March 17, 2025 (Omaha, Neb.)&nbsp;&nbsp;— Troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol, with assistance from several partner agencies, have made an arrest following an aerial pursuit of a motorcycle in and around the Omaha area Sunday evening.

At approximately 8:35 p.m. Sunday, a trooper observed a motorcycle with no license plate driving near 30th&nbsp;Street and Interstate 480 in Omaha. The trooper attempted a traffic stop, but the rider accelerated and fled. The trooper did not pursue and notified the Omaha Police Department’s ABLE-1, which immediately began following the motorcycle from the air.

ABLE-1 pilots monitored the motorcycle as it drove recklessly throughout areas of Omaha and Council Bluffs over the next 75 minutes. Pilots relayed information to troopers and officers on the ground. At times, the motorcycle drove on sidewalks and medians as well as in the wrong lane of travel. The motorcycle reached speeds over 100 miles per hour.

At approximately 9:50 p.m., the motorcycle was traveling at low speeds on Marcy Street near 46th&nbsp;Street, where it struck a parked vehicle. Troopers discovered that the motorcycle was stolen, and the rider had an active warrant. The rider was also found to be in possession of 81 grams of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

The rider, Dakota Culbertson, 33, of Lincoln, was transported to UNMC and treated for minor injuries. He was then lodged in Douglas County Jail for flight to avoid arrest, willful reckless driving, possession of methamphetamine, possession with intent to deliver, theft by receiving stolen property - $5,000+, numerous traffic violations, no motorcycle license, and the active warrant.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/5/1716320706146.jpeg" alt=" " />
 <figcaption> </figcaption>
 </figure>Cody ThomasNebraska State PatrolMarch 17, 2025 (Omaha, Neb.)&nbsp;&nbsp;— Troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol, with assistance from several partner agencies, have made an arrest following an aerial pursuit of a motorcycle in and around the Omaha area Sunday evening.At approximately 8:35 p.m. Sunday, a trooper observed a motorcycle with no license plate driving near 30th&nbsp;Street and Interstate 480 in Omaha. The trooper attempted a traffic stop, but the rider accelerated and fled. The trooper did not pursue and notified the Omaha Police Department’s ABLE-1, which immediately began following the motorcycle from the air.ABLE-1 pilots monitored the motorcycle as it drove recklessly throughout areas of Omaha and Council Bluffs over the next 75 minutes. Pilots relayed information to troopers and officers on the ground. At times, the motorcycle drove on sidewalks and medians as well as in the wrong lane of travel. The motorcycle reached speeds over 100 miles per hour.At approximately 9:50 p.m., the motorcycle was traveling at low speeds on Marcy Street near 46th&nbsp;Street, where it struck a parked vehicle. Troopers discovered that the motorcycle was stolen, and the rider had an active warrant. The rider was also found to be in possession of 81 grams of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.The rider, Dakota Culbertson, 33, of Lincoln, was transported to UNMC and treated for minor injuries. He was then lodged in Douglas County Jail for flight to avoid arrest, willful reckless driving, possession of methamphetamine, possession with intent to deliver, theft by receiving stolen property - $5,000+, numerous traffic violations, no motorcycle license, and the active warrant.

Troopers Arrest One In Eastern Nebraska With Assist from OPD Aviation Unit

<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/03/15/bill-to-benefit-nebraska-immigrant-dreamers-squashed-after-trump-order/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — A proposed Nebraska law that had bipartisan support and would have benefited immigrant “Dreamers” has been crushed under the weight of a Trump administration threat that the state could lose hundreds of millions of dollars in federal aid.

<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/109/PDF/Intro/LB299.pdf" target="_blank">Legislative Bill 299</a>, in part, sought to align Nebraska with what advocates said already had been the practice of most, if not all, other states: allowing immigrants who have legal permission to work in the U.S. but lack permanent residency access to the unemployment insurance benefits their employers pay into.

Before the bill’s sponsors backed off Thursday, LB 299 had cleared a few key hurdles, including a March 6 vote by the Legislature’s Business and Labor Committee that poised the measure for debate by the state’s full lawmaking body.

But a Feb. 19&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/ending-taxpayer-subsidization-of-open-borders/" target="_blank">executive order</a>&nbsp;from President Donald Trump titled “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders” has since come into play.&nbsp;

State Sen. Teresa Ibach of Sumner withdrew her name Thursday from the bill. Co-sponsor State Sen. Margo Juarez of Omaha said she saw no alternative but to drop the effort this year.

Proponents said they were maddened by the latest twist for the proposed law that had gained support from a range of business and civic groups.&nbsp;

A leader of the religious coalition Omaha Together One Community told the Nebraska Examiner on Friday that its members are “outraged.”

“The fact that the federal government would swoop in and block a bill that clearly represented the will of Nebraskans is a blatant insult to our state and should not be tolerated,” said Kathleen Grant.&nbsp;

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen’s spokesperson, Laura Strimple, said Friday that the governor was pleased with the recent turn of events.&nbsp;

“Governor Pillen strongly opposes giving taxpayer benefits to illegal aliens and is pleased the Legislature will not act on this bill further this session,” she said.

LB 299 sponsors said the bill primarily would have impacted so-called “Dreamers,” who grew up in the U.S. after being brought here illegally as minors by their parents and who obtained legal permission, under the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, to work and live in the country.&nbsp;

DACA recipients don’t have permanent residency, and the program has been challenged in court.

LB 299, they said, also was designed to benefit asylum-seekers who have been granted work authorization while their requests are reviewed and others with Temporary Protected Status, which is granted when returning to a person’s home country is unsafe due to natural disaster, extraordinary conditions or war.

While advocates have mostly focused on opening the door to unemployment benefits, the bill called for “eligible aliens” who are employed in Nebraska to have access to the same public employment benefits offered to any other similarly situated employee, with a few exceptions. Access included participation in certain public retirement and deferred compensation programs.

There’s no way I can fight a threat like that.

– State Sen. Margo Juarez of Omaha

The 6-0 legislative committee vote that pushed the bill to the debate stage came after state and federal labor officials had resolved what Ibach described last week as a “technical” problem with the bill.

The concern was raised during a&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/02/10/nebraska-lawmakers-hear-support-for-opening-unemployment-insurance-to-immigrant-dreamers/">Feb. 10 public hearing</a>. Nebraska Labor Commissioner Katie Thurber told lawmakers that LB 299, as then drafted, could cost the state more than $400 million in federal tax credits.&nbsp;

She said the original language was too broad, created a new state definition for “eligible alien” and would allow benefits even if the immigrant lost legal authorization to work in the U.S.

Ibach and Juarez believed that&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/bill-to-open-unemployment-benefits-to-immigrant-dreamers-advances-to-legislative-debate/">the path had been smoothed</a>&nbsp;— until, they said, a federal labor official reached out to the state Labor Department and Pillen’s office this week, bringing up the Feb. 19 executive order.&nbsp;

Juarez said she was caught off guard and was told that millions of dollars were at risk. “There’s no way I can fight a threat like that.”

Thurber, in a statement to the Examiner on Friday, said that while an amendment addressed an initial concern, “the situation has become complicated with recently proposed federal actions.”

She said, for example, the Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services on March 10 issued a proposed rule removing DACA recipients from the definition of “lawfully present” for the purposes of eligibility under the Affordable Care Act. “This coupled with the executive order from President Trump … makes it clear that extending benefits to illegal immigrants, including DACA recipients, is in direct conflict with federal policy.”

Thurber said the bill “poses significant risk that Nebraska’s unemployment insurance system could face consequences if it goes against federal directives” aimed at illegal immigration.

The Trump order, citing a 1996 federal law, said the law “generally prohibits illegal aliens from obtaining most taxpayer-funded benefits.”

The directive gave federal agencies and the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, 30 days to identify federally-funded programs that “permit illegal aliens to obtain any cash or non-cash public benefit.”&nbsp;

Ibach said she retreated from LB 299 after Pillen’s staff alerted her to the executive order and potential fallout.&nbsp;

“We were disappointed but thankful the Governor’s Office called our attention to the reality of how LB 299 was going to be framed going forward,” she said.

Nick Grandgenett, an attorney with Nebraska Appleseed, views the executive order as applicable to federal public benefits and said the proposed legislation pertained to state employment benefits.

“It really is outside the scope of that executive order,” he said.

But adding the Trump order to an already complex marriage of immigration and employment systems muddies the waters, he said.

“I don’t think there is truly a problem with the bill,” Grandgenett said. “The confusion is kind of winning the day.”

State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha said the situation signals trouble for Nebraska. She characterized LB 299 as an important bill with bipartisan support and challenged Nebraska Republican officials at all levels of government to stand up.

“When we have people in leadership not standing up for vulnerable populations like those covered in this bill, then we are going to be in a really bad place,” she said.

Representatives of organizations such as the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Nebraska Catholic Conference, and the Nebraska Alliance for Thriving Communities spoke in support of the bill during the public hearing. The alliance is a coalition that includes labor unions, hospitals, banks, cattlemen and pork producers.

Ibach sees the effort as dead for now, unless labor officials can find a path forward. She said she’d continue to work on immigration and DACA reform.

Juarez said she had made LB 299 her priority bill because she felt strongly that the targeted immigrant populations working with U.S. authorization deserved access to benefits — and that Nebraska businesses needed their talent.&nbsp;

She said she is left “extremely frustrated,” but won’t give up and hopes for a revival during a different legislative session.

