Tourism executive director.The 2023 Summer campaign not only sustained industry momentum but also fueled growth, with a 26% increase in arrivals compared to the same period last year. Day trips surged by 86% year-over-year, indicating a growing interest in what the state has to offer. Web traffic on&nbsp;<a href="https://visitnebraska.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=30cc1cad235a879fac111c22b&amp;id=ba14160842&amp;e=65d6a9d786" target="_blank">visitnebraska.com</a>&nbsp;experienced significant growth, with a 96% increase in engaged sessions, contributing to record-breaking lodging tax revenue of $3.3M for the summer, marking a 14% rise from the previous year.“The Adrian Awards celebrate the innovation and ingenuity that fuel our success and recognize the marketing leaders whose extraordinary efforts literally ‘open the doors’ to exploration and excitement,” said Robert A. Gilbert, CHME, CHBA, president and CEO of HSMAI. “Their work inspired the world to get out and create memories through travel, and HSMAI is proud to honor them.”Nebraska Tourism previously won Adrian Awards in 2019 and 2020.&nbsp;&nbsp;

HSMAI Honors Nebraska Tourism with a Silver Adrian Award for Outstanding Travel Marketing

Scores of people turned out Tuesday to testify well into the night on bills being considered by Nebraska lawmakers that target diversity initiatives and higher education programs, mirroring proposals by Republicans across the country.

The bills before the state Legislature’s Education Committee included one that would ban diversity, equity and inclusion — known as DEI — programs and offices at state colleges and universities. Another would eliminate tenure for college professors. Similar bills have been introduced in Republican-led legislatures across the country as the 2024 election year heats up.

Sen. Dave Murman, a south-central Nebraska farmer who is chair of the Education Committee, introduced the anti-DEI bill that has garnered 13 cosigners who are among the most conservative in the body. Already this year, Republican lawmakers have proposed about 50 bills in 20 states that would&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/dei-state-legislation-diversity-4d80ec7e9d372e74b129efc402ac0b76">restrict DEI initiatives</a>&nbsp;or require their public disclosure.

Murman characterized DEI programs as “a threat to academic freedom" by elevating diversity over meritocracy.

“Taxpayer-funded universities shouldn't be used for activism and social change,” he said.

The 12 people who testified in support of the bill echoed that sentiment, using phrases like “Marxist philosophy,” a “you-owe-me mentality” and “promoting victimhood.”

Jess Lammers, of Holdrege, was more blunt, saying DEI is “being inflicted on us by liberals."

Opponents of the bill vastly outnumbered supporters, and dozens took to the mic to encourage lawmakers to reject it. Among them were several young people of color who grew up in the state or Nebraska college students who told lawmakers of the discrimination they've faced.

That included Mia Perales, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln engineering student who graduated at the top of her high school class.

“As a Latino woman in engineering, I have been overlooked by my peers countless times,” she said.

Ricki Barber, the secretary of the Lincoln chapter of the NAACP, addressed lawmakers supporting the bill — several of whom are UNL graduates and Nebraska college football fans.

“The transfer portal is a real thing,” Barber said. “And our Black athletes are watching what happens here.”

Sen. Loren Lippincott defended his bill seeking to eliminate the tenure system as an idea that's gaining traction in other state legislatures. He noted that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-colleges-and-universities-florida-state-government-texas-education-4f0fe0c5c18ed227fabae3744e8ff51d">similar measures</a>&nbsp;have been or are actively being sought in at least half a dozen other states, including Iowa, Florida, North Dakota and Texas.

Academic tenure is given to high-performing professors — usually those who are long-serving and have a catalog of published academic material. Tenure provides a raft of benefits, including higher pay and heightened job security. Advocates say tenure is crucial to protecting academic freedom.

Critics have long held that tenure protects poorly performing professors. Many conservatives have come to see tenure as a system that protects professors who espouse left-leaning ideals.

“A lot of these horses were pulling their weight in their youth,” Lippincott said. “But then those horses end up staying in the barn and just eating hay.”

Lippincott's bill would create a system that would set up annual performance evaluations of all faculty, along with a set of minimum standards of faculty performance and disciplinary actions. It would also set up employment agreements that would lay out grounds to fire faculty, including for just cause or for financial reasons and program discontinuance by the school.

A handful of supporters testified in favor of the bill. Most cited a belief that it would help protect the free expression of conservative views of students who are too often silenced by professors who hold power over them.

Opponents warned that eliminating tenure would make the already competitive nature of attracting top candidates for faculty jobs at Nebraska colleges and universities even more difficult.

“Eliminating tenure would tie both behind our back right at a time we're trying to recruit and retain faculty,” said Chris Kabourek, interim president of the University of Nebraska. “No other Big Ten university is without tenure. We can't afford not to offer it.”

It's too early to know whether either measure has the votes to advance to the full Legislature.

Associated PressScores of people turned out Tuesday to testify well into the night on bills being considered by Nebraska lawmakers that target diversity initiatives and higher education programs, mirroring proposals by Republicans across the country.The bills before the state Legislature’s Education Committee included one that would ban diversity, equity and inclusion — known as DEI — programs and offices at state colleges and universities. Another would eliminate tenure for college professors. Similar bills have been introduced in Republican-led legislatures across the country as the 2024 election year heats up.Sen. Dave Murman, a south-central Nebraska farmer who is chair of the Education Committee, introduced the anti-DEI bill that has garnered 13 cosigners who are among the most conservative in the body. Already this year, Republican lawmakers have proposed about 50 bills in 20 states that would&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/dei-state-legislation-diversity-4d80ec7e9d372e74b129efc402ac0b76">restrict DEI initiatives</a>&nbsp;or require their public disclosure.Murman characterized DEI programs as “a threat to academic freedom" by elevating diversity over meritocracy.“Taxpayer-funded universities shouldn't be used for activism and social change,” he said.The 12 people who testified in support of the bill echoed that sentiment, using phrases like “Marxist philosophy,” a “you-owe-me mentality” and “promoting victimhood.”Jess Lammers, of Holdrege, was more blunt, saying DEI is “being inflicted on us by liberals."“It excludes white people,” he said.Opponents of the bill vastly outnumbered supporters, and dozens took to the mic to encourage lawmakers to reject it. Among them were several young people of color who grew up in the state or Nebraska college students who told lawmakers of the discrimination they've faced.That included Mia Perales, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln engineering student who graduated at the top of her high school class.“As a Latino woman in engineering, I have been overlooked by my peers countless times,” she said.Ricki Barber, the secretary of the Lincoln chapter of the NAACP, addressed lawmakers supporting the bill — several of whom are UNL graduates and Nebraska college football fans.“The transfer portal is a real thing,” Barber said. “And our Black athletes are watching what happens here.”Sen. Loren Lippincott defended his bill seeking to eliminate the tenure system as an idea that's gaining traction in other state legislatures. He noted that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-colleges-and-universities-florida-state-government-texas-education-4f0fe0c5c18ed227fabae3744e8ff51d">similar measures</a>&nbsp;have been or are actively being sought in at least half a dozen other states, including Iowa, Florida, North Dakota and Texas.Academic tenure is given to high-performing professors — usually those who are long-serving and have a catalog of published academic material. Tenure provides a raft of benefits, including higher pay and heightened job security. Advocates say tenure is crucial to protecting academic freedom.Critics have long held that tenure protects poorly performing professors. Many conservatives have come to see tenure as a system that protects professors who espouse left-leaning ideals.“A lot of these horses were pulling their weight in their youth,” Lippincott said. “But then those horses end up staying in the barn and just eating hay.”Lippincott's bill would create a system that would set up annual performance evaluations of all faculty, along with a set of minimum standards of faculty performance and disciplinary actions. It would also set up employment agreements that would lay out grounds to fire faculty, including for just cause or for financial reasons and program discontinuance by the school.A handful of supporters testified in favor of the bill. Most cited a belief that it would help protect the free expression of conservative views of students who are too often silenced by professors who hold power over them.Opponents warned that eliminating tenure would make the already competitive nature of attracting top candidates for faculty jobs at Nebraska colleges and universities even more difficult.“Eliminating tenure would tie both behind our back right at a time we're trying to recruit and retain faculty,” said Chris Kabourek, interim president of the University of Nebraska. “No other Big Ten university is without tenure. We can't afford not to offer it.”It's too early to know whether either measure has the votes to advance to the full Legislature.

