Opinion

Last week, we talked about the Nebraska landowners’ growing concern about wind and solar farm developments in their communities.

Committee hearings continue and the turnout for the public hearings has been exceptional. It has been inspiring and humbling to meet concerned citizens from across our state.

You have no doubt heard the old saying “You can’t go home again.”

There is an inscription above an entrance to the Nebraska State Capitol. It reads: “the salvation of the state is watchfulness in the citizen.” Transparency is essential to watchfulness. Our $36 trillion national debt is our greatest domestic threat. We must do all we can to eliminate waste and restore fiscal sanity. This week, I introduced the Improper Payments Transparency Act. My bipartisan bill will require more transparent and more accurate data about the scope of improper payments made by the federal government.

Recently, devastating wildfires swept Southern California. And flash flooding swamped parts of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia. Some areas of North Carolina, Florida, and other southern states are still rebuilding from the overwhelming damage of Hurricane Helene. Nebraska is no stranger to natural disasters either. From the devastating flooding that caused so much damage in 2019, to the tornadoes that ripped through Omaha area last year, to wildfires that scourge our farmland and ranchland, our state has endured the worst that weather could throw at us.

Atrial fibrillation is probably a diagnosis you have heard of, if not because a friend or family member has it, because it has been mentioned in a public advertisement or pharmaceutical commercial. Atrial fibrillation (or “A-fib”) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia, a condition estimated by the American Heart Association to be present in more than five million Americans.

Across America, 1.3 million people live in nursing homes—including almost 10,000 of our fellow Nebraskans. Many of us have parents, grandparents, or other loved ones who rely on these homes for care and community in their golden years. We understand just how vital nursing homes are, in urban, suburban, and rural areas alike, to help seniors around our country thrive.

Valentine’s Day has just passed. I wasn’t going to eat much of the candy Carolyn always sends me, standing in for her Dad.