Cindy Gonzalez<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/03/15/bill-to-benefit-nebraska-immigrant-dreamers-squashed-after-trump-order/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — A proposed Nebraska law that had bipartisan support and would have benefited immigrant “Dreamers” has been crushed under the weight of a Trump administration threat that the state could lose hundreds of millions of dollars in federal aid.<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/109/PDF/Intro/LB299.pdf" target="_blank">Legislative Bill 299</a>, in part, sought to align Nebraska with what advocates said already had been the practice of most, if not all, other states: allowing immigrants who have legal permission to work in the U.S. but lack permanent residency access to the unemployment insurance benefits their employers pay into.Before the bill’s sponsors backed off Thursday, LB 299 had cleared a few key hurdles, including a March 6 vote by the Legislature’s Business and Labor Committee that poised the measure for debate by the state’s full lawmaking body.But a Feb. 19&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/ending-taxpayer-subsidization-of-open-borders/" target="_blank">executive order</a>&nbsp;from President Donald Trump titled “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders” has since come into play.&nbsp;<h2>‘Outraged’</h2>State Sen. Teresa Ibach of Sumner withdrew her name Thursday from the bill. Co-sponsor State Sen. Margo Juarez of Omaha said she saw no alternative but to drop the effort this year.Proponents said they were maddened by the latest twist for the proposed law that had gained support from a range of business and civic groups.&nbsp;A leader of the religious coalition Omaha Together One Community told the Nebraska Examiner on Friday that its members are “outraged.”“The fact that the federal government would swoop in and block a bill that clearly represented the will of Nebraskans is a blatant insult to our state and should not be tolerated,” said Kathleen Grant.&nbsp;Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen’s spokesperson, Laura Strimple, said Friday that the governor was pleased with the recent turn of events.&nbsp;“Governor Pillen strongly opposes giving taxpayer benefits to illegal aliens and is pleased the Legislature will not act on this bill further this session,” she said.<h2>‘Technical’ problem</h2>LB 299 sponsors said the bill primarily would have impacted so-called “Dreamers,” who grew up in the U.S. after being brought here illegally as minors by their parents and who obtained legal permission, under the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, to work and live in the country.&nbsp;DACA recipients don’t have permanent residency, and the program has been challenged in court.LB 299, they said, also was designed to benefit asylum-seekers who have been granted work authorization while their requests are reviewed and others with Temporary Protected Status, which is granted when returning to a person’s home country is unsafe due to natural disaster, extraordinary conditions or war.While advocates have mostly focused on opening the door to unemployment benefits, the bill called for “eligible aliens” who are employed in Nebraska to have access to the same public employment benefits offered to any other similarly situated employee, with a few exceptions. Access included participation in certain public retirement and deferred compensation programs.There’s no way I can fight a threat like that.– State Sen. Margo Juarez of OmahaThe 6-0 legislative committee vote that pushed the bill to the debate stage came after state and federal labor officials had resolved what Ibach described last week as a “technical” problem with the bill.The concern was raised during a&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/02/10/nebraska-lawmakers-hear-support-for-opening-unemployment-insurance-to-immigrant-dreamers/">Feb. 10 public hearing</a>. Nebraska Labor Commissioner Katie Thurber told lawmakers that LB 299, as then drafted, could cost the state more than $400 million in federal tax credits.&nbsp;She said the original language was too broad, created a new state definition for “eligible alien” and would allow benefits even if the immigrant lost legal authorization to work in the U.S.Ibach and Juarez believed that&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/bill-to-open-unemployment-benefits-to-immigrant-dreamers-advances-to-legislative-debate/">the path had been smoothed</a>&nbsp;— until, they said, a federal labor official reached out to the state Labor Department and Pillen’s office this week, bringing up the Feb. 19 executive order.&nbsp;Juarez said she was caught off guard and was told that millions of dollars were at risk. “There’s no way I can fight a threat like that.”<h2>Situation grew ‘complicated’</h2>Thurber, in a statement to the Examiner on Friday, said that while an amendment addressed an initial concern, “the situation has become complicated with recently proposed federal actions.”She said, for example, the Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services on March 10 issued a proposed rule removing DACA recipients from the definition of “lawfully present” for the purposes of eligibility under the Affordable Care Act. “This coupled with the executive order from President Trump … makes it clear that extending benefits to illegal immigrants, including DACA recipients, is in direct conflict with federal policy.”Thurber said the bill “poses significant risk that Nebraska’s unemployment insurance system could face consequences if it goes against federal directives” aimed at illegal immigration.The Trump order, citing a 1996 federal law, said the law “generally prohibits illegal aliens from obtaining most taxpayer-funded benefits.”The directive gave federal agencies and the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, 30 days to identify federally-funded programs that “permit illegal aliens to obtain any cash or non-cash public benefit.”&nbsp;Ibach said she retreated from LB 299 after Pillen’s staff alerted her to the executive order and potential fallout.&nbsp;“We were disappointed but thankful the Governor’s Office called our attention to the reality of how LB 299 was going to be framed going forward,” she said.Nick Grandgenett, an attorney with Nebraska Appleseed, views the executive order as applicable to federal public benefits and said the proposed legislation pertained to state employment benefits.“It really is outside the scope of that executive order,” he said.But adding the Trump order to an already complex marriage of immigration and employment systems muddies the waters, he said.“I don’t think there is truly a problem with the bill,” Grandgenett said. “The confusion is kind of winning the day.”<h2>‘Really bad place’</h2>State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha said the situation signals trouble for Nebraska. She characterized LB 299 as an important bill with bipartisan support and challenged Nebraska Republican officials at all levels of government to stand up.“When we have people in leadership not standing up for vulnerable populations like those covered in this bill, then we are going to be in a really bad place,” she said.Representatives of organizations such as the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Nebraska Catholic Conference, and the Nebraska Alliance for Thriving Communities spoke in support of the bill during the public hearing. The alliance is a coalition that includes labor unions, hospitals, banks, cattlemen and pork producers.Ibach sees the effort as dead for now, unless labor officials can find a path forward. She said she’d continue to work on immigration and DACA reform.Juarez said she had made LB 299 her priority bill because she felt strongly that the targeted immigrant populations working with U.S. authorization deserved access to benefits — and that Nebraska businesses needed their talent.&nbsp;She said she is left “extremely frustrated,” but won’t give up and hopes for a revival during a different legislative session.

Bill to benefit Nebraska immigrant ‘Dreamers’ squashed after Trump order

A U.S. airstrike in Iraq last week killed the Islamic State terror network's No. 2 leader, according to a statement from the U.S. Central Command.

&nbsp;On March 13, U.S. Central Command forces, in cooperation with Iraqi Intelligence and Security Forces, conducted a precision airstrike in Al Anbar Province, Iraq, that killed the Global ISIS #2 leader, chief of operations and the Delegated Committee Emir – Abdallah Makki Muslih al-Rifai, alias “Abu Khadijah”, and one other ISIS operative.

As the Emir of ISIS’ most senior decision-making body, Abu Khadijah maintained responsibility for operations, logistics, and planning conducted by ISIS globally, and directs a significant portion of finance for the group’s global organization.

After the strike, CENTCOM and Iraqi forces moved to the strike site and found both dead ISIS operatives. Both terrorists were wearing unexploded “suicide vests” and had multiple weapons. CENTCOM and Iraqi forces were able to identify Abu Khadijah through a DNA match from DNA collected on a previous raid where Abu Khadijah narrowly escaped.

“Abu Khadijah was one of the most important ISIS members in the entire global ISIS organization. We will continue to kill terrorists and dismantle their organizations that threaten our homeland and U.S., allied and partner personnel in the region and beyond,” said Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, commander, U.S. Central Command.

A U.S. airstrike in Iraq last week killed the Islamic State terror network's No. 2 leader, according to a statement from the U.S. Central Command.&nbsp;On March 13, U.S. Central Command forces, in cooperation with Iraqi Intelligence and Security Forces, conducted a precision airstrike in Al Anbar Province, Iraq, that killed the Global ISIS #2 leader, chief of operations and the Delegated Committee Emir – Abdallah Makki Muslih al-Rifai, alias “Abu Khadijah”, and one other ISIS operative.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">CENTCOM Forces Kill ISIS Chief of Global Operations Who Also Served as ISIS #2 On March 13, U.S. Central Command forces, in cooperation with Iraqi Intelligence and Security Forces, conducted a precision airstrike in Al Anbar Province, Iraq, that killed the Global ISIS #2 leader,… <a href="https://t.co/rWeEoUY7Lw">pic.twitter.com/rWeEoUY7Lw</a>&mdash; U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) <a href="https://twitter.com/CENTCOM/status/1900737395915440260?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>As the Emir of ISIS’ most senior decision-making body, Abu Khadijah maintained responsibility for operations, logistics, and planning conducted by ISIS globally, and directs a significant portion of finance for the group’s global organization.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">&quot;Today the fugitive leader of ISIS in Iraq was killed. He was relentlessly hunted down by our intrepid warfighters. His miserable life was terminated, along with another member of ISIS, in coordination with the Iraqi Government and the Kurdish Regional Government. PEACE THROUGH… <a href="https://t.co/gB68jMpd64">pic.twitter.com/gB68jMpd64</a>&mdash; President Donald J. Trump (@POTUS) <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1900741103424286723?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>After the strike, CENTCOM and Iraqi forces moved to the strike site and found both dead ISIS operatives. Both terrorists were wearing unexploded “suicide vests” and had multiple weapons. CENTCOM and Iraqi forces were able to identify Abu Khadijah through a DNA match from DNA collected on a previous raid where Abu Khadijah narrowly escaped.“Abu Khadijah was one of the most important ISIS members in the entire global ISIS organization. We will continue to kill terrorists and dismantle their organizations that threaten our homeland and U.S., allied and partner personnel in the region and beyond,” said Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, commander, U.S. Central Command.

🎥Trump: ISIS leader’s 'miserable life' ended in US strike in Iraq

<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/03/17/lincoln-senators-clash-over-nebraska-school-retirement-bill-as-school-leaders-weigh-in/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — Two Lincoln state senators clashed Friday at a hearing over a governor-backed priority to reconsider what to do with Nebraska retirement plans once they are fully funded, starting with schools.

