They say you don’t want the headaches of owning a boat, but you want to have a friend that owns a boat.  That way you can enjoy the benefits of the boat without having to deal with the accountability. 

The same thing is true about being the governor of Nebraska. You don’t need the headaches but being his friend can really pay off. 

At least it did for Julie Bushell the head of Global Sustainability LLC. According to State Auditor Mike Foley and reporting from the Nebraska Examiner Julie Bushell really benefitted from being Jim Pillen’s friend.  She was awarded a 2.5 million dollar no bid contract from the state. 

Ms. Bushell is a regular companion of Governor Pillen accompanying him on trips overseas to places like Japan and South Korea. She also joined him on trips to Washington D.C. and the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. 

Closer to home she joined him at the 2024 Aksarben ball. 

No bid contracts are awarded when they are justified for an emergency.  But when you apply, the form states you must show just what that emergency is.  That part of the application was left blank.  The median no bid contract is for about $350,000 not $2.5 million and the governor was much more involved in this contract than he would normally be in others. 

To recap, the governor awarded a 2.5 million dollar contract without putting it out for competitive bids to an attractive woman that traveled with him on both personal events and professional trips. 

No wonder Donald Trump is such a big fan. 

Now I’m not saying there’s any Hanky-Panky going on between the governor and Ms. Bushell, but I can understand if someone were to look at this and think that might be the case.  On the surface none of this looks good for the governor. 

That’s why Pillen needs to get in front of this and explain to the taxpayers why this contract was justified and what the emergency was that prevented putting this contract out for bids.  

The state needs to do a complete and total audit of Global Sustainability LLC to make sure the money is being spent properly to benefit the economic development of Nebraska and not for any personal uses for Ms. Bushell. If the money is being misspent, proper actions need to be taken to rectify that.

The governor needs to let the people know why he feels good about cutting social programs for families in need while giving our tax dollars to friends of his. 

When the governor went after Senator Machaela Cavanuagh for taking down those displays from Prager U, he said he was “disappointed in this shameful and selfish bad example.”

The same could be said by Nebraskans about the governor’s actions regarding this no bid contract. 

Nebraska is lucky to have a state auditor like Mike Foley.  Mr. Foley is a Republican. In this partisan era too many other Republicans turn a blind eye to the misdeeds of leaders in their own party.  Mike Foley’s loyalty is to the people of Nebraska and not the leaders of his party. The Republican members of the Unicameral need to be more loyal to Nebraska taxpayers and less loyal to their party leaders as well.

You know, the way things ought to be. 

And while I’m singing Mike Foley’s praises, kudos to the Nebraska Examiner as well. They did extensive investigative journalism into this scandal.  Democracy dies in darkness. 

Governor Pillen needs to get in front of this and defend his actions.  This can’t be blown over with TV ads touting how much the President or his grandkids love him.  

As Mel Brooks famously said in the 1981 movie the History of the World Part 1, “It’s good to be king.”  But being the king’s friend ain’t too shabby either. 

Governor Pillen is obviously concerned about his chances for reelection. He’s already running TV ads promoting himself, even though the election is still ten months away.  

This latest revelation is not the sort of thing an incumbent wants to see when he’s trying to hold onto his job.

Governor Pillen better get himself a friend with a boat pretty darn soon.  Because right now he’s in a lot of hot water. 

Tom Becka is a long time Nebraska broadcaster who for over 30 years has been covering Omaha and Midwest issues on both radio and TV. He has been a guest on numerous national cable and news shows, filled in for nationally syndicated talk radio programs and Talkers Magazine has recognized him as one of the Top 100 talk show hosts in the country 10 times. Never afraid to ruffle some feathers, his ‘Becka’s Beat’ commentaries can be found online on Youtube and other digital platforms.