Published by jason@omahadail... on Fri, 02/10/2023 - 3:00am
Sunday marked 30 years since Congress passed the United States’ first comprehensive federal family and sick leave program. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was intended to pave the way for more expansive paid leave laws — but the law’s core promises, and the hopes of the advocates who fought for it, remain unfulfilled.
Published by jason@omahadail... on Fri, 02/10/2023 - 1:00am
LINCOLN — After years of trying, the Nebraska Legislature appears poised to pass a first step toward ending the twice-a-year tyranny of changing the clock.
State Sen. Tom Briese of Albion again proposed keeping Nebraska on daylight saving time, if Congress and a third neighboring state join Nebraska in passing such a law.
Published by Nikki Palmer on Mon, 02/06/2023 - 5:00am
LINCOLN — A bill before the Nebraska Legislature could kill Omaha’s modern-day streetcar, as it would curb future tax-increment financing revenue that city leaders are counting on to pay off the project.
That’s according to Steve Jensen, a City of Omaha economic development aide, who spoke Tuesday at a legislative committee hearing on the TIF-related bill introduced by State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn.
Published by Nikki Palmer on Mon, 02/06/2023 - 4:00am
As I began writing “Bayard Rustin: American Dreamer,” my biography of the 20th-century radical leader and activist, one of my colleagues cautioned me not to “fall in love.”
This, of course, is good advice for any biographer, and I tried to follow it.
Published by Nikki Palmer on Mon, 02/06/2023 - 3:00am
Sherlock Holmes’ statement that “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data,” in Arthur Conan Doyle’s “A Study in Scarlet,” is a pearl of wisdom to use when thinking about America’s political future.
The following data applies to the Nov. 5, 2024, presidential election notion that Donald Trump and Joe Biden are too old to be president.
Published by Nikki Palmer on Mon, 02/06/2023 - 2:00am
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee took nearly eight hours of testimony Wednesday before adjourning without a vote on whether to advance a bill that would outlaw abortion at a point before many women know they're pregnant.
Hundreds of people crowded the halls of the state Capitol for a committee hearing on a so-called heartbeat bill.
Published by Nikki Palmer on Mon, 01/30/2023 - 5:00am
LINCOLN — State senators, nonprofits and local organizations expressed glee but caution last Wednesday with Gov. Jim Pillen’s outlined priorities in his State of the State address.
Much of Pillen’s address expanded upon his budget recommendations, which have been introduced in legislation by Speaker John Arch of La Vista and offered a vision for Nebraska’s trajectory.
Published by Nikki Palmer on Tue, 01/24/2023 - 1:00am
WASHINGTON — The nation reached its debt limit last Thursday, beginning the uncertain process known as extraordinary measures, in which the U.S. Treasury Department uses accounting maneuvers to avoid defaulting on the debt.
Published by Nikki Palmer on Mon, 01/23/2023 - 5:00am
LINCOLN – Nine individuals have stepped forward to confront the toxic culture that persists inside the Lincoln Police and Fire Departments. After speaking out against the systemic abuse and receiving retaliation from their departments, seven police officers and two firefighters have come together to bring light to the pervasive problems in Lincoln.
Published by Nikki Palmer on Mon, 01/23/2023 - 4:00am
LINCOLN — Gov. Jim Pillen unveiled a package of proposed tax cuts last Wednesday that he labeled as “historic” and making Nebraska more competitive with other states.
The package includes a gradual reduction in state personal and corporate income tax rates to a flat, 3.99% — which mirrors the rate recently adopted in Iowa — and a shift in the funding of community colleges off property taxes.