The proposal in question,&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=59645&amp;docnum=LB645&amp;leg=109" target="_blank">Legislative Bill 645</a>&nbsp;by State Sen. Beau Ballard of Lincoln, seeks to lower annual contribution rates to the statewide school retirement plan for eligible teachers and school employees, excluding those in the Omaha Public Schools, who have a separate retirement plan.

The initial bill, introduced at Gov. Jim Pillen’s request, had received<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/02/03/school-retirement-changes-to-play-role-in-nebraska-school-funding-budget-conversations/">&nbsp;broad condemnation from the Nebraska State Education Association and teachers statewide</a>, prior to a&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/109/PDF/AM/AM248.pdf" target="_blank">latest amendment</a>&nbsp;that shifted the NSEA to neutral because it would lower the payroll deductions for employees, increasing take-home pay.

State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln, the current Legislature’s longest-serving lawmaker in her 11th year, repeatedly asked Ballard if lawmakers should pause given “great risk and significant economic volatility.”&nbsp;

She also pinned Ballard over whether he would have proceeded differently knowing the “heartache” that teachers had over the version of LB 645 that he introduced on the last day of bill introductions without much heads up.

Part of that opposition came because NSEA leaders described the bill as a “raid” on the retirement fund, which Ballard and the governor’s staff adamantly denied and said was never an option.

“If you had to do it over again would you proceed forward in such a haphazard and careless manner, or would you have clearer communication and more stakeholder buy-in?” Conrad asked.

“I disagree with your framing,” Ballard, chair of the Retirement Committee, responded. “I was confident in my ability to bring stakeholders to the table and talk about a reduction for teachers, and I think that this is going to be a huge win.”

The Lincoln senators faced the closest committee chair election on the first day of the 2025 legislative session for the Retirement Committee. After a 24-24 vote,&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/01/08/first-day-of-2025-nebraska-legislature-underscores-conservative-stronghold/">Ballard prevailed over Conrad by one vote</a>, 25-24.

This is Ballard’s first year on the committee, while it is Conrad’s fifth. During Conrad’s first stint in the Legislature, 2007 to 2015, she was part of a major 2013 compromise partly led by three key school organizations to keep the retirement plan afloat after rough economic downturns.

Those compromises have since brought the school retirement plan from around 77.1% actuarially funded to 99.9% as of last summer, which led to LB 645. The&nbsp;<a href="https://npers.ne.gov/SelfService/public/howto/publications/ActuarialReports/ActuaryJudges2024.pdf" target="_blank">retirement plan for judges</a>&nbsp;is also fully funded, which Ballard told Conrad he is open to modifying.

The school retirement plan is annually funded via&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=79-958" target="_blank">contributions</a>&nbsp;from:

Statewide school employee payroll for this fiscal year was estimated to be about&nbsp;<a href="https://npers.ne.gov/SelfService/public/howto/publications/ActuarialReports/ActuarySchool2024.pdf" target="_blank">$2.5 billion</a>.

When the plan requires more funding than legally required, the obligation falls on the state, which was the case in 2013. The compromise that year&nbsp;was championed in part by the NSEA, Nebraska Association of School Boards and Nebraska Council of School Administrators to provide long-term stability to the plan and lower the shortfall that the state needed to cover.

The NSEA&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/03/12/not-quite-there-yet-nebraska-teachers-union-now-neutral-on-proposed-retirement-tweaks/">shifted its stance</a>&nbsp;on LB 645 after a Feb. 13 amendment from Ballard was introduced to streamline stepped-down contributions for the state and employees to three tiers, based on whether the plan is less than 96% actuarially funded, 96% to less than 100% actuarially funded or fully funded.

At 96% funding, the contributions drop to 0.7% of statewide school employee payroll for the state and 7.28% of payroll for employees. Once the plan is fully funded, the state would fully pull out of annual contributions, while teachers would remain at the 7.28% level.

If the plan is less than 96% funded, contribution levels would return to the current levels.

School districts are currently set at&nbsp;101% of what employees contribute, equating to 9.88% of employee payroll.&nbsp;Ballard’s amendment would lock that 9.88% contribution into law, foregoing a benefit to the school districts funded by property taxes or state tax dollars.

Jeremy Knajdl, business manager for Minden Public Schools in central Nebraska, said employers would effectively pay the same portion of payroll taxes if LB 645 is adopted.&nbsp;However, he said employers would end up paying about 136% of what employees contribute under lowered contribution rates.

The state would receive its modified contribution rate after the start of each fiscal year on July 1, but employees would get a new contribution rate after Jan. 1 of each year.

Knajdl, representing the Nebraska Council of School Administrators, told the committee that this timing could be hard for some employees who go into winter break with one paycheck and then come back facing a 2.5% increase in required contributions, lowering their take-home pay.

Colby Coash, a former Lincoln state senator representing the Nebraska Association of School Boards, said leaving the plan alone makes sense.

“It’s always when things are good, pull money out, it changes, and then you’re not able to be responsive to that,” Coash said.

However, Coash said, if state and employee contributions are lowered, employers should receive an adjustment, too, which he noted would help lower property taxes. His legislative tenure between 2009 and 2017 crossed paths with Conrad and included the&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=18547" target="_blank">2013 retirement compromise</a>&nbsp;that&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/103/PDF/Journal/r1journal.pdf#page=1348" target="_blank">both supported</a>.

“The proposal that got us to where we are was three boats all rising,” Coash said. “Now we’re in a situation where that’s a little off balance.”

Ballard said employers were left out “to maintain a certain level of funding.”

“I believe that this is a recruitment and retention piece for employers,” Ballard testified.

State Sen. Rob Clements of Elmwood, chair of the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee, asked whether the 2% state contribution increase passed in 2013 was meant to be for “forever,” or “until we fix the problem.”

Coash responded that it was intended “to get us out of the hole.”

Clements’ committee is leading efforts to fill a&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/decrease-in-federal-share-of-nebraska-medicaid-costs-increases-state-budget-shortfall/">$457 million projected budget shortfall over the next two years</a>. The committee&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/02/18/preliminary-appropriations-committee-budget-unveiled-includes-pillen-cuts-to-nu/">preliminarily identified about $171 million in cuts</a>&nbsp;and could use&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/02/28/new-nebraska-economic-forecast-spurs-cautious-optimism-shrinks-state-budget-shortfall/">another $100 million</a>&nbsp;in&nbsp;more revenue than initially anticipated in the next few months.

State Sen. Margo Juarez of Omaha, a former paraeducator and former school board member for OPS, suggested cutting back on&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/07/02/nebraskas-2024-border-deployments-cost-1-27-million/">sending the Nebraska National Guard to the southern border</a>&nbsp;could save money.&nbsp;

She asked why 100% funded should be the threshold and not a “greater cushion,” such as when the plan is 105% or 110% actuarially funded.

“Just because we’re at 100%, to me, I just don’t think that that should be the reason why we’re doing this,” Juarez said.

While the lower state contributions could be used toward the projected budget shortfall, Kenny Zoeller, director of the governor’s Policy Research Office, reiterated the governor’s stance that the freed-up dollars should remain separate and be used for&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/01/15/gov-pillen-proposes-his-answer-to-432-million-projected-budget-shortfall/">state investments in education</a>.

Zoeller said the governor identified the dedicated education investments as a “North Star” for the committee’s continued work. Zoeller said it is an opportunity to be forward-thinking.

Two other “North Stars” for the governor, Zoeller said, are ensuring the financial longevity, growth and health of the school retirement plan while finding a proper balance in increasing teacher take-home pay and providing tax relief in state dollars.&nbsp;

“This bill is truly an exciting opportunity for the state to deliver wins for teachers and the taxpayer,” Zoeller said.

Another contentious moment Friday came when Conrad pressed Ballard on whether the bill was “retribution” for the efforts of the teachers union and other advocates the past few years to stop state “voucher schemes.”&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/05/nebraska-voters-reject-state-funding-for-students-attending-private-k-12-schools/">About 57% of Nebraskans</a>&nbsp;in November rejected using state dollars to help offset the&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/01/28/nebraska-school-choice-supporters-opponents-ready-for-another-rematch/">cost of attending private K-12 schools</a>.

Ballard said “that was never a consideration,” and Zoeller shook his head “no” during the questioning.

Conrad, an attorney, pushed further and asked if public records would confirm Ballard’s position. He said any records involving his office would.

Ballard said he, like other committee members, had received feedback from thousands of teachers statewide and interacted with more in person and over the phone.

Conrad asked Ballard if he would personally publish his communications with the governor’s office online. Ballard declined, describing them as “private” communications.&nbsp;

“I have nothing to hide in this,” he added.

Lawmakers’ communications are shielded from records requests, but the executive branch does not have that same privilege.

Tim Royers, president of the NSEA representing 26,000 public K-12 school teachers statewide, repeated that the LB 645 amendment was a “step in the right direction,” but expressed openness to bringing employers to the table.

Royers cautioned that the committee needs more information before acting and shouldn’t “rush.”

“My fear is in your quest to reduce an appropriation, I fear you’re setting yourself up for a much larger gap in the future,” Royers said.

Such changes to state retirement plans&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/Current/PDF/Rules/RuleBook.pdf" target="_blank">require an actuarial study</a>&nbsp;before they can be enacted, to ensure the proposals are feasible.&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/LB645-school-retirement-audit.pdf">One such study</a>&nbsp;was completed one week ago, but Royers said Friday it was a “coin flip” to whether the state could afford the increased risk and volatility or if employees or the state could be harmed in the long run.

“I would love to live in a world where we could do a two-and-a-half percent increase in pay to our teachers, but I can’t in good conscience advocate for that if the data tells me that 10, 15, 20 years from now we’re going to actually see us go in the opposite direction,” Royers said.

He continued: “Absent additional information that tells us for sure this is a viable plan, no, we can’t be comfortable moving forward with this.”