Nebraska GOP bills target college professor tenure and diversity, equity and inclusion

<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/02/14/pillen-raises-record-amount-for-first-year-nebraska-governor/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — Months after winning Nebraska’s costliest governor’s race, Gov. Jim Pillen set a record in first-year fundraising for the state’s chief executive.

Pillen raised $2.1 million in 2023. That is more than double the next closest number raised by a first-year governor. That came when Gov. Dave Heineman raised $815,000 in 2005, after being elevated to the post from lieutenant governor when Gov. Mike Johanns was named U.S. agriculture secretary.&nbsp;

Heineman needed campaign cash because he faced a May 2006 Republican primary election that included then-U.S. Rep. Tom Osborne. Pillen’s situation is different: His next potential election isn’t until May 2026. So why the early funding push?&nbsp;

Several Nebraska political consultants said they see Pillen’s early fundraising as a warning flag to the man he beat in the 2022 primary, multistate agribusinessman Charles Herbster.

Others say the effort might be the result of a weakened state Republican Party or policy disagreements between some longtime Republican allies.

One longtime Nebraska Republican political consultant, Chris Peterson, called Pillen’s $2.1 million “a stunning number.” That amount of money raised this early “doesn’t happen by accident,” he said.&nbsp;

“It’s clearly intended to both raise a war chest for 2026 and send a message to potential challengers that Governor Pillen isn’t taking his re-election for granted, even though the primary election is more than two years away,” Peterson said.

Herbster declined to comment Monday about his political intentions or Pillen’s haul. Herbster has previously expressed interest in a possible 2026 rematch for governor and has also flirted with running against U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb.&nbsp;

During the 2022 GOP governor’s primary, Ricketts was Pillen’s highest-profile supporter and surrogate. Herbster had former President Donald Trump’s endorsement but lost.&nbsp;

Other political observers, including Nebraska Democratic Party chair Jane Kleeb, said the new governor’s funding push shows that Pillen wants to step out of Ricketts’ shadow and build his own political operation. She said the two men are competing to lead the GOP.

Ricketts last month publicly criticized Pillen’s proposal to raise the state sales tax rate by up to 2 cents and shift that money to offset local property taxes. Pillen has said the change is needed to rebalance the burden of Nebraska’s taxes.

Some Pillen supporters said he might be preparing for the possibility that Ricketts won’t back him in 2026. In 2022, Ricketts and his family spent over $3 million on third-party TV ads attacking Pillen’s top two GOP opponents. Ricketts did not donate any funds to Pillen in 2023, finance records show.&nbsp;

Pillen appointed Ricketts to the Senate in January 2023.&nbsp;

Pillen raised most of his current war chest after his first legislative session, which included income tax cuts, the down payment on $1 billion in state money to offset some public school costs and a tax break for donors to private school scholarships.

Much of the money was raised from the usual suspects: big-dollar donors in Omaha and Lincoln. Pillen, who runs a hog operation in Columbus, Neb., also brought in some new agricultural donors from rural Nebraska who had not given large amounts in recent years.

Kleeb and a handful of Republicans in Pillen’s orbit said the governor’s 2023 tally also shows the fundraising weakness of a fractured Nebraska Republican Party. Several said donors are looking for more effective places to put their money since a new, more populist team took over state party leadership from a group of Ricketts loyalists in mid-2022.&nbsp;

In recent weeks, the state GOP raised eyebrows when its central committee endorsed none of Nebraska’s five elected members of Congress — all Republicans — and when none of the five incumbents applied for or sought the state party’s endorsement.

“The Republican Party is no longer interested in the infrastructure of the party,” Kleeb said. “Instead individuals are raising a ton of money outside the party to control other politicians and control their own political future.”

Nebraska GOP chair Eric Underwood, in a recent interview, acknowledged his party’s struggles with big-dollar donors. Underwood said the GOP has been rebuilding county parties, organizing grassroots energy and improving its ties to small-dollar donors. He said the party has grown its booster clubs and hosted events.

The dropoff in fundraising is most pronounced in the year-end fundraising totals at the state level. The state GOP raised $70,000 in 2023. In the other most recent pre-election years, the party raised $120,000 in 2021, $138,000 in 2019 and $162,000 in 2017, state records show.

That’s part of why the state party has said, in emails from Underwood to party members and in statements and tweets that followed, it will no longer offer direct financial support to federal or state candidates, as the party has in the past.&nbsp;

State parties keep two separate accounts for fundraising, one for races and party support at the state level and another at the national level. The state GOP’s fundraising decline has been less sharp at the federal level, where it reported having $312,000. But $51,000 of that was from an insurance claim to repair damage at the state GOP headquarters building, Federal Election Commission records show.

The remaining $261,000 raised in 2023 compares to $196,000 in 2021, $314,000 in 2019 and $212,000 in 2017.

Democrats outraise state GOP, 2nd District focus

The Nebraska Democratic Party significantly outraised the Nebraska GOP at both levels last year. At the state level, Democrats raised $333,000 in 2023. They raised $1.2 million at the federal level. &nbsp;

Much of that was driven by money from the Democratic National Committee and President Joe Biden’s campaign. But the Democrats also run a lot of money for the 2nd District House race in the Omaha area through the state party.&nbsp;

The GOP has done so in the past, as well, but not for 2024. This year, the state GOP endorsed Omaha businessman Dan Frei in the primary, who is running against U.S. Rep. Don Bacon. Much of the money for that race that could have been funneled through the state party might be distributed instead through a federal PAC of the Douglas County Republican Party or outside groups.

