There is some good news on the horizon for Nebraska. The Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board met on February 26, 2021 and raised revenue projections for the state. Their projections are what the legislature uses to create our bi-annual budget.

Do you know anyone who had influenza this past year? Chances are you do not. Sure, plenty of people had the “stomach flu” with vomiting and diarrhea, otherwise known as gastroenteritis. Some people had colds and others had COVID-19. But cases of influenza this season have been exceptionally low.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.