Ballard committed to working with districts, administrators, the governor’s team, teachers and his committee members to figure out how to move forward. On Friday, he identified LB 645 as a&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/session/priority.php" target="_blank">2025 committee priority bill</a>, increasing the chances it could be debated on the floor this year.

The committee took no immediate action on the legislation.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1742216344443.jpeg" alt="State Sens. Danielle Conrad and Beau Ballard, both of Lincoln, clashed at a Nebraska Retirement Systems Committee hearing regarding a proposal to change annual contribution levels to the state's school retirement plan, depending on actuarial funding levels. The Lincoln senators vied for the committee chair position in January. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)" />
 <figcaption>State Sens. Danielle Conrad and Beau Ballard, both of Lincoln, clashed at a Nebraska Retirement Systems Committee hearing regarding a proposal to change annual contribution levels to the state's school retirement plan, depending on actuarial funding levels. The Lincoln senators vied for the committee chair position in January. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
 </figure>Zach Wendling<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/03/17/lincoln-senators-clash-over-nebraska-school-retirement-bill-as-school-leaders-weigh-in/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — Two Lincoln state senators clashed Friday at a hearing over a governor-backed priority to reconsider what to do with Nebraska retirement plans once they are fully funded, starting with schools.The proposal in question,&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=59645&amp;docnum=LB645&amp;leg=109" target="_blank">Legislative Bill 645</a>&nbsp;by State Sen. Beau Ballard of Lincoln, seeks to lower annual contribution rates to the statewide school retirement plan for eligible teachers and school employees, excluding those in the Omaha Public Schools, who have a separate retirement plan.The initial bill, introduced at Gov. Jim Pillen’s request, had received<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/02/03/school-retirement-changes-to-play-role-in-nebraska-school-funding-budget-conversations/">&nbsp;broad condemnation from the Nebraska State Education Association and teachers statewide</a>, prior to a&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/109/PDF/AM/AM248.pdf" target="_blank">latest amendment</a>&nbsp;that shifted the NSEA to neutral because it would lower the payroll deductions for employees, increasing take-home pay.State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln, the current Legislature’s longest-serving lawmaker in her 11th year, repeatedly asked Ballard if lawmakers should pause given “great risk and significant economic volatility.”&nbsp;She also pinned Ballard over whether he would have proceeded differently knowing the “heartache” that teachers had over the version of LB 645 that he introduced on the last day of bill introductions without much heads up.Part of that opposition came because NSEA leaders described the bill as a “raid” on the retirement fund, which Ballard and the governor’s staff adamantly denied and said was never an option.“If you had to do it over again would you proceed forward in such a haphazard and careless manner, or would you have clearer communication and more stakeholder buy-in?” Conrad asked.“I disagree with your framing,” Ballard, chair of the Retirement Committee, responded. “I was confident in my ability to bring stakeholders to the table and talk about a reduction for teachers, and I think that this is going to be a huge win.”The Lincoln senators faced the closest committee chair election on the first day of the 2025 legislative session for the Retirement Committee. After a 24-24 vote,&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/01/08/first-day-of-2025-nebraska-legislature-underscores-conservative-stronghold/">Ballard prevailed over Conrad by one vote</a>, 25-24.<h2>Current status of the plan</h2>This is Ballard’s first year on the committee, while it is Conrad’s fifth. During Conrad’s first stint in the Legislature, 2007 to 2015, she was part of a major 2013 compromise partly led by three key school organizations to keep the retirement plan afloat after rough economic downturns.Those compromises have since brought the school retirement plan from around 77.1% actuarially funded to 99.9% as of last summer, which led to LB 645. The&nbsp;<a href="https://npers.ne.gov/SelfService/public/howto/publications/ActuarialReports/ActuaryJudges2024.pdf" target="_blank">retirement plan for judges</a>&nbsp;is also fully funded, which Ballard told Conrad he is open to modifying.The school retirement plan is annually funded via&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=79-958" target="_blank">contributions</a>&nbsp;from:<ul>
 <li>Teachers and other employees: 9.78% of payroll.</li><li>Employers (school districts): 9.88% of employees’ payroll.</li><li>State of Nebraska: 2% of statewide school employee payroll.</li>
 </ul>Statewide school employee payroll for this fiscal year was estimated to be about&nbsp;<a href="https://npers.ne.gov/SelfService/public/howto/publications/ActuarialReports/ActuarySchool2024.pdf" target="_blank">$2.5 billion</a>.When the plan requires more funding than legally required, the obligation falls on the state, which was the case in 2013. The compromise that year&nbsp;was championed in part by the NSEA, Nebraska Association of School Boards and Nebraska Council of School Administrators to provide long-term stability to the plan and lower the shortfall that the state needed to cover.The NSEA&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/03/12/not-quite-there-yet-nebraska-teachers-union-now-neutral-on-proposed-retirement-tweaks/">shifted its stance</a>&nbsp;on LB 645 after a Feb. 13 amendment from Ballard was introduced to streamline stepped-down contributions for the state and employees to three tiers, based on whether the plan is less than 96% actuarially funded, 96% to less than 100% actuarially funded or fully funded.At 96% funding, the contributions drop to 0.7% of statewide school employee payroll for the state and 7.28% of payroll for employees. Once the plan is fully funded, the state would fully pull out of annual contributions, while teachers would remain at the 7.28% level.If the plan is less than 96% funded, contribution levels would return to the current levels.School districts are currently set at&nbsp;101% of what employees contribute, equating to 9.88% of employee payroll.&nbsp;Ballard’s amendment would lock that 9.88% contribution into law, foregoing a benefit to the school districts funded by property taxes or state tax dollars.<h2>‘Three boats all rising’</h2>Jeremy Knajdl, business manager for Minden Public Schools in central Nebraska, said employers would effectively pay the same portion of payroll taxes if LB 645 is adopted.&nbsp;However, he said employers would end up paying about 136% of what employees contribute under lowered contribution rates.The state would receive its modified contribution rate after the start of each fiscal year on July 1, but employees would get a new contribution rate after Jan. 1 of each year.Knajdl, representing the Nebraska Council of School Administrators, told the committee that this timing could be hard for some employees who go into winter break with one paycheck and then come back facing a 2.5% increase in required contributions, lowering their take-home pay.Colby Coash, a former Lincoln state senator representing the Nebraska Association of School Boards, said leaving the plan alone makes sense.“It’s always when things are good, pull money out, it changes, and then you’re not able to be responsive to that,” Coash said.However, Coash said, if state and employee contributions are lowered, employers should receive an adjustment, too, which he noted would help lower property taxes. His legislative tenure between 2009 and 2017 crossed paths with Conrad and included the&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=18547" target="_blank">2013 retirement compromise</a>&nbsp;that&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/103/PDF/Journal/r1journal.pdf#page=1348" target="_blank">both supported</a>.“The proposal that got us to where we are was three boats all rising,” Coash said. “Now we’re in a situation where that’s a little off balance.”Ballard said employers were left out “to maintain a certain level of funding.”“I believe that this is a recruitment and retention piece for employers,” Ballard testified.<h2>Impact to budget negotiations</h2>State Sen. Rob Clements of Elmwood, chair of the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee, asked whether the 2% state contribution increase passed in 2013 was meant to be for “forever,” or “until we fix the problem.”Coash responded that it was intended “to get us out of the hole.”Clements’ committee is leading efforts to fill a&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/decrease-in-federal-share-of-nebraska-medicaid-costs-increases-state-budget-shortfall/">$457 million projected budget shortfall over the next two years</a>. The committee&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/02/18/preliminary-appropriations-committee-budget-unveiled-includes-pillen-cuts-to-nu/">preliminarily identified about $171 million in cuts</a>&nbsp;and could use&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/02/28/new-nebraska-economic-forecast-spurs-cautious-optimism-shrinks-state-budget-shortfall/">another $100 million</a>&nbsp;in&nbsp;more revenue than initially anticipated in the next few months.State Sen. Margo Juarez of Omaha, a former paraeducator and former school board member for OPS, suggested cutting back on&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/07/02/nebraskas-2024-border-deployments-cost-1-27-million/">sending the Nebraska National Guard to the southern border</a>&nbsp;could save money.&nbsp;She asked why 100% funded should be the threshold and not a “greater cushion,” such as when the plan is 105% or 110% actuarially funded.“Just because we’re at 100%, to me, I just don’t think that that should be the reason why we’re doing this,” Juarez said.While the lower state contributions could be used toward the projected budget shortfall, Kenny Zoeller, director of the governor’s Policy Research Office, reiterated the governor’s stance that the freed-up dollars should remain separate and be used for&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/01/15/gov-pillen-proposes-his-answer-to-432-million-projected-budget-shortfall/">state investments in education</a>.Zoeller said the governor identified the dedicated education investments as a “North Star” for the committee’s continued work. Zoeller said it is an opportunity to be forward-thinking.Two other “North Stars” for the governor, Zoeller said, are ensuring the financial longevity, growth and health of the school retirement plan while finding a proper balance in increasing teacher take-home pay and providing tax relief in state dollars.&nbsp;“This bill is truly an exciting opportunity for the state to deliver wins for teachers and the taxpayer,” Zoeller said.<h2>‘I have nothing to hide’</h2>Another contentious moment Friday came when Conrad pressed Ballard on whether the bill was “retribution” for the efforts of the teachers union and other advocates the past few years to stop state “voucher schemes.”&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/05/nebraska-voters-reject-state-funding-for-students-attending-private-k-12-schools/">About 57% of Nebraskans</a>&nbsp;in November rejected using state dollars to help offset the&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/01/28/nebraska-school-choice-supporters-opponents-ready-for-another-rematch/">cost of attending private K-12 schools</a>.Ballard said “that was never a consideration,” and Zoeller shook his head “no” during the questioning.Conrad, an attorney, pushed further and asked if public records would confirm Ballard’s position. He said any records involving his office would.Ballard said he, like other committee members, had received feedback from thousands of teachers statewide and interacted with more in person and over the phone.Conrad asked Ballard if he would personally publish his communications with the governor’s office online. Ballard declined, describing them as “private” communications.&nbsp;“I have nothing to hide in this,” he added.Lawmakers’ communications are shielded from records requests, but the executive branch does not have that same privilege.<h2>Ensuring proposal’s viability</h2>Tim Royers, president of the NSEA representing 26,000 public K-12 school teachers statewide, repeated that the LB 645 amendment was a “step in the right direction,” but expressed openness to bringing employers to the table.Royers cautioned that the committee needs more information before acting and shouldn’t “rush.”“My fear is in your quest to reduce an appropriation, I fear you’re setting yourself up for a much larger gap in the future,” Royers said.Such changes to state retirement plans&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/Current/PDF/Rules/RuleBook.pdf" target="_blank">require an actuarial study</a>&nbsp;before they can be enacted, to ensure the proposals are feasible.&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/LB645-school-retirement-audit.pdf">One such study</a>&nbsp;was completed one week ago, but Royers said Friday it was a “coin flip” to whether the state could afford the increased risk and volatility or if employees or the state could be harmed in the long run.“I would love to live in a world where we could do a two-and-a-half percent increase in pay to our teachers, but I can’t in good conscience advocate for that if the data tells me that 10, 15, 20 years from now we’re going to actually see us go in the opposite direction,” Royers said.He continued: “Absent additional information that tells us for sure this is a viable plan, no, we can’t be comfortable moving forward with this.”Ballard committed to working with districts, administrators, the governor’s team, teachers and his committee members to figure out how to move forward. On Friday, he identified LB 645 as a&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/session/priority.php" target="_blank">2025 committee priority bill</a>, increasing the chances it could be debated on the floor this year.The committee took no immediate action on the legislation.