Bacon, anticipating the possibility of a populist primary opponent, built his 2024 campaign so it could run independently of the state party. In this, he is following in the footsteps of former Republican U.S. Sens. Ben Sasse and Chuck Hagel, who funded successful campaigns in the same way.&nbsp;

Underwood also acknowledged some distance between the state party and its top elected officials. Pillen, for instance, has barely talked with party leaders since the takeover in the summer of 2022. Many of them had supported Herbster.

Pillen angered some in the state GOP last June by organizing a letter from state officeholders and the congressional delegation backing Sarpy County GOP chair Nora Sandine’s fight against a more populist candidate backed by the new state party leadership.&nbsp;

Underwood said the state GOP is now driven more by relationships and people than by money. He said his party’s purpose is to organize people around their “shared conservative values.” He said people who think the party’s job is to elect more Republicans are clinging to a paradigm from the past.

“Our grassroots local donors are up triple. The volume of people involved in local parties is up 8 to 10 times,” he said. “We can do more with more people. The Nebraska Republican Party has been living in a political bubble from how other states operate.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

Small-dollar donors were up in 2023 versus previous pre-election years, documents show, although the number of participants is difficult to verify independently. County party gatherings have drawn larger crowds than in recent years.

The money Pillen raised could fill some of the gap left by the state GOP’s absence.

Three Pillen donors, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the governor told his inner circle of supporters he aims to use some of his campaign funds to help conservative candidates in this year’s legislative races.

Pillen did not directly answer when asked through a campaign spokeswoman if the money would be used on more races than his own. He said he needs a “strong coalition of support to be an effective Governor for the people of Nebraska, which also includes resources to win and get our message out.”

“We were focused in 2023 on activating Nebraskans who had never been in the game before and building a conservative coalition that will be in the game year after year,” Pillen said in a statement from his campaign. “These resources will be used to promote a transformative agenda based on kids, taxes, agriculture, and values.”

Local politicos already knew Pillen could raise money. He raised $11.5 million for the 2022 governor’s race. This total would have been a record amount if not for Herbster, who raised more than $13 million.

Former Omaha State Sen. Brett Lindstrom, the campaign’s third-place finisher in May 2022, raised $3 million, a more typical amount for a Nebraska gubernatorial frontrunner. Democratic State Sen. Carol Blood of Bellevue raised $600,000 in the general election.

But one local political scientist, Randall Adkins of the University of Nebraska at Omaha, cautioned against reading too much into Pillen’s fundraising numbers.&nbsp;

He said people in Nebraska were insulated for years from seeing massive amounts of money being raised for races at the state level because as governor for eight years, Ricketts had access to massive amounts of his own money.&nbsp;

“This could just be a sign of the amount of money that’s out there and interested in political races,” he said.

