It has been a very busy week here at the Legislature. My office holds many responsibilities that require my attention and input on. One of the issues on the forefront is the continuing presence of Covid and the fact that many things need to be tweaked this year to try and accommodate safety concerns and social distancing.

Over the past six weeks, Nebraskans have been rallying to bring U.S. Space Command (SPACECOM) to our state. This tremendous support for the military is common practice in our state. Nebraskans honor our servicemen and women, and our residents take great pride in hosting strategic missions that protect our nation.

It has been a long and difficult year for so many of us, but none more so than those who live in senior care facilities and nursing homes. They’ve been locked down for months on end, away from almost all of their family and friends, sometimes even away from their fellow residents. I am not complaining about the protocol, but we can all acknowledge how difficult that is.

The legislative on January 6th. It was nice to see colleagues that I’ve worked with before as well as getting to know session kicked off some of the new or returning mem-bers. On the first day there are some procedures we must go through, such as the swearing in of newly elected members, adopting temporary rules, electing permanent officers, and the elections for leadership positions. I am pleased to announce that I was elected to Chair of the Executive Board. It is the second highest position held in the legislature and I am excited to take on this new challenge. Most of the elections were fairly uneventful. There were 3 contested elections for standing committee chairpersons. Business and Labor was between Senator Matt Hansen and Senator Ben Hansen. Senator Matt Hansen was the previous chair but was ousted by Senator Ben Hansen by one vote. The Education Committee was another close race between Senator Mike Groene, the previous chair, and Senator Lynne Walz. After there was a tie in the first round of voting someone must have switched their vote in the second round and the new chair of the committee is now Senator Lynne Walz. The last contested race was for Chair of the Natural Resources Committee, the seat was open since I did not run again. Senator Bruce Bostelman topped Senator Tim Gragert. I look forward to working with all of the new and previous chairs.

We wrapped up the two weeks of our children being home from school for the holidays this week. It was enjoyable having them around during the day, but as they say: when you love someone, you’re still ready to see them go. Well, it’s something like that.

The Cornhusker State is the best place in the world to live, work, and raise a family. That’s not just something we say—it’s reflected in national data. On a per capita basis, Nebraska welcomes more babies into the world each year than almost any other state.

On Wednesday of this week we Legislature by swearing in eight new senators. Only five of them are truly new, as we are welcoming back three veterans who have chosen to return for another term. As always, committee chair elections provide a little drama for the first day. Hopefully this year that will be kept to a minimum. There are a few contested races as I am writing this, but anyone can self-nominate from the floor to be chairman of any committee, so all races could be contested. I am hopeful that does not happen because I am currently running unopposed for Chairman of the Executive Committee. There are nine members on the Executive Committee, three positions are elected by the entire body of the Legislature: the Speaker, the Chairman and Vice Chairman. The remaining six members of the Executive Committee are elected from their respective caucuses. The three caucuses are roughly the same as our Congressional districts. This ensures that representation from across the state is on the Executive Committee.

Did you know that the Air Force is in the weather business? In fact, some of the most advanced weather forecasting equipment in the world belongs to the U.S. Air Force, and it’s based right here in Nebraska.

There are a number of ways that one could bid farewell to 2020. “Thanks for the memories...

When the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Day, many are going to be glad to have 2020 in the history books. It’s not been easy to endure the pandemic, but I’m inspired by the way Nebraskans have pulled together to fight the virus. Even though it’s been a tough year, Nebraskans have shown great resilience as a state, and we’ve made vital contributions to the nation’s response to the global pandemic.