Lincoln senators clash over Nebraska school retirement bill, as school leaders weigh in

Nebraska Department of Banking and Finance

LINCOLN, Neb. – The Nebraska Department of Banking and Finance (<a target="_blank" href="https://ndbf.nebraska.gov/">NDBF</a>) is celebrating National Agriculture Week (March 16-22) by highlighting agriculture’s positive impact on the state’s financial sector.

NDBF Director Kelly Lammers stated:&nbsp;<a>“Agriculture is Nebraska’s largest industry – the backbone of our economy. What happens in our fields, feedlots, farrowing houses, pens, and pastures directly affects Main Street, including community banks.”&nbsp;</a>(Audio&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oOSGfzV7fzX2Ejmz6MnPVSPSk1hZ_zR4/view?usp=sharing">available here</a>.)

To illustrate the impact, NDBF has released a&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://ndbf.nebraska.gov/sites/default/files/press/NBDF%20Ag%20Week%20Fact%20Sheet%20-%202025_0.pdf">fact sheet</a>, published at&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://ndbf.nebraska.gov/about/news-publications">ndbf.nebraska.gov</a>. Insights include:

Lammers reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to supporting Nebraska agriculture, saying:&nbsp;“The Nebraska Department of Banking and Finance celebrates the state’s agricultural community. National Agriculture Week reminds us of&nbsp;<a>the industry’s essential role in feeding the world and driving our economy.&nbsp;</a>Here in Nebraska, every week is Ag Week.” (Audio&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1U45uf7JSecWGq76pwHHcAkXKbI8du24r/view?usp=sharing">available here</a>.)

&nbsp; Jamie&nbsp;<a>Karl</a>Nebraska Department of Banking and FinanceLINCOLN, Neb. – The Nebraska Department of Banking and Finance (<a target="_blank" href="https://ndbf.nebraska.gov/">NDBF</a>) is celebrating National Agriculture Week (March 16-22) by highlighting agriculture’s positive impact on the state’s financial sector.NDBF Director Kelly Lammers stated:&nbsp;<a>“Agriculture is Nebraska’s largest industry – the backbone of our economy. What happens in our fields, feedlots, farrowing houses, pens, and pastures directly affects Main Street, including community banks.”&nbsp;</a>(Audio&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oOSGfzV7fzX2Ejmz6MnPVSPSk1hZ_zR4/view?usp=sharing">available here</a>.)To illustrate the impact, NDBF has released a&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://ndbf.nebraska.gov/sites/default/files/press/NBDF%20Ag%20Week%20Fact%20Sheet%20-%202025_0.pdf">fact sheet</a>, published at&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://ndbf.nebraska.gov/about/news-publications">ndbf.nebraska.gov</a>. Insights include:<ul>
 <li>As of late 2024, Nebraska's state-chartered banks had invested more than&nbsp;$14 billion&nbsp;in outstanding agricultural loans (nearly 40%&nbsp;of total loan volume).</li>
 </ul><ul>
 <li>Of this amount,&nbsp;$6.9 billion&nbsp;was allocated to ag land loans. Another&nbsp;$7.1 billion&nbsp;was for loans related to machinery purchases and other production-related expenses.</li>
 </ul><ul>
 <li>Of Nebraska’s 134 state-chartered banks,&nbsp;104 (nearly 78%)&nbsp;qualify as “agricultural banks” under FDIC standards, meaning at least 25% of their capital is deployed to support ag lending. This underscores Nebraska banks’ expertise and understanding of agricultural operations.</li>
 </ul>Lammers reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to supporting Nebraska agriculture, saying:&nbsp;“The Nebraska Department of Banking and Finance celebrates the state’s agricultural community. National Agriculture Week reminds us of&nbsp;<a>the industry’s essential role in feeding the world and driving our economy.&nbsp;</a>Here in Nebraska, every week is Ag Week.” (Audio&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1U45uf7JSecWGq76pwHHcAkXKbI8du24r/view?usp=sharing">available here</a>.)

Spotlighting Agriculture’s Connection to Nebraska’s Community Banks

Acting United States Attorney Matthew R. Molsen announced that Kevin Kaedi, age 27, of Florida was sentenced on March 14, 2025, in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska, for malicious use of explosive materials.&nbsp; Chief United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. sentenced Kaedi to 60 months’ imprisonment.&nbsp; There is no parole in the federal system. After Kaedi is released from prison, he will begin a 3-year term of supervised release.

On March 31, 2024, a semi-truck owned by Prime Inc., a nationwide-based trucking company headquartered in Missouri, was damaged due to arson.&nbsp;

On March 25, 2024, Kaedi, a Prime, Inc. driver, disconnected his semi-truck’s tracking device so his employer could no longer see the vehicle movement.&nbsp; He eventually parked the semi in the south cell phone parking lot of Eppley Airfield in Omaha.&nbsp;

On March 31, Kaedi can be seen on surveillance video walking into Eppley Airfield terminal and renting a vehicle.&nbsp; He then drives the rental back to the semi-truck and unloads items from the semi-truck into his rental car.&nbsp; Kaedi then drives away in his rental car.&nbsp; Several minutes later, smoke can be seen coming from the semi-truck.&nbsp; Fire fighters were dispatched to the scene and extinguished the fire.&nbsp; Investigators located a red plastic gas container inside the cab of the semi-truck along with an incendiary device, indicating that the fire was intentional. The amount of loss totaled $59,353.63, which Kaedi was ordered to pay as restitution.&nbsp;

This case was investigated by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and City of Omaha, Fire Investigation Unit.

United States Attorney's OfficeActing United States Attorney Matthew R. Molsen announced that Kevin Kaedi, age 27, of Florida was sentenced on March 14, 2025, in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska, for malicious use of explosive materials.&nbsp; Chief United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. sentenced Kaedi to 60 months’ imprisonment.&nbsp; There is no parole in the federal system. After Kaedi is released from prison, he will begin a 3-year term of supervised release.On March 31, 2024, a semi-truck owned by Prime Inc., a nationwide-based trucking company headquartered in Missouri, was damaged due to arson.&nbsp;On March 25, 2024, Kaedi, a Prime, Inc. driver, disconnected his semi-truck’s tracking device so his employer could no longer see the vehicle movement.&nbsp; He eventually parked the semi in the south cell phone parking lot of Eppley Airfield in Omaha.&nbsp;On March 31, Kaedi can be seen on surveillance video walking into Eppley Airfield terminal and renting a vehicle.&nbsp; He then drives the rental back to the semi-truck and unloads items from the semi-truck into his rental car.&nbsp; Kaedi then drives away in his rental car.&nbsp; Several minutes later, smoke can be seen coming from the semi-truck.&nbsp; Fire fighters were dispatched to the scene and extinguished the fire.&nbsp; Investigators located a red plastic gas container inside the cab of the semi-truck along with an incendiary device, indicating that the fire was intentional. The amount of loss totaled $59,353.63, which Kaedi was ordered to pay as restitution.&nbsp;This case was investigated by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and City of Omaha, Fire Investigation Unit.

Florida Man Sentenced for Using Gasoline to Start Employer’s Semi Trailer on Fire at Omaha Airport

U.S. forces launched a large scale operation against Iran-Backed Houthis in Yemen, at the direction of President Donald Trump.

On  March 15, U.S. Central Command initiated a  series of operations consisting of precision strikes against Iran-backed Houthi  targets across Yemen to defend American interests, deter enemies, and restore freedom of navigation.

U.S. forces launched a large scale operation against Iran-Backed Houthis in Yemen, at the direction of President Donald Trump.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">CENTCOM Forces Launch Large Scale Operation Against Iran-Backed Houthis in Yemen On March 15, U.S. Central Command initiated a series of operations consisting of precision strikes against Iran-backed Houthi targets across Yemen to defend American interests, deter enemies, and… <a href="https://t.co/u5yx8WneoG">pic.twitter.com/u5yx8WneoG</a>&mdash; U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) <a href="https://twitter.com/CENTCOM/status/1901001417831150000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1742067087417.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1742067133086.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>On March 15, U.S. Central Command initiated a series of operations consisting of precision strikes against Iran-backed Houthi targets across Yemen to defend American interests, deter enemies, and restore freedom of navigation.