Aaron Sanderford<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/02/14/pillen-raises-record-amount-for-first-year-nebraska-governor/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — Months after winning Nebraska’s costliest governor’s race, Gov. Jim Pillen set a record in first-year fundraising for the state’s chief executive.Pillen raised $2.1 million in 2023. That is more than double the next closest number raised by a first-year governor. That came when Gov. Dave Heineman raised $815,000 in 2005, after being elevated to the post from lieutenant governor when Gov. Mike Johanns was named U.S. agriculture secretary.&nbsp;Heineman needed campaign cash because he faced a May 2006 Republican primary election that included then-U.S. Rep. Tom Osborne. Pillen’s situation is different: His next potential election isn’t until May 2026. So why the early funding push?&nbsp;Depends on whom you ask.<h2>Warning shot</h2>Several Nebraska political consultants said they see Pillen’s early fundraising as a warning flag to the man he beat in the 2022 primary, multistate agribusinessman Charles Herbster.Others say the effort might be the result of a weakened state Republican Party or policy disagreements between some longtime Republican allies.One longtime Nebraska Republican political consultant, Chris Peterson, called Pillen’s $2.1 million “a stunning number.” That amount of money raised this early “doesn’t happen by accident,” he said.&nbsp;“It’s clearly intended to both raise a war chest for 2026 and send a message to potential challengers that Governor Pillen isn’t taking his re-election for granted, even though the primary election is more than two years away,” Peterson said.Herbster declined to comment Monday about his political intentions or Pillen’s haul. Herbster has previously expressed interest in a possible 2026 rematch for governor and has also flirted with running against U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb.&nbsp;During the 2022 GOP governor’s primary, Ricketts was Pillen’s highest-profile supporter and surrogate. Herbster had former President Donald Trump’s endorsement but lost.&nbsp;<h2>Stepping out of Ricketts’ shadow</h2>Other political observers, including Nebraska Democratic Party chair Jane Kleeb, said the new governor’s funding push shows that Pillen wants to step out of Ricketts’ shadow and build his own political operation. She said the two men are competing to lead the GOP.Ricketts last month publicly criticized Pillen’s proposal to raise the state sales tax rate by up to 2 cents and shift that money to offset local property taxes. Pillen has said the change is needed to rebalance the burden of Nebraska’s taxes.Some Pillen supporters said he might be preparing for the possibility that Ricketts won’t back him in 2026. In 2022, Ricketts and his family spent over $3 million on third-party TV ads attacking Pillen’s top two GOP opponents. Ricketts did not donate any funds to Pillen in 2023, finance records show.&nbsp;Pillen appointed Ricketts to the Senate in January 2023.&nbsp;Pillen raised most of his current war chest after his first legislative session, which included income tax cuts, the down payment on $1 billion in state money to offset some public school costs and a tax break for donors to private school scholarships.Much of the money was raised from the usual suspects: big-dollar donors in Omaha and Lincoln. Pillen, who runs a hog operation in Columbus, Neb., also brought in some new agricultural donors from rural Nebraska who had not given large amounts in recent years.<h2>Nebraska GOP leadership changes</h2>Kleeb and a handful of Republicans in Pillen’s orbit said the governor’s 2023 tally also shows the fundraising weakness of a fractured Nebraska Republican Party. Several said donors are looking for more effective places to put their money since a new, more populist team took over state party leadership from a group of Ricketts loyalists in mid-2022.&nbsp;In recent weeks, the state GOP raised eyebrows when its central committee endorsed none of Nebraska’s five elected members of Congress — all Republicans — and when none of the five incumbents applied for or sought the state party’s endorsement.“The Republican Party is no longer interested in the infrastructure of the party,” Kleeb said. “Instead individuals are raising a ton of money outside the party to control other politicians and control their own political future.”Nebraska GOP chair Eric Underwood, in a recent interview, acknowledged his party’s struggles with big-dollar donors. Underwood said the GOP has been rebuilding county parties, organizing grassroots energy and improving its ties to small-dollar donors. He said the party has grown its booster clubs and hosted events.The dropoff in fundraising is most pronounced in the year-end fundraising totals at the state level. The state GOP raised $70,000 in 2023. In the other most recent pre-election years, the party raised $120,000 in 2021, $138,000 in 2019 and $162,000 in 2017, state records show.That’s part of why the state party has said, in emails from Underwood to party members and in statements and tweets that followed, it will no longer offer direct financial support to federal or state candidates, as the party has in the past.&nbsp;State parties keep two separate accounts for fundraising, one for races and party support at the state level and another at the national level. The state GOP’s fundraising decline has been less sharp at the federal level, where it reported having $312,000. But $51,000 of that was from an insurance claim to repair damage at the state GOP headquarters building, Federal Election Commission records show.The remaining $261,000 raised in 2023 compares to $196,000 in 2021, $314,000 in 2019 and $212,000 in 2017.<h2>Democrats outraise state GOP, 2nd District focus</h2>The Nebraska Democratic Party significantly outraised the Nebraska GOP at both levels last year. At the state level, Democrats raised $333,000 in 2023. They raised $1.2 million at the federal level. &nbsp;Much of that was driven by money from the Democratic National Committee and President Joe Biden’s campaign. But the Democrats also run a lot of money for the 2nd District House race in the Omaha area through the state party.&nbsp;The GOP has done so in the past, as well, but not for 2024. This year, the state GOP endorsed Omaha businessman Dan Frei in the primary, who is running against U.S. Rep. Don Bacon. Much of the money for that race that could have been funneled through the state party might be distributed instead through a federal PAC of the Douglas County Republican Party or outside groups.Bacon, anticipating the possibility of a populist primary opponent, built his 2024 campaign so it could run independently of the state party. In this, he is following in the footsteps of former Republican U.S. Sens. Ben Sasse and Chuck Hagel, who funded successful campaigns in the same way.&nbsp;Underwood also acknowledged some distance between the state party and its top elected officials. Pillen, for instance, has barely talked with party leaders since the takeover in the summer of 2022. Many of them had supported Herbster.Pillen angered some in the state GOP last June by organizing a letter from state officeholders and the congressional delegation backing Sarpy County GOP chair Nora Sandine’s fight against a more populist candidate backed by the new state party leadership.&nbsp;Underwood said the state GOP is now driven more by relationships and people than by money. He said his party’s purpose is to organize people around their “shared conservative values.” He said people who think the party’s job is to elect more Republicans are clinging to a paradigm from the past.“Our grassroots local donors are up triple. The volume of people involved in local parties is up 8 to 10 times,” he said. “We can do more with more people. The Nebraska Republican Party has been living in a political bubble from how other states operate.”&nbsp;&nbsp;Small-dollar donors were up in 2023 versus previous pre-election years, documents show, although the number of participants is difficult to verify independently. County party gatherings have drawn larger crowds than in recent years.<h2>Filling in some funding gaps</h2>The money Pillen raised could fill some of the gap left by the state GOP’s absence.Three Pillen donors, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the governor told his inner circle of supporters he aims to use some of his campaign funds to help conservative candidates in this year’s legislative races.Pillen did not directly answer when asked through a campaign spokeswoman if the money would be used on more races than his own. He said he needs a “strong coalition of support to be an effective Governor for the people of Nebraska, which also includes resources to win and get our message out.”“We were focused in 2023 on activating Nebraskans who had never been in the game before and building a conservative coalition that will be in the game year after year,” Pillen said in a statement from his campaign. “These resources will be used to promote a transformative agenda based on kids, taxes, agriculture, and values.”Local politicos already knew Pillen could raise money. He raised $11.5 million for the 2022 governor’s race. This total would have been a record amount if not for Herbster, who raised more than $13 million.Former Omaha State Sen. Brett Lindstrom, the campaign’s third-place finisher in May 2022, raised $3 million, a more typical amount for a Nebraska gubernatorial frontrunner. Democratic State Sen. Carol Blood of Bellevue raised $600,000 in the general election.But one local political scientist, Randall Adkins of the University of Nebraska at Omaha, cautioned against reading too much into Pillen’s fundraising numbers.&nbsp;He said people in Nebraska were insulated for years from seeing massive amounts of money being raised for races at the state level because as governor for eight years, Ricketts had access to massive amounts of his own money.&nbsp;“This could just be a sign of the amount of money that’s out there and interested in political races,” he said.

Pillen raises record amount for first-year Nebraska governor

LINCOLN, NE&nbsp;– Surrounded by more than 20 state senators in the Warner Chamber at the State Capitol, Governor Jim Pillen touted a “Nebraska solution” that will allow the state to take advantage of the federally-funded Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (SEBT) program, while ensuring that additional needs of children and their families are met. Gov. Pillen was joined in his announcement today by Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) CEO Steve Corsi, Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) Commissioner Brian Maher and Senator Ray Aguilar (District 35).

“My team has been in touch with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which has expressed interest and support for this plan,” said Gov. Pillen. “We simply must do better in Nebraska to enhance the quality of life and the quality of interaction with kids and their families during the summer months. This program will make sure that happens.”

DHHS, through the Office of Economic Assistance, will act as the coordinating agency for the implementation of the SEBT program. NDE will partner with DHHS to provide necessary student information to DHHS, so that eligible children are identified, and families are aware of the benefits and additional resources available to them.

In addition to vendor issued EBT cards, the program will have touchpoints incorporated to ensure that kids are safe. Supplemental features of the program include:

“We are very excited about this program because we are going to implement it the Nebraska way,” said DHHS CEO Steve Corsi. “We won’t just be transferring additional money. We are setting up the program to ensure kids are safe in the summer. Through our partnership with NDE, we are confident DHHS will be able to implement this in a timely manner, built upon the foundation already established with NDE to carry out the Pandemic-EBT program”

Nebraska will also continue to participate in the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), also funded through the USDA. Like SEBT, it also provides no-cost food to children, usually in centralized locations where kids get access to nutritious meals and snacks. There are 280 such sites around the state operating in schools or non-profits. One of the benefits of the program is that children have an opportunity to interact with adults who can spot signs of abuse, malnutrition, mental health and other issues that require immediate attention.

“During the pandemic, when schools were shut down and kids were at home, calls to Children and Family Services (CFS) dropped significantly,” said Gov. Pillen. “We don’t want that to happen again. Enabling DHHS to follow up with families enrolled in SEBT will ensure those kids are not falling through the cracks.”

“This plan is a great way to meet the needs of kids who experience food insecurity as well as provide a means for ensuring they are cared for properly during the summer months,” said NDE Commissioner Maher. “This will provide another opportunity to check in with our students.&nbsp; We welcome the chance to have caring adults touching base with kids and families during the summer months.”

