Senator Hughes visits PC commissioners

District 44 Senator Dan Hughes of Venango attended the June 17 Perkins County Commissioner meeting to update them on the legislative session that ended May 31. 

Taxes and aid

Hughes said the big property tax relief bill didn’t go anywhere, and it’s really a two-fold problem. 

“One of the problems is you have to raise the money in order to offset. And then the other problem is, how do you send it back out to pay for education?”

He said with those two battles, it proved to be a bit too much.

He thinks there are quite a few senators who believe all schools in Nebraska should be receiving state aid, and quite a few are not. He hopes they can build on that and get something done. 

He said the governor is very adamant about not increasing taxes, and not raising one tax to offset another, but Hughes feels that just doesn’t work. 

Medicaid expansion

Medicaid expansion, which was passed during last November’s election, is meeting deadlines as required. Hughes said $80 million was put into the budget to handle the additional load, such as new software, additional employees, trainings, etc. He said people will be able to apply next year, and it will be fully implemented in 2021. 

Medical marijuana

After a medical marijuana bill failed to advance in the legislature, backers are now petitioning to put an amendment before voters next year. 

“Make no mistake, there will be a huge amount of money, outside money, spent in Nebraska to get that on the ballot, and once it makes the ballot, to ensure it passes, because there’s a tremendous amount of money in the marijuana industry,” said Hughes. 

The problem Hughes has with medical marijuana is the experimentation, especially with children.  

“How much is enough? Is one brownie enough or is three too many? Five gummy bears or 10?”

While he’s heard of positive results and believe there’s something there, he believes the government needs to do the testing to find the concentrations and correct dosages. 

A bill passed May 24 now allows Nebraskans to grow, process and handle hemp and hemp products in the state.

CBD oil, which has been increasing in popularity, still remains illegal in Nebraska. 

Hughes said he doesn’t have a problem with CBD oil, and has talked to enough people to believe it has some medicinal purposes.

Term limits

Hughes said term limits for the legislature will probably be on the ballot. 

He would like to see the limit at three four-year terms. Currently, the limit is two four-year terms, and he feels that is not enough. 

Hughes said the analogy he likes to use is the first four years are spent learning the job, the second four as a state senator, the last four as a statesman. 

“We need more time to build relationships and gain institutional knowledge.”

He thinks there will have to be a caveat that once those three terms have been served, the senator can not return to office. 

Hughes said he encourages anyone to come down to Lincoln and sit in for a while. 

“There’s a lot going on that you don’t see on TV or read in the newspaper,” he said. 

He thanked the commissioners and everyone in the courthouse for the job they do, saying they don’t hear it enough.