Trump orders strikes on Iran-backed terrorists in Yemen

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A federal grand jury in Kansas, returned an indictment charging a Nebraska contractor for allegedly defrauding customers across multiple states by failing to construct buildings after being paid, according to the United State's Attorney.

According to court documents, Bobby Bates Sr., 42, of Grand Island, Nebraska, is charged with two counts of wire fraud.

Bates, as the owner of Built Rite Construction, is accused of accepting deposits for construction projects and not starting or completing the work. Between February 2023 and October 2023, he allegedly defrauded customers in Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Nebraska, South Dakota, Illinois, Georgia, Alabama, and Texas resulting in total losses of more than $700,000.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are investigating the case

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A federal grand jury in Kansas, returned an indictment charging a Nebraska contractor for allegedly defrauding customers across multiple states by failing to construct buildings after being paid, according to the United State's Attorney.According to court documents, Bobby Bates Sr., 42, of Grand Island, Nebraska, is charged with two counts of wire fraud.Bates, as the owner of Built Rite Construction, is accused of accepting deposits for construction projects and not starting or completing the work. Between February 2023 and October 2023, he allegedly defrauded customers in Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Nebraska, South Dakota, Illinois, Georgia, Alabama, and Texas resulting in total losses of more than $700,000.The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are investigating the case

Neb. contractor accused of defrauding customers in 10 states

<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/03/13/committee-delays-vote-on-nebraska-bill-to-define-male-female-in-law-for-sports-bathrooms/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN —&nbsp;A Nebraska legislative committee has delayed, for now, a final vote on whether to advance a proposal to define “male” and “female” in state law and restrict student-athlete participation by sex at birth.

The Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee elected to not yet vote on advancing&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=58025&amp;docnum=LB89&amp;leg=109" target="_blank">Legislative Bill 89</a>, the “Stand With Women Act” from State Sen. Kathleen Kauth of Omaha, over questions from some committee members about whether a&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/AM-335-to-LB-89-March-10th-Amendment.pdf">proposed amendment</a>&nbsp;would require all students to get a notarized doctor’s note of that student’s sex to participate in single-sex sports.&nbsp;

State Sen. Rita Sanders of Bellevue, the committee chair, said “more clarity would provide a better debate” after Omaha State Sens. John Cavanaugh, Dunixi Guereca and Megan Hunt asked whether a a doctor’s “attestation” would implicate the need for a notary.

Hunt said this would increase costs for some families. She asked her colleagues to consider if they lived in the land of the free and thought of all the people who died for the freedom to play sports who would need to find a notary to do so. Cavanaugh said the requirement should lead to a new public hearing.

State Sen. Dan Lonowski of Hastings responded that the committee needed to consider the freedom of other kids, which State Sen. Bob Andersen of north-central Sarpy County echoed.

State Sen. Dave Wordekmper of Fremont said he had talked with Kauth about the amendment because both desired a way to verify a child’s sex for participation in single-sex sports. His thought, he said, was that a doctor could document a child’s sex during a routine physical.

Kauth told the Nebraska Examiner after the committee’s decision that she felt good the one word was the only hold up, which she described as an “easy fix” to change the word “attestation.”

“Knowing that it’s a term of legal art, we’ll pick a word that doesn’t mean ‘notarized,’ and I appreciate them figuring that out,” Kauth said. “What I’m talking about is a sports physical.”

Sanders said the committee will take a few days to consider possible tweaks to the bill and a path forward before reconsidering Kauth’s bill.

Public schools and universities would need to designate all bathrooms and locker rooms for use by males, females or single-occupancy. Restrooms could also be designated for family use.

LB 89 initially sought similar designations for state agency bathrooms, which the amendment would remove. Instead agencies such as the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services and Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services would need to define a person’s sex as male or female.

The bill&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/09/27/nebraska-advocates-say-womens-bill-of-rights-does-not-focus-on-needed-priorities/">mirrors</a>&nbsp;executive orders from&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/02/05/trump-executive-orders-embolden-pillen-kauth-push-to-define-male-female-in-nebraska/">President Donald Trump earlier this year</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/08/30/nebraska-gov-pillen-enacts-second-governor-led-womens-bill-of-rights/">Gov. Jim Pillen in 2023</a>&nbsp;that sought to define sex as binary, including for athletics, school bathrooms and state agencies.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/02/24/nsaa-says-it-will-comply-with-trump-order-on-transgender-participation-in-high-school-sports/">Nebraska School Activities Association</a>, for most K-12 sports, and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ncaa.org/news/2025/2/6/media-center-ncaa-announces-transgender-student-athlete-participation-policy-change" target="_blank">National Collegiate Athletic Association</a>&nbsp;have already announced that they would comply with the executive orders.

Kauth said the declaration of a student’s sex is important in the case of the NCAA, which said it would determine a child’s sex by birth certificate, which Kauth said can be changed in about 44 states,&nbsp;<a href="https://transequality.org/documents/nebraska-identity-documents#:~:text=Nebraska%20Birth%20Certificate%20Laws&amp;text=NE%20Code%20%C2%A7%2071%2D604.01,Amendment%2C%20with%20your%20notarized%20signature" target="_blank">including Nebraska</a>.

She added: “If we’re talking about keeping girls safe on the field and privacy, we need to make sure that we’re actually doing that.”

Kauth’s bill, with the proposed amendment, would&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/01/11/nebraska-lawmakers-aim-to-define-male-female-for-sports-bathrooms-and-more/">define sex</a>&nbsp;as male or female based on whether someone “naturally has, had, will or would have, but for a congenital anomaly or intentional or unintentional disruption, the reproductive system that at some point produces, transports and utilizes” either eggs (female) or sperm (male) for fertilization.

Trump’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/keeping-men-out-of-womens-sports/" target="_blank">Feb. 5 executive order</a>&nbsp;pledges to pull federal funds from educational programs that fail to comply with his order.

From 2018 through February, eight students had applied to participate in Nebraska high school sports based on their gender identity under the&nbsp;<a href="https://nsaa-static.s3.amazonaws.com/about/gppolicy.pdf" target="_blank">NSAA’s Gender Participation Policy</a>. It offers a path for students to participate on sports teams different than the student’s sex at birth and requires medical and physiological testing. The organization has declined to say how many students it approved under the policy.

In December, NCAA President Charlie Baker told a U.S. Senate panel that he was aware of&nbsp;<a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/lgbtq/5046662-ncaa-president-transgender-athletes-college-sports/" target="_blank">fewer than 10 active transgender student-athletes</a>&nbsp;out of the NCAA’s 510,000 participants.

At least a&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/09/05/kearney-norfolk-school-officials-explain-trans-student-athlete-policies/">couple of Nebraska school districts</a>&nbsp;have already adopted separate local sports participation policies similar to Kauth’s bill and the executive orders.

State Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston, prior to seeing the latest amendment, told the Examiner this week that he was “leaning” to not vote for Kauth’s bill. He said he wants to protect women’s sports but that the NSAA, NCAA and executive orders had already done so.

Legislation seeking to enshrine the executive orders into federal and state law have stalled.

In Congress, a bill passed the U.S. House but stalled in the Senate. Nebraska’s congressional members supported the bills.

In Nebraska, Riepe and State Sen. Tom Brandt of Plymouth were the&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/04/05/bathroom-sports-team-restrictions-fall-short-in-nebraska-legislature/">two Republicans to not vote in favor</a>&nbsp;of Kauth’s “Sports and Spaces Act” in 2024 that was limited at the time to K-12 sports and bathrooms.

Kauth has praised the executive orders but has repeatedly said that executive orders can be reversed.

However, Riepe said in February that “if Trump’s executive order can stand for the four years of his term, then LB 89 can wait four years.”

Contentious bills require 33 votes to advance, and Republicans in the officially nonpartisan Legislature hold just enough seats. No Democrats supported Kauth’s previous, narrower bill.

State Sen. Jane Raybould of Lincoln on Thursday withdrew a&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/01/22/second-nebraska-bill-focused-on-transgender-athletes-is-based-on-nsaa-participation-policy/">competing bill to Kauth’s proposal</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=59468&amp;docnum=LB605&amp;leg=109" target="_blank">LB 605</a>, that sought to largely put the NSAA’s now-defunct Gender Participation Policy into law.&nbsp;

The bill had not yet received a public hearing, and Raybould’s withdrawal motion passed&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_votes.php?KeyID=11805" target="_blank">34-0</a>.

Kauth has designated LB 89 as her 2025 priority, the first senator to do so, which increases the likelihood that her bill will be debated this year. Speaker John Arch of La Vista sets the daily agenda.