Sen. Aguilar, who prioritized LB 952, added his support to the Governor’s plan. That bill called on DHHS to submit for SEBT funding, but it left out the supplemental supports that have now been added through Gov. Pillen’s initiative.

“The issue of food insecurity is critical, and I know this is a very important issue for the Governor. He is a strong advocate for meeting the needs of kids in communities across our state,” said Sen. Aguilar. “I am pleased we have been able to come up with a solution that will allow us to pursue SEBT funding for this year, and that the program will meet other critical needs for Nebraska families.”

Next steps include working with the USDA for inclusion in this year’s SEBT program as well as submitting the required Plan for Operations and Management (POM). That document will be drafted by DHHS and submitted by the Feb. 15 deadline.

LINCOLN, NE&nbsp;– Surrounded by more than 20 state senators in the Warner Chamber at the State Capitol, Governor Jim Pillen touted a “Nebraska solution” that will allow the state to take advantage of the federally-funded Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (SEBT) program, while ensuring that additional needs of children and their families are met. Gov. Pillen was joined in his announcement today by Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) CEO Steve Corsi, Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) Commissioner Brian Maher and Senator Ray Aguilar (District 35).“My team has been in touch with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which has expressed interest and support for this plan,” said Gov. Pillen. “We simply must do better in Nebraska to enhance the quality of life and the quality of interaction with kids and their families during the summer months. This program will make sure that happens.”DHHS, through the Office of Economic Assistance, will act as the coordinating agency for the implementation of the SEBT program. NDE will partner with DHHS to provide necessary student information to DHHS, so that eligible children are identified, and families are aware of the benefits and additional resources available to them.In addition to vendor issued EBT cards, the program will have touchpoints incorporated to ensure that kids are safe. Supplemental features of the program include:<ul>
 <li>Educational outreach that informs families about the types of nutritious foods that parents can purchase for their kids with SEBT cards</li><li>A website with information about the SEBT program that also provides connections to other summer programs with additional support and resources</li><li>When the SEBT card is mailed to families, trained staff with DHHS will follow up personally to assess any other needs and determine what resources would be of benefit</li><li>DHHS will send text messages to enrolled families, so they can easily apply for SEBT. This also provides another connection to trained DHHS staff who can help families identify and navigate access to additional resources in their communities</li>
 </ul>“We are very excited about this program because we are going to implement it the Nebraska way,” said DHHS CEO Steve Corsi. “We won’t just be transferring additional money. We are setting up the program to ensure kids are safe in the summer. Through our partnership with NDE, we are confident DHHS will be able to implement this in a timely manner, built upon the foundation already established with NDE to carry out the Pandemic-EBT program”Nebraska will also continue to participate in the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), also funded through the USDA. Like SEBT, it also provides no-cost food to children, usually in centralized locations where kids get access to nutritious meals and snacks. There are 280 such sites around the state operating in schools or non-profits. One of the benefits of the program is that children have an opportunity to interact with adults who can spot signs of abuse, malnutrition, mental health and other issues that require immediate attention.“During the pandemic, when schools were shut down and kids were at home, calls to Children and Family Services (CFS) dropped significantly,” said Gov. Pillen. “We don’t want that to happen again. Enabling DHHS to follow up with families enrolled in SEBT will ensure those kids are not falling through the cracks.”“This plan is a great way to meet the needs of kids who experience food insecurity as well as provide a means for ensuring they are cared for properly during the summer months,” said NDE Commissioner Maher. “This will provide another opportunity to check in with our students.&nbsp; We welcome the chance to have caring adults touching base with kids and families during the summer months.”Sen. Aguilar, who prioritized LB 952, added his support to the Governor’s plan. That bill called on DHHS to submit for SEBT funding, but it left out the supplemental supports that have now been added through Gov. Pillen’s initiative.“The issue of food insecurity is critical, and I know this is a very important issue for the Governor. He is a strong advocate for meeting the needs of kids in communities across our state,” said Sen. Aguilar. “I am pleased we have been able to come up with a solution that will allow us to pursue SEBT funding for this year, and that the program will meet other critical needs for Nebraska families.”Next steps include working with the USDA for inclusion in this year’s SEBT program as well as submitting the required Plan for Operations and Management (POM). That document will be drafted by DHHS and submitted by the Feb. 15 deadline.

Gov. Pillen Announces SEBT “Nebraska Solution”

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. House voted Tuesday to impeach Homeland Security Secretary&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-impeachment-mayorkas-border-congress-homeland-security-33c952f97b12ceffacb20ceaaa531adf">Alejandro Mayorkas</a>, with the Republican majority determined to punish the Biden administration over its handling of the U.S-Mexico border after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/house-republicans-impeach-homeland-security-secretary-mayorkas-8209736501ed4fe12e4b164443d6a8a9">failing last week</a>&nbsp;in a politically embarrassing setback.

Nebraska lawmakers used social media to share their thoughts on the first impeachment of a cabinet secretary since 1876.

The evening roll call proved tight, with Speaker Mike Johnson’s threadbare GOP majority unable to handle many defectors or absences in the face of staunch Democratic opposition to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mayorkas-border-impeachment-immigration-d5f6a7d91ea725768e27b9b2bc5391a4">impeaching Mayorkas</a>, the first Cabinet secretary charged in nearly 150 years.

In a historic rebuke, the House impeached Mayorkas 214-213. With the return of Majority Leader&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/steve-scalise">Steve Scalise</a>&nbsp;to bolster the GOP's numbers after being away from Washington for cancer care and a Northeastern storm impacting some others, Republicans recouped — despite dissent from their own ranks.

<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/joe-biden">President Joe Biden</a>&nbsp;called it a "blatant act of unconstitutional partisanship that has targeted an honorable public servant in order to play petty political games.”

The charges against Mayorkas next go to the Senate for a trial, but neither Democratic nor even some Republican senators have shown interest in the matter and it may be indefinitely shelved to a committee. The Senate is expected to receive the articles of impeachment from the House after returning to session Feb. 26.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called the case against Mayorkas a “sham impeachment” and a "new low for House Republicans.”

In a frantic scene of vote-tallying on the House floor, the GOP effort to impeach Mayorkas over his handling of the southern border took on an air of political desperation as Republicans struggle to make good on their priorities.

Mayorkas faced two articles of impeachment filed by the Homeland Security Committee arguing that he “willfully and systematically” refused to enforce existing immigration laws and that he breached the public trust by lying to Congress and saying the border was secure.

But critics of the impeachment effort said the charges against Mayorkas amount to a policy dispute over Biden's border strategy, hardly rising to the Constitution's bar of high crimes and misdemeanors.

The House had initially launched an impeachment inquiry into Biden over his son’s business dealings, but instead turned its attention to Mayorkas after Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, an ally of former President Donald Trump, pushed the debate forward following the panel’s months-long investigation.

