March 6th marks one year since the first positive case of coronavirus was confirmed in Nebraska. Over the past year, it’s been an all-hands-on-deck effort to protect hospital capacity, support our healthcare workers and help keep Nebraskans healthy. We continue to see encouraging trends in our fight against the coronavirus. During the past week, the number of coronavirus-related hospitalizations has been at its lowest point in over six months. And by the latest measures, over a quarter-million Nebraskans have now received their initial dose of vaccine.

We are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for committees to wrap up their hearings. Starting next week we will have morning debate and the afternoons are reserved for the Judiciary Committee to finish up their hearings and for other committees to have executive sessions. Committees are not only busy wrapping up hearings, but also advancing bills to the legislative floor. Currently, I have 3 bills that are on General File, the first round of debate. LB 616 which would give towers a little help when they get stuck with abandoned vehicles. The other two bills, LB 190, which would change provisions relating to the use of the Water Sustainability Fund and LB 191, which would redefine elector for the Irrigation District Act. Both were adopted by the Natural Resources Committee into one amendment and that was placed on LB 507. In the past I have talked about this procedure of including provisions of multiple bills into one bill, it is called a Christmas tree bill. Only committees can create this.

In the old Broadway Musical “Bye, Bye Birdie,” there’s a tune that has stood the test of time, not because of it’s tune or its popularity, but because of its lyrics. The song is called, “What’s the Matter with Kids

Last month, we crossed a grim milestone. COVID-19 was the leading cause of death in the United States during the month of January, the first time that has happened since the pandemic began last March. But another, less visible killer has been with us much longer than the coronavirus.

Last summer we heard the prediction that by the end of 2020, we would have a safe, effective vaccine to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which had only been discovered, of course, in December 2019, causing countless deaths and mayhem in the world as we knew it. I must admit, I was skeptical.

Last Friday was day 3o of the 90 day session, which means we have made it a third of the way through this session. Even though we still have a few weeks left of bill hearings, the committees have been busy advancing bills to general file so once morning debates commence there will be bills on the agenda to discuss. A few weeks ago I wrote about the redistricting process we must go through every 10 years and I mentioned at that time that the data we need from the federal government may be delayed. We received notice last week that they do not believe that we will get that information before the end of September so that leaves a lot of questions in the air. As I learn new information about what the process will be I will keep you updated. It is important to finish redistricting as soon as possible because 2022 is an election year and people need to know which district they will be in because it may affect their decision whether they will run. On a side note, I encourage you to get involved and run for a local office, the best way to effect change is to get involved.

Nebraska is a national leader in the quality of our state highway system. This is no accident—Nebraskans take pride in building high-quality infrastructure and understand the of our to grow our state. For example, Nebraska’s farmers and ranchers led the charge for rural electrification in the 1930s. With their backing, Nebraska Senator George Norris co-sponsored the Rural Electrification Act, which was key to bringing electricity to rural communities throughout the state. Today, we have the opportunity to build next generation infrastructure by expanding reliable, high-speed broadband networks to corner of Nebraska.

I can hear it now. My grandpa repeating the same old story about how awful winters were when he was a kid. Oh...and it better be bad, bad weather if they were going to call off school. No snow days for a couple inches. No late starts. If you were late or didn’t get there, they went on without you. Then came that famous line that every grandpa tells.

I’ve learned a lot from my patients over the years. Sometimes, the lessons are learned as I walk beside them through struggles, both medical and non-medical. Sometimes, the lessons are explicitly stated, words of wisdom that stick with me through the years, and change the way I understand illness, or life in general.

We had a morning of floor debate on Tuesday this week, but we will not engage regularly in debate until Tuesday, March 2. We are doing our best to get through as many bills in committee as possible. The second week of March we will have morning floor debate followed by afternoon committee hearings and executive sessions as needed. The plan is to finish all committee hearings, other than Judiciary, by March 4th. Due to the number of bills referred to the Judiciary Committee, they will not finish up until March 12th.