Sanders told reporters that Kauth has indicated she is “very close” to getting 33 votes.&nbsp;

Asked how she would vote, Sanders told reporters: “I’m not real sure until we have some more clarity on the bill, because how do you debate a bill when you’re not sure what exactly we’re debating, right? So let’s clean up some language so we have a more focused bill for floor debate.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741958374632.jpeg" alt=" Supporters of State Sen. Kathleen Kauth of Omaha’s Stand With Women Act join a news conference. In front is State Sen. Rita Sanders of Bellevue, chair of the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee. Jan. 10, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)" />
 <figcaption> Supporters of State Sen. Kathleen Kauth of Omaha’s Stand With Women Act join a news conference. In front is State Sen. Rita Sanders of Bellevue, chair of the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee. Jan. 10, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
 </figure>Zach Wendling<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/03/13/committee-delays-vote-on-nebraska-bill-to-define-male-female-in-law-for-sports-bathrooms/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN —&nbsp;A Nebraska legislative committee has delayed, for now, a final vote on whether to advance a proposal to define “male” and “female” in state law and restrict student-athlete participation by sex at birth.The Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee elected to not yet vote on advancing&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=58025&amp;docnum=LB89&amp;leg=109" target="_blank">Legislative Bill 89</a>, the “Stand With Women Act” from State Sen. Kathleen Kauth of Omaha, over questions from some committee members about whether a&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/AM-335-to-LB-89-March-10th-Amendment.pdf">proposed amendment</a>&nbsp;would require all students to get a notarized doctor’s note of that student’s sex to participate in single-sex sports.&nbsp;State Sen. Rita Sanders of Bellevue, the committee chair, said “more clarity would provide a better debate” after Omaha State Sens. John Cavanaugh, Dunixi Guereca and Megan Hunt asked whether a a doctor’s “attestation” would implicate the need for a notary.Hunt said this would increase costs for some families. She asked her colleagues to consider if they lived in the land of the free and thought of all the people who died for the freedom to play sports who would need to find a notary to do so. Cavanaugh said the requirement should lead to a new public hearing.State Sen. Dan Lonowski of Hastings responded that the committee needed to consider the freedom of other kids, which State Sen. Bob Andersen of north-central Sarpy County echoed.State Sen. Dave Wordekmper of Fremont said he had talked with Kauth about the amendment because both desired a way to verify a child’s sex for participation in single-sex sports. His thought, he said, was that a doctor could document a child’s sex during a routine physical.Kauth told the Nebraska Examiner after the committee’s decision that she felt good the one word was the only hold up, which she described as an “easy fix” to change the word “attestation.”“Knowing that it’s a term of legal art, we’ll pick a word that doesn’t mean ‘notarized,’ and I appreciate them figuring that out,” Kauth said. “What I’m talking about is a sports physical.”Sanders said the committee will take a few days to consider possible tweaks to the bill and a path forward before reconsidering Kauth’s bill.<h2>Bill mirrors executive orders</h2>Public schools and universities would need to designate all bathrooms and locker rooms for use by males, females or single-occupancy. Restrooms could also be designated for family use.LB 89 initially sought similar designations for state agency bathrooms, which the amendment would remove. Instead agencies such as the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services and Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services would need to define a person’s sex as male or female.The bill&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/09/27/nebraska-advocates-say-womens-bill-of-rights-does-not-focus-on-needed-priorities/">mirrors</a>&nbsp;executive orders from&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/02/05/trump-executive-orders-embolden-pillen-kauth-push-to-define-male-female-in-nebraska/">President Donald Trump earlier this year</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/08/30/nebraska-gov-pillen-enacts-second-governor-led-womens-bill-of-rights/">Gov. Jim Pillen in 2023</a>&nbsp;that sought to define sex as binary, including for athletics, school bathrooms and state agencies.The&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/02/24/nsaa-says-it-will-comply-with-trump-order-on-transgender-participation-in-high-school-sports/">Nebraska School Activities Association</a>, for most K-12 sports, and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ncaa.org/news/2025/2/6/media-center-ncaa-announces-transgender-student-athlete-participation-policy-change" target="_blank">National Collegiate Athletic Association</a>&nbsp;have already announced that they would comply with the executive orders.Kauth said the declaration of a student’s sex is important in the case of the NCAA, which said it would determine a child’s sex by birth certificate, which Kauth said can be changed in about 44 states,&nbsp;<a href="https://transequality.org/documents/nebraska-identity-documents#:~:text=Nebraska%20Birth%20Certificate%20Laws&amp;text=NE%20Code%20%C2%A7%2071%2D604.01,Amendment%2C%20with%20your%20notarized%20signature" target="_blank">including Nebraska</a>.She added: “If we’re talking about keeping girls safe on the field and privacy, we need to make sure that we’re actually doing that.”Kauth’s bill, with the proposed amendment, would&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/01/11/nebraska-lawmakers-aim-to-define-male-female-for-sports-bathrooms-and-more/">define sex</a>&nbsp;as male or female based on whether someone “naturally has, had, will or would have, but for a congenital anomaly or intentional or unintentional disruption, the reproductive system that at some point produces, transports and utilizes” either eggs (female) or sperm (male) for fertilization.Trump’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/keeping-men-out-of-womens-sports/" target="_blank">Feb. 5 executive order</a>&nbsp;pledges to pull federal funds from educational programs that fail to comply with his order.From 2018 through February, eight students had applied to participate in Nebraska high school sports based on their gender identity under the&nbsp;<a href="https://nsaa-static.s3.amazonaws.com/about/gppolicy.pdf" target="_blank">NSAA’s Gender Participation Policy</a>. It offers a path for students to participate on sports teams different than the student’s sex at birth and requires medical and physiological testing. The organization has declined to say how many students it approved under the policy.In December, NCAA President Charlie Baker told a U.S. Senate panel that he was aware of&nbsp;<a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/lgbtq/5046662-ncaa-president-transgender-athletes-college-sports/" target="_blank">fewer than 10 active transgender student-athletes</a>&nbsp;out of the NCAA’s 510,000 participants.At least a&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/09/05/kearney-norfolk-school-officials-explain-trans-student-athlete-policies/">couple of Nebraska school districts</a>&nbsp;have already adopted separate local sports participation policies similar to Kauth’s bill and the executive orders.<h2>A key swing vote</h2>State Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston, prior to seeing the latest amendment, told the Examiner this week that he was “leaning” to not vote for Kauth’s bill. He said he wants to protect women’s sports but that the NSAA, NCAA and executive orders had already done so.Legislation seeking to enshrine the executive orders into federal and state law have stalled.In Congress, a bill passed the U.S. House but stalled in the Senate. Nebraska’s congressional members supported the bills.In Nebraska, Riepe and State Sen. Tom Brandt of Plymouth were the&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/04/05/bathroom-sports-team-restrictions-fall-short-in-nebraska-legislature/">two Republicans to not vote in favor</a>&nbsp;of Kauth’s “Sports and Spaces Act” in 2024 that was limited at the time to K-12 sports and bathrooms.Kauth has praised the executive orders but has repeatedly said that executive orders can be reversed.However, Riepe said in February that “if Trump’s executive order can stand for the four years of his term, then LB 89 can wait four years.”Contentious bills require 33 votes to advance, and Republicans in the officially nonpartisan Legislature hold just enough seats. No Democrats supported Kauth’s previous, narrower bill.<h2>‘A more focused bill’</h2>State Sen. Jane Raybould of Lincoln on Thursday withdrew a&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/01/22/second-nebraska-bill-focused-on-transgender-athletes-is-based-on-nsaa-participation-policy/">competing bill to Kauth’s proposal</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=59468&amp;docnum=LB605&amp;leg=109" target="_blank">LB 605</a>, that sought to largely put the NSAA’s now-defunct Gender Participation Policy into law.&nbsp;The bill had not yet received a public hearing, and Raybould’s withdrawal motion passed&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_votes.php?KeyID=11805" target="_blank">34-0</a>.Kauth has designated LB 89 as her 2025 priority, the first senator to do so, which increases the likelihood that her bill will be debated this year. Speaker John Arch of La Vista sets the daily agenda.Sanders told reporters that Kauth has indicated she is “very close” to getting 33 votes.&nbsp;Asked how she would vote, Sanders told reporters: “I’m not real sure until we have some more clarity on the bill, because how do you debate a bill when you’re not sure what exactly we’re debating, right? So let’s clean up some language so we have a more focused bill for floor debate.”

Committee delays vote on Nebraska bill to define male, female in law for sports, bathrooms

March 14, 2025 (Lincoln, Neb.)&nbsp;&nbsp;— Investigators with the Nebraska State Patrol have arrested a David City man following an investigation of sexual assault of a child.

In late January, NSP received information from law enforcement in South Dakota that led to the investigation. Thursday, investigators served a search warrant at the David City residence of Marvin Hilger. As a result of the investigation, Hilger, 77, was arrested for 1st&nbsp;degree sexual assault of a child. Hilger was lodged in Butler County Jail. Additional charges are pending.

The victim was a minor under the age of 12. Further details are being withheld to protect the victim. If anyone has additional information about this case or others that may be connected, please reach out to the Nebraska State Patrol at 402-471-0112.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/5/1716320706146.jpeg" alt=" " />
 <figcaption> </figcaption>
 </figure>Cody ThomasNebraska State PatrolMarch 14, 2025 (Lincoln, Neb.)&nbsp;&nbsp;— Investigators with the Nebraska State Patrol have arrested a David City man following an investigation of sexual assault of a child.In late January, NSP received information from law enforcement in South Dakota that led to the investigation. Thursday, investigators served a search warrant at the David City residence of Marvin Hilger. As a result of the investigation, Hilger, 77, was arrested for 1st&nbsp;degree sexual assault of a child. Hilger was lodged in Butler County Jail. Additional charges are pending.The victim was a minor under the age of 12. Further details are being withheld to protect the victim. If anyone has additional information about this case or others that may be connected, please reach out to the Nebraska State Patrol at 402-471-0112.

 Eastern Nebraska Man Arrested in Child Sexual Assault Investigation

LINCOLN — Nebraska’s teachers union will no longer oppose a governor-backed bill to tweak the state’s school retirement plan, partly due to an amendment that could also benefit teachers.

The Nebraska State Education Association formally shifted its stance this week, two months after&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/02/03/school-retirement-changes-to-play-role-in-nebraska-school-funding-budget-conversations/">urging caution and encouraging teachers statewide</a>&nbsp;to speak out against&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=59645&amp;docnum=LB645&amp;leg=109" target="_blank">Legislative Bill 645</a>, which was introduced by State Sen. Beau Ballard of Lincoln at Gov. Jim Pillen’s request.&nbsp;

The bill would create stepped-down contribution levels from the state to the school retirement plan, depending on its actuarial funding level. As of July 1, the plan was 99.9% funded.&nbsp;

If passed, LB 645 would drop the state’s annual contributions toward the retirement plan based on statewide school employee payroll. Once the plan reaches 100% funding, the state would no longer automatically contribute year over year.