Greene, who will serve as an impeachment manager in a potential Senate trial, hugged Scalise afterward and posed for photos with other lawmakers. She said senators “better pay attention to the American people and how they feel, and then they need to read our articles of impeachment.”

Border security has shot to the top of campaign issues, with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Trump, the Republican front-runner</a>&nbsp;for the presidential nomination, insisting he will launch “the largest domestic deportation operation in American history” if he retakes the White House.

Various House Republicans have prepared legislation to begin deporting migrants who were temporarily allowed into the U.S. under the Biden administration’s policies, many as they await adjudication of asylum claims.

“We have no choice,” Trump said in stark language at a weekend rally in South Carolina.

At the same time, Johnson rejected a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-ukraine-aid-border-security-386dcc54b29a5491f8bd87b727a284f8">bipartisan Senate border security package</a>&nbsp;Mayorkas had spent weeks negotiating. But the speaker has been unable to advance his Republicans’ own proposal, which is a nonstarter in the Senate.

“Congress needs to act,” Biden said in a statement after the vote, “to give me, Secretary Mayorkas, and my administration the tools and resources needed to address the situation at the border.”

Three Republican representatives who broke ranks last week over the Mayorkas impeachment — Ken Buck of Colorado, Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin and Tom McClintock of California — all did so again Tuesday. With a 219-212 majority, Johnson had few votes to spare. His margin got even smaller later Tuesday night when New York Democrat Thomas Suozzi won a special election to the seat once held by Republican George Santos before his expulsion from Congress.

Several leading conservative scholars along with former Homeland Security secretaries from both Republican and Democratic administrations have dismissed the Mayorkas impeachment as unwarranted or a waste of time.

Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland said what the Republicans “have succeeded in doing is degrading and tarnishing the constitutional meaning of impeachment.”

But Scalise told reporters after the vote, “It sends a message that we’re not just going to sit by while the secretary of homeland security fails to do his job at keeping our homeland safe.”

Mayorkas is not the only Biden administration official the House Republicans want to impeach. They have filed legislation to impeach a long list including Vice President Kamala Harris, Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

Never before has a sitting Cabinet secretary been impeached, and it was nearly 150 years ago that the House voted to impeach President Ulysses S. Grant’s secretary of war, William Belknap, over a kickback scheme in government contracts. He resigned before the vote.

Mayorkas, who did not appear to testify before the impeachment proceedings, put the border crisis squarely on Congress for failing to update immigration laws during a time of global migration.

“There is no question that we have a challenge, a crisis at the border,” Mayorkas said over the weekend on NBC. “And there is no question that Congress needs to fix it.”

Johnson and the Republicans have pushed back, arguing that the Biden administration could take executive actions, as Trump did, to stop the number of crossings — though the courts have questioned and turned back some of those efforts.

“We always explore what options are available to us that are permissible under the law,” Mayorkas said.

Last week's failed vote to impeach Mayorkas — a surprise outcome rarely seen on such a high-profile issue — was a stunning display in the chamber that has been churning through months of GOP chaos since the ouster of the previous House speaker.

At the time, Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, who had been hospitalized for emergency abdominal surgery, made a surprise arrival, wheeled into the chamber in scrubs and socks to vote against it — leaving the vote tied and leading to its failure.

“Obviously, you feel good when you can make a difference,” said Green, describing his painstaking route from hospital bed to the House floor. “All I did was what I was elected to do, and that was to cast my vote on the issues of our time, using the best judgment available to me.”

