Chronicles: Nebraska’s Next Leadership

Omaha News Reader. We document the stories and people who make a difference in our community. This is KETV. NEWSWATCH SEVENTH CHRONICLE. Good morning. I’m Bill Schneider. Thank you for joining us today with Chronicle. In just a few days, Jim Piren and Joe Kelly will take the oath of office and become Nebraska’s newest governor and lieutenant governor. He won the state’s top office, defeating Bill and Democratic candidate Carol Blood and libertarian Scott Zimmerman. He will replace current Governor Pete Ricketts, who has held the role for eight years since first winning the office in 2014. Bill, who lives in his native Nebraska, grew up in Pratt County and raised pigs on his family farm. He grew up to run PALIN, a family farm, and his DNA genetics. Filkins also served as a member of the University of Nebraska Board of Trustees. His lieutenant governor, Joe Kelly, has a long career in law enforcement. Before participating in PALIN’S TICKET. He worked as the Chief of Criminal Affairs in the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office. Prior to that, he was a federal attorney for Nebraska. From 2018 he until 2021. Rob McCartney recently met with incoming governors and lieutenant governors to discuss his priorities during his inauguration. Let’s hear what they had to say. First of all, congratulations on your victory. May I ask, what was your job when you took office? Governor-elect, you first. JOB ONE is really simple. Please step under us. Try to talk to everyone in your state government. What a privilege it is for all of us to be civil servants. How are you going to do that, considering literally a lot of communication? And I want to keep reminding everyone on our team what a privilege it is and that we all need to recognize it to all the people I meet. And then we knit it up and do all we can for Nebraska every day. Kelly, what is your job? First job? The stat sheet states that the first job of Lieutenant Governor and the only job required is that of Speaker of the Legislature. And that’s where I’m going. I will obviously spend a lot of time in the legislature in that position. And I’ve spent a lot of time preparing for it. Have you got your office set up?No, probably not until that day is his sworn in January 5th. who are you going to have I mean, we know that the next governor has a chief of staff. Do you mean staff? For staff. Share your staff with the governor. That’s how we solve this problem. No need to separate anything. We are her one team partner. So Unicamera will start on his January 4th. IT’S A IT’S A LONG ONE. Sessions, 90 day sessions. Lay out your legislative agenda. What do you want to do? Well, I think our number one priority is our children. we talked forever And that’s one thing about him that all US Nebraskans agree on. Our children are our future. And we never give up on our children. School funding reform is really important. This is a key factor in keeping Nebraska from leaving children out, as it assumes that Nebraska will provide equalization assistance to all students. It’s really, really important. And that’s another key piece. We need tax reform. Nebraska needs property tax reform because taxes are too high. We have to have an income tax.These are important issues and you really struggled with property tax reform issues.We’ve talked about it a few times. What are you going to bring to Congress? The bill is already set. Do you have a plan? yes. The first step is yes. We’ve been inspired by Nebraskans. Our job is to inspire Nebraskans. And the first step is to get us all to tighten our belts and stop spending. Property tax issues are pervasive across government. We all have to be in the game. Part is to hold our elected neighbors accountable so that we only focus on government. Not a good one, but a necessary one. that’s a big deal. Obviously, property tax issues. Funding schools helps with that. But the rating system is wrong, and it’s transformative. It takes a lot of work, but it will happen. And we believe that the time is now. Simply put, property taxes are so low in Nebraska that you don’t even have to own a property to be affected. SO IT’S AFFECTING EVERYBODY. we have to change that. Is the bill already drafted? As you know, we’re working inside the governor’s office in transition and the ink hasn’t dried yet, but we’re sure we’re working on an important concept. . Work with all her 49 members of UNICAMERAL. I am the Governor of Nebraska and we must all work together to make a difference. You know, I’m talking about working with Congress and Mr. Keller, you’re going to preside over them. I mean, the evidence you know is not ready for the Republican Party right now. What can be done or will be done to get the law passed? It’s the same thing he already mentioned and that’s the relationship we can build and find common ground with the senators. It’s no different than anything else at work or anywhere else. You’ll find people who disagree on one, two, or three points, but may agree on the fourth. SO OPEN LINES OF COMMUNICATION, HONEST LINES OF COMMUNICATION, and FORGE AHEAD. Any thoughts on where I’m most likely to find bipartisanship or success? Well, it depends on what the topic is. And for taxes, those taxes could be reduced somewhat. There are quite a few senators ready to move with us and ready to help create some legislation that allows us to cross the line. And public safety and prison reform are clearly part of the equation. And a very hot topic. So the hundreds of millions of dollars allocated to build new prisons. what are your plans What would you like to present? Well, I think Joe could talk. He spent his whole life prosecuting and putting away a lot of bad people to hold them accountable. I believe in accountability. I believe in helping people. That means the Nebraska prison system could have kicked Tim down the road for his 25 years. We have to hold people accountable. You can’t open the gates and say the prison is overcrowded. that is not correct. But we also need leeway so that people who are about to be released can reduce that there is great programming that the recipient is a part of. is. Give everyone her second chance and do better programming. That’s an important part of prison reform. Mr. Kerry What do you think is included in the prison reform package? Guess I had to find out. There were a lot of mental health, alcohol and drug rehab parts of the bill from last year’s judiciary that went nowhere. And it was almost uniformly supported by senators and law enforcement. Is there anything other than ALL BE ALL END ALL? I don’t know that’s all. You know, you keep looking for ways to do that, ways to keep everyone safe and keep the bad guys away. But, you know, the one thing that always confuses it is what we started the conversation with: prison reform. Well, reforming prisons means talking about what goes inside the structures and walls and not reducing sentences. And I think that’s where it gets a little confusing when you start throwing everything into her one bucket. In his next KETV NEWSWATCH 7 Chronicle, Palin’s thoughts on his one of the first decisions he has to make first come from a conversation with incoming Governor Jim Piren and incoming Lieutenant Governor Joe Kelly. I will explain in more detail, including:

Chronicles: Nebraska’s Next Leadership

The governor-elect and lieutenant-governor-elect answer questions about administrative planning.

Updated: January 1, 2023 5:03 PM CST

Part 2: Part 3: