In the old days, country doctors often cared for folks by coming to the patient’s homes. These house calls brought great relief to people and families that needed medical attention.

We have come to the point in the Legislative calendar where our scheduled late night debates have begun. Speaker Hilgers announced that it is possible the Legislature will stay in session until at least 7:00 pm on certain nights, but we could go later if warranted, up until possibly 11:59 pm. These late nights are scheduled to help us get through all of the Speaker, committee, and Senator priority bills before the end of session.

“Find a job you enjoy doing and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” Mark Twain was a lot of things I aspire to be - witty, funny and a brilliant wordsmith. But we can’t all be witty, funny or brilliant, so with this publication, you’re stuck reading my scribbles.

Earlier this year, the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) published draft health standards for public comment that included several sex education topics. Like many Nebraska parents, I was deeply troubled by the standards. They would teach young children age-inappropriate content starting in kindergarten. They would also inject nonscientific, political ideas into curriculum standards. That’s why I have called on the NDE to scrap the proposed sex education topics in the standards.

My grandmother was a lively, caring, wonderful woman, who remained very active late in her life. One spring day, after an unusual April blizzard, she stepped out of her apartment on her way to her weekly bridge game. She fell on the ice, in an event that led to an open ankle fracture and changed the course of the remainder of her life.

Last week I received a few phone calls and emails regarding LB 271. Sometimes there are groups that will intentionally try and get people upset without giving all the facts. So I appreciate it when constituents reach out to me to find out what I know about a bill. This is a bill that I listened to closely during the floor debate because if I only heard what the constituents reached out and told me, I'd be upset about this bill also. But once I listened to the floor debate and read the bill and the amendments I quickly realized that there was a lot of very good stuff in this bill. The program created in this bill, the 24/7 Sobriety Program Act, is actually a more strict way to deal with repeat drunk driving offenders. Not only does a person have an interlock device for the first 30 days, this would require them to get alcohol or drug tested twice a day. So if a person only had an interlock device they could choose not to drive that vehicle if they want to drink, but under this program, that person is tested twice a day no matter if they want to drive or not. This program is designed for repeat offenders as an alternative to incarceration. South Dakota has used this for quite some time and has found it very successful.

Saturday marks an important day in the Gerlach house. Well, it hasn’t before, but it’s going to now.

Bacchus was a member of the Roman pantheon of gods. In ancient times he had a variety of attributes, but modern culture primarily remembers him as a god of wine and debauchery. Perhaps the image of his followers, or Bacchantes, as individuals who have abandoned society to live in a raucous state of perpetual inebriation has contributed to our perception of alcoholism and addiction.

The Nebraska Legislature is two-thirds of the way through the 2021 legislative session. Over the next several weeks, Senators will vote on a number of key bills. As they do, I encourage Nebraskans to follow closely debate at the State Capitol.

Last week we began debate on the budget bills. Our only constitutional responsibility as a legislature is to pass a biennial budget. It’s been awhile but we actually have more money than was projected which makes it easier and also a bit harder to create a budget. When we are low on money it is easier to just say no to anything that requires extra money. When we have extra money it can be difficult to decide what should take priority. Just because we have more this year, doesn’t mean that during the next budget cycle we will be in the same situation and then we would have to cut a program that was just created. Although, any money that can go towards property tax relief in a sensible manner is something that has been a priority of mine and I will continue to support it.