Republican holdout Gallagher, who had served as a Marine,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mike-gallagher-retirement-impeachment-mayorkas-wisconsin-a125c50142905225ae58f7f36f9bd1e1">announced over the weekend</a>&nbsp;he would not be seeking reelection in the fall, joining a growing list of serious-minded Republican lawmakers heading for the exits.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1707917414533.png" alt="Image from Missouri 7th District Rep. Eric Burlison" />
 <figcaption>Image from Missouri 7th District Rep. Eric Burlison</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. House voted Tuesday to impeach Homeland Security Secretary&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-impeachment-mayorkas-border-congress-homeland-security-33c952f97b12ceffacb20ceaaa531adf">Alejandro Mayorkas</a>, with the Republican majority determined to punish the Biden administration over its handling of the U.S-Mexico border after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/house-republicans-impeach-homeland-security-secretary-mayorkas-8209736501ed4fe12e4b164443d6a8a9">failing last week</a>&nbsp;in a politically embarrassing setback.Nebraska lawmakers used social media to share their thoughts on the first impeachment of a cabinet secretary since 1876.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Secretary Mayorkas has not only failed to address President Biden’s border crisis, but he has also actively made it worse. From reinstating catch and release to cutting razor wire along the border, Mayorkas has invited millions from around the world to enter America illegally. <a href="https://t.co/s7G9Nx1HK4">https://t.co/s7G9Nx1HK4</a>&mdash; Rep. Mike Flood (@USRepMikeFlood) <a href="https://twitter.com/USRepMikeFlood/status/1757571347906007528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 14, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Because of his unwillingness to fulfill his constitutional duty to enforce U.S. law and protect Americans, I will again vote in favor of a resolution to impeach Sec. Mayorkas on the House floor this week. See my column on getting the border under control.<a href="https://t.co/fY423c4Cn0">https://t.co/fY423c4Cn0</a>&mdash; Rep. Adrian Smith (@RepAdrianSmith) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepAdrianSmith/status/1757506140772933860?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 13, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The evening roll call proved tight, with Speaker Mike Johnson’s threadbare GOP majority unable to handle many defectors or absences in the face of staunch Democratic opposition to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mayorkas-border-impeachment-immigration-d5f6a7d91ea725768e27b9b2bc5391a4">impeaching Mayorkas</a>, the first Cabinet secretary charged in nearly 150 years.In a historic rebuke, the House impeached Mayorkas 214-213. With the return of Majority Leader&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/steve-scalise">Steve Scalise</a>&nbsp;to bolster the GOP's numbers after being away from Washington for cancer care and a Northeastern storm impacting some others, Republicans recouped — despite dissent from their own ranks.<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/joe-biden">President Joe Biden</a>&nbsp;called it a "blatant act of unconstitutional partisanship that has targeted an honorable public servant in order to play petty political games.”The charges against Mayorkas next go to the Senate for a trial, but neither Democratic nor even some Republican senators have shown interest in the matter and it may be indefinitely shelved to a committee. The Senate is expected to receive the articles of impeachment from the House after returning to session Feb. 26.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called the case against Mayorkas a “sham impeachment” and a "new low for House Republicans.”In a frantic scene of vote-tallying on the House floor, the GOP effort to impeach Mayorkas over his handling of the southern border took on an air of political desperation as Republicans struggle to make good on their priorities.Mayorkas faced two articles of impeachment filed by the Homeland Security Committee arguing that he “willfully and systematically” refused to enforce existing immigration laws and that he breached the public trust by lying to Congress and saying the border was secure.But critics of the impeachment effort said the charges against Mayorkas amount to a policy dispute over Biden's border strategy, hardly rising to the Constitution's bar of high crimes and misdemeanors.The House had initially launched an impeachment inquiry into Biden over his son’s business dealings, but instead turned its attention to Mayorkas after Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, an ally of former President Donald Trump, pushed the debate forward following the panel’s months-long investigation.Greene, who will serve as an impeachment manager in a potential Senate trial, hugged Scalise afterward and posed for photos with other lawmakers. She said senators “better pay attention to the American people and how they feel, and then they need to read our articles of impeachment.”Border security has shot to the top of campaign issues, with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Trump, the Republican front-runner</a>&nbsp;for the presidential nomination, insisting he will launch “the largest domestic deportation operation in American history” if he retakes the White House.Various House Republicans have prepared legislation to begin deporting migrants who were temporarily allowed into the U.S. under the Biden administration’s policies, many as they await adjudication of asylum claims.“We have no choice,” Trump said in stark language at a weekend rally in South Carolina.At the same time, Johnson rejected a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-ukraine-aid-border-security-386dcc54b29a5491f8bd87b727a284f8">bipartisan Senate border security package</a>&nbsp;Mayorkas had spent weeks negotiating. But the speaker has been unable to advance his Republicans’ own proposal, which is a nonstarter in the Senate.“Congress needs to act,” Biden said in a statement after the vote, “to give me, Secretary Mayorkas, and my administration the tools and resources needed to address the situation at the border.”Three Republican representatives who broke ranks last week over the Mayorkas impeachment — Ken Buck of Colorado, Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin and Tom McClintock of California — all did so again Tuesday. With a 219-212 majority, Johnson had few votes to spare. His margin got even smaller later Tuesday night when New York Democrat Thomas Suozzi won a special election to the seat once held by Republican George Santos before his expulsion from Congress.Several leading conservative scholars along with former Homeland Security secretaries from both Republican and Democratic administrations have dismissed the Mayorkas impeachment as unwarranted or a waste of time.Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland said what the Republicans “have succeeded in doing is degrading and tarnishing the constitutional meaning of impeachment.”But Scalise told reporters after the vote, “It sends a message that we’re not just going to sit by while the secretary of homeland security fails to do his job at keeping our homeland safe.”Mayorkas is not the only Biden administration official the House Republicans want to impeach. They have filed legislation to impeach a long list including Vice President Kamala Harris, Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.Never before has a sitting Cabinet secretary been impeached, and it was nearly 150 years ago that the House voted to impeach President Ulysses S. Grant’s secretary of war, William Belknap, over a kickback scheme in government contracts. He resigned before the vote.Mayorkas, who did not appear to testify before the impeachment proceedings, put the border crisis squarely on Congress for failing to update immigration laws during a time of global migration.“There is no question that we have a challenge, a crisis at the border,” Mayorkas said over the weekend on NBC. “And there is no question that Congress needs to fix it.”Johnson and the Republicans have pushed back, arguing that the Biden administration could take executive actions, as Trump did, to stop the number of crossings — though the courts have questioned and turned back some of those efforts.“We always explore what options are available to us that are permissible under the law,” Mayorkas said.Last week's failed vote to impeach Mayorkas — a surprise outcome rarely seen on such a high-profile issue — was a stunning display in the chamber that has been churning through months of GOP chaos since the ouster of the previous House speaker.At the time, Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, who had been hospitalized for emergency abdominal surgery, made a surprise arrival, wheeled into the chamber in scrubs and socks to vote against it — leaving the vote tied and leading to its failure.“Obviously, you feel good when you can make a difference,” said Green, describing his painstaking route from hospital bed to the House floor. “All I did was what I was elected to do, and that was to cast my vote on the issues of our time, using the best judgment available to me.”Republican holdout Gallagher, who had served as a Marine,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mike-gallagher-retirement-impeachment-mayorkas-wisconsin-a125c50142905225ae58f7f36f9bd1e1">announced over the weekend</a>&nbsp;he would not be seeking reelection in the fall, joining a growing list of serious-minded Republican lawmakers heading for the exits.__

Nebraska lawmakers comment on impeachment of DHS Secretary

Faculty, mostly at the University of Nebraska, lined up to oppose an effort from State Sen. Loren Lippincott that would be the first in the nation

Zach Wendling.&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/02/12/nebraska-lawmaker-proposes-grant-for-artificial-intelligence-tools-to-combat-dyslexia/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — Faculty groups and administrators at the University of Nebraska lined up Tuesday to oppose a legislative proposal to end faculty tenure, with many saying it could handicap NU.

State Sen. Loren Lippincott of Central City, who introduced&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=55270">Legislative Bill 1064</a>, said he feels the “pendulum” has swung too far toward protecting professors instead of students and away from merit and performance. His bill would&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/01/08/senators-seek-to-eliminate-tenure-for-college-professors-do-away-with-state-inheritance-tax/">eliminate tenure</a>&nbsp;as an option for faculty in NU and the Nebraska State College System, as well as community colleges that don’t currently offer it.

Lippincott said his goal is not to stifle academic freedom but to put benchmarks in place and allow for more transparency. He offered a comparison between higher education and a farm.

“A lot of these horses plowed the field very straight when they were young and they were earning their tenure,” Lippincott told the Legislature’s Education Committee. “But then those horses ended up staying in the barn and just simply eating hay.”

Interim NU President Chris Kabourek, the first person to testify in opposition at the hearing, framed tenure as something NU needed in its “toolbox.” He said that while he is a strong supporter of academic freedom and tenure, he does not support lifetime job guarantees; yet, tenure is not an easy feat.

“It takes years of work and a proven record and scholarly performance and productivity, and that’s good news for Nebraska,” Kabourek said.&nbsp;

Should LB 1064 pass, Kabourek added, it would put NU at a “great competitive disadvantage” to peer institutions as he predicted that faculty would look elsewhere for positions.

“Eliminating tenure would tie both hands behind our back at the very time our university is setting high aspirations to go compete with the best of the best throughout the country,” he said.

Luke McDermott, on behalf of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s student government, said it takes the most talented researchers five to six years to obtain tenure and that, without the protections it offers, no professor seeking long-term work would choose Nebraska.

“We’ll be the last choice for the academic job market,” McDermott said.

McDermott said the bill could also worsen brain drain and drive away prospective students.

Lawmakers in other states have unsuccessfully tried to ban tenure through similar measures, Lippincott said, noting that efforts have stalled in South Carolina and Iowa but advanced in at least one chamber of the legislatures in Texas, North Carolina, Florida and Ohio. No states have passed such legislation.&nbsp;

“We can’t afford to become a club of one,” Kabourek said.

Colby Woodson, a UNL graduate student, said the institution of tenure plays into a form of academic caste system and said it’s not necessarily what it used to be.&nbsp;

“It’s not the ‘60s —&nbsp;there’s not necessarily the same level of political tumult there once was,” Woodson said.

Woodson said there’s a question of whether tenure rewards the “best and the brightest” or those well-connected. He also asked whether it can, informally, shield bad actors who may have a reputation for penalizing students, which he said he’s seen at UNL.

“Is it more trouble than it’s worth to call them out?” Woodson asked.

Under LB 1064, the governing boards of affected institutions would create, in lieu of tenure:

“They should have the keys to let loose the weight of those not helping to carry the load,” Lippincott said.

Chancellor Paul Turman of the Nebraska State College System, Kabourek and NU faculty said such measures already exist. An NU spokesperson affirmed that faculty can be eliminated for each reason Lippincott listed.

For example, the Board of Regents voted to eliminate two tenured faculty in just a little over a year last year.

Chris Exstrom, Faculty Senate president at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, testified in opposition to the bill on behalf of his UNK group and similar governing bodies at NU’s other campuses.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1707921409513.png" alt="University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)" />
 <figcaption>University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Faculty, mostly at the University of Nebraska, lined up to oppose an effort from State Sen. Loren Lippincott that would be the first in the nation</h2>Zach Wendling.&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/02/12/nebraska-lawmaker-proposes-grant-for-artificial-intelligence-tools-to-combat-dyslexia/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — Faculty groups and administrators at the University of Nebraska lined up Tuesday to oppose a legislative proposal to end faculty tenure, with many saying it could handicap NU.State Sen. Loren Lippincott of Central City, who introduced&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=55270">Legislative Bill 1064</a>, said he feels the “pendulum” has swung too far toward protecting professors instead of students and away from merit and performance. His bill would&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/01/08/senators-seek-to-eliminate-tenure-for-college-professors-do-away-with-state-inheritance-tax/">eliminate tenure</a>&nbsp;as an option for faculty in NU and the Nebraska State College System, as well as community colleges that don’t currently offer it.Lippincott said his goal is not to stifle academic freedom but to put benchmarks in place and allow for more transparency. He offered a comparison between higher education and a farm.“A lot of these horses plowed the field very straight when they were young and they were earning their tenure,” Lippincott told the Legislature’s Education Committee. “But then those horses ended up staying in the barn and just simply eating hay.”<h2>‘A club of one’</h2>Interim NU President Chris Kabourek, the first person to testify in opposition at the hearing, framed tenure as something NU needed in its “toolbox.” He said that while he is a strong supporter of academic freedom and tenure, he does not support lifetime job guarantees; yet, tenure is not an easy feat.“It takes years of work and a proven record and scholarly performance and productivity, and that’s good news for Nebraska,” Kabourek said.&nbsp;Should LB 1064 pass, Kabourek added, it would put NU at a “great competitive disadvantage” to peer institutions as he predicted that faculty would look elsewhere for positions.“Eliminating tenure would tie both hands behind our back at the very time our university is setting high aspirations to go compete with the best of the best throughout the country,” he said.Luke McDermott, on behalf of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s student government, said it takes the most talented researchers five to six years to obtain tenure and that, without the protections it offers, no professor seeking long-term work would choose Nebraska.“We’ll be the last choice for the academic job market,” McDermott said.McDermott said the bill could also worsen brain drain and drive away prospective students.Lawmakers in other states have unsuccessfully tried to ban tenure through similar measures, Lippincott said, noting that efforts have stalled in South Carolina and Iowa but advanced in at least one chamber of the legislatures in Texas, North Carolina, Florida and Ohio. No states have passed such legislation.&nbsp;“We can’t afford to become a club of one,” Kabourek said.<h2>Times have changed</h2>Colby Woodson, a UNL graduate student, said the institution of tenure plays into a form of academic caste system and said it’s not necessarily what it used to be.&nbsp;“It’s not the ‘60s —&nbsp;there’s not necessarily the same level of political tumult there once was,” Woodson said.Woodson said there’s a question of whether tenure rewards the “best and the brightest” or those well-connected. He also asked whether it can, informally, shield bad actors who may have a reputation for penalizing students, which he said he’s seen at UNL.“Is it more trouble than it’s worth to call them out?” Woodson asked.<h2>‘Pinnacle professional achievement’</h2>Under LB 1064, the governing boards of affected institutions would create, in lieu of tenure:<ul>
 <li>Employee agreements.</li><li>Acceptable grounds for termination, including just cause, program discontinuance and financial exigency.</li><li>Annual performance evaluations of all faculty.</li><li>Minimum standards of good practice for faculty.</li><li>Standards for review and discipline of faculty and procedures for termination on acceptable grounds.</li>
 </ul>“They should have the keys to let loose the weight of those not helping to carry the load,” Lippincott said.Chancellor Paul Turman of the Nebraska State College System, Kabourek and NU faculty said such measures already exist. An NU spokesperson affirmed that faculty can be eliminated for each reason Lippincott listed.For example, the Board of Regents voted to eliminate two tenured faculty in just a little over a year last year.Chris Exstrom, Faculty Senate president at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, testified in opposition to the bill on behalf of his UNK group and similar governing bodies at NU’s other campuses.Exstrom said that when he applied for tenure, he did so with a six-inch binder that included years of documentation — teaching materials, evaluations, research grants, publications and notes of how he impacted students.“When I was awarded tenure, I considered that my pinnacle professional achievement,” Exstrom said. “What I would soon learn is that tenure provides incredible ongoing motivation.”John Bender of the Academic Freedom Coalition of Nebraska said he sat in on multiple annual performance evaluations during his two years as an associate dean of UNL’s College of Journalism and Mass Communications.&nbsp;“There is accountability in the system already,” he said.&nbsp;In his 32 years as a professor, Bender added, he saw some tenured professors get fired and others denied tenure. He explained that tenure is not a guarantee that someone can collect a check without working. He said he worried the legislation could lead to policing speech based on content.<h2>‘Raise the bar’</h2>State Sen. Joni Albrecht of Thurston, Education Committee vice chair, said she appreciated Bender’s insight and his explanation of how tenure works and to learn that faculty members have checks and balances.“I think that the public needs to know that,” Albrecht said. “This is not for naught, it might take a while. … But just know that we are hearing what you’re saying and we are also understanding where Senator Lippincott may very well be coming from.”State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln, whose district includes UNL, questioned during the hearing whether a 1977 court case —&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://law.justia.com/cases/nebraska/supreme-court/1977/41145-1.html">NU Board of Regents v. former Nebraska Gov. James Exon</a>&nbsp;— would supersede Lippincott’s bill. That case determined the Legislature can’t dictate NU policy, as that remains vested in the NU Board of Regents.Kabourek testified that the senator had opened an important dialogue about rigor and accountability.“I think we can find ways to raise the bar while still preserving a valuable tool offered by every other university whose company we want to keep,” Kabourek said.The committee took no immediate action on LB 1064.