A&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/109/PDF/AM/AM248.pdf" target="_blank">Feb. 13 amendment from Ballard</a>&nbsp;proposes similar changes to teacher and other employee contributions depending on actuarial funding, which could save teachers money each month, helping lead to the changed NSEA position.&nbsp;

“I think this is a win-win,” Ballard said of the amendment. “In my opinion, this is the teachers’ money. It’s a real-world take-home pay increase for teachers.”

The amendment would also limit the modified state contribution levels to three tiers, instead of six as in the original LB 645.

The teachers union had originally said the bill would “raid” teacher pensions, which director Kenny Zoeller of the governor’s Policy Research Office said was a “flat-out lie” because LB 645 wouldn’t touch “hard-working dollars.”

NSEA President Tim Royers, in a Feb. 20 emailed video to NSEA members addressing the Ballard amendment, credited his members for the change.&nbsp;

“We would not be here delivering this good news without you using your voice the way that you did, to help those lawmakers see that we need to build a better version of this bill that puts the educators of the state at the forefront of what it intends to do,” Royers said at the time.

He described the amendment as “version 2.0 of the bill.”

The state currently contributes 2% of school employee payroll statewide to the pension plan, while employees contribute 9.77% of their salaries and school districts contribute 9.88% of their employees’ salaries.

This means that for the current fiscal year, with an&nbsp;<a href="https://npers.ne.gov/SelfService/public/howto/publications/ActuarialReports/ActuarySchool2024.pdf" target="_blank">estimated $2.5 billion payroll for school employees statewide</a>, the required contributions would be:

Zoeller said that the changes for the state would free up funds for education investments and are not designed to help plug a&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/decrease-in-federal-share-of-nebraska-medicaid-costs-increases-state-budget-shortfall/">projected budget shortfall of $457 million</a>&nbsp;prior to any&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/02/18/preliminary-appropriations-committee-budget-unveiled-includes-pillen-cuts-to-nu/">legislative action</a>.

Royers has said it was OK for the state to reduce its contributions but that school employees and the teachers he represents should also be part of the conversation.

Under Ballard’s amendment, the plan would require different contributions at three levels of funding: less than 96% actuarially funded, between 96% and once the plan is 100% actuarially funded.

When the plan is 96% or more funded, but not 100%, school employee contributions would fall to 7.28% of their salaries, and the state would contribute 0.7% of school employees’ payroll.

Once the plan reaches 100% funded, the state would pull out of funding. Lawmakers would continue to need to add funding in volatile years in which legally set contribution levels aren’t enough to keep the plan afloat.

Contribution levels would revert to current levels if the plan drops below 96% funded.

Laura Strimple, a spokesperson for Pillen, repeated Pillen’s firm stance that efficiencies can be found “in all aspects of state government,” which she said includes the school retirement plan.

“With a nearly fully funded plan, the Legislature should decide how we can save taxpayer money and directly increase teacher pay,” Strimple said.

Actuaries: LB 645 adds volatility and risk

Such changes to state retirement plans&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/Current/PDF/Rules/RuleBook.pdf" target="_blank">require an actuarial study</a>&nbsp;on possible impacts.&nbsp;

The&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/LB645-school-retirement-audit.pdf">study for LB 645 and its amendment</a>&nbsp;was completed late last week, with actuaries writing that the changes would create more volatility and risk. The study does not specify a “yes” or “no” to whether the state could afford the changes.

The full actuarial study on Legislative Bill 645 and its amendment is&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/LB645-school-retirement-audit.pdf">available here</a>.

Actuaries predicted the school retirement plan, if Ballard’s amended bill became law, would be fully funded about 68% of the time, and at least 96% funded nearly three-fourths of the time.

However, the actuaries also gave a 43% chance that the retirement plan could drop below 96% funding before 2035, and a 52% chance before 2045. This would return the 2.5% payroll fee to teachers in a given year, which the actuaries wrote could catch some employees off guard.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741880863754.jpeg" alt="Tim Royers, president of the Nebraska State Education Association, leads a news conference highlighting 2025 priorities for teachers statewide. Jan. 28, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)" />
 <figcaption>Tim Royers, president of the Nebraska State Education Association, leads a news conference highlighting 2025 priorities for teachers statewide. Jan. 28, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
 </figure>LINCOLN — Nebraska’s teachers union will no longer oppose a governor-backed bill to tweak the state’s school retirement plan, partly due to an amendment that could also benefit teachers.The Nebraska State Education Association formally shifted its stance this week, two months after&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/02/03/school-retirement-changes-to-play-role-in-nebraska-school-funding-budget-conversations/">urging caution and encouraging teachers statewide</a>&nbsp;to speak out against&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=59645&amp;docnum=LB645&amp;leg=109" target="_blank">Legislative Bill 645</a>, which was introduced by State Sen. Beau Ballard of Lincoln at Gov. Jim Pillen’s request.&nbsp;The bill would create stepped-down contribution levels from the state to the school retirement plan, depending on its actuarial funding level. As of July 1, the plan was 99.9% funded.&nbsp;If passed, LB 645 would drop the state’s annual contributions toward the retirement plan based on statewide school employee payroll. Once the plan reaches 100% funding, the state would no longer automatically contribute year over year.A&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/109/PDF/AM/AM248.pdf" target="_blank">Feb. 13 amendment from Ballard</a>&nbsp;proposes similar changes to teacher and other employee contributions depending on actuarial funding, which could save teachers money each month, helping lead to the changed NSEA position.&nbsp;“I think this is a win-win,” Ballard said of the amendment. “In my opinion, this is the teachers’ money. It’s a real-world take-home pay increase for teachers.”The amendment would also limit the modified state contribution levels to three tiers, instead of six as in the original LB 645.The teachers union had originally said the bill would “raid” teacher pensions, which director Kenny Zoeller of the governor’s Policy Research Office said was a “flat-out lie” because LB 645 wouldn’t touch “hard-working dollars.”NSEA President Tim Royers, in a Feb. 20 emailed video to NSEA members addressing the Ballard amendment, credited his members for the change.&nbsp;“We would not be here delivering this good news without you using your voice the way that you did, to help those lawmakers see that we need to build a better version of this bill that puts the educators of the state at the forefront of what it intends to do,” Royers said at the time.He described the amendment as “version 2.0 of the bill.”<h2>‘Version 2.0’ amendment specifics</h2>The state currently contributes 2% of school employee payroll statewide to the pension plan, while employees contribute 9.77% of their salaries and school districts contribute 9.88% of their employees’ salaries.This means that for the current fiscal year, with an&nbsp;<a href="https://npers.ne.gov/SelfService/public/howto/publications/ActuarialReports/ActuarySchool2024.pdf" target="_blank">estimated $2.5 billion payroll for school employees statewide</a>, the required contributions would be:<ul>
 <li>State of Nebraska (2%): $50.1 million.</li><li>School employees (9.77%): $244.8 million.</li><li>School districts (9.88%): $247.6 million.</li>
 </ul>Zoeller said that the changes for the state would free up funds for education investments and are not designed to help plug a&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/decrease-in-federal-share-of-nebraska-medicaid-costs-increases-state-budget-shortfall/">projected budget shortfall of $457 million</a>&nbsp;prior to any&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/02/18/preliminary-appropriations-committee-budget-unveiled-includes-pillen-cuts-to-nu/">legislative action</a>.Royers has said it was OK for the state to reduce its contributions but that school employees and the teachers he represents should also be part of the conversation.Under Ballard’s amendment, the plan would require different contributions at three levels of funding: less than 96% actuarially funded, between 96% and once the plan is 100% actuarially funded.When the plan is 96% or more funded, but not 100%, school employee contributions would fall to 7.28% of their salaries, and the state would contribute 0.7% of school employees’ payroll.Once the plan reaches 100% funded, the state would pull out of funding. Lawmakers would continue to need to add funding in volatile years in which legally set contribution levels aren’t enough to keep the plan afloat.Contribution levels would revert to current levels if the plan drops below 96% funded.Laura Strimple, a spokesperson for Pillen, repeated Pillen’s firm stance that efficiencies can be found “in all aspects of state government,” which she said includes the school retirement plan.“With a nearly fully funded plan, the Legislature should decide how we can save taxpayer money and directly increase teacher pay,” Strimple said.<h2>Actuaries: LB 645 adds volatility and risk</h2>Such changes to state retirement plans&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/Current/PDF/Rules/RuleBook.pdf" target="_blank">require an actuarial study</a>&nbsp;on possible impacts.&nbsp;The&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/LB645-school-retirement-audit.pdf">study for LB 645 and its amendment</a>&nbsp;was completed late last week, with actuaries writing that the changes would create more volatility and risk. The study does not specify a “yes” or “no” to whether the state could afford the changes.<h2>The full LB 645 actuarial study</h2>The full actuarial study on Legislative Bill 645 and its amendment is&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/LB645-school-retirement-audit.pdf">available here</a>.Actuaries predicted the school retirement plan, if Ballard’s amended bill became law, would be fully funded about 68% of the time, and at least 96% funded nearly three-fourths of the time.However, the actuaries also gave a 43% chance that the retirement plan could drop below 96% funding before 2035, and a 52% chance before 2045. This would return the 2.5% payroll fee to teachers in a given year, which the actuaries wrote could catch some employees off guard.“Given the probability of such an event, it might be prudent to ensure members are fully aware of the likelihood of such an adjustment occurring to avoid a surprise on the members’ behalf,” the study states.Royers said the study didn’t provide all the information his union wanted about the proposal’s viability and that a new review methodology left him and his team “not quite sure, candidly, how to parse the data.”“That’s honestly one of the main reasons why we’re coming in neutral,” Royers said Wednesday. “We want to make sure that what we’re doing is going to keep the plan sound for the next 10, 20 years, and we just don’t feel that what that study said tells us one way or another.”Royers described the study as asking “how much oil is in the car,” yet the response was about “how the brakes are doing.”<h2>‘Not quite there yet’</h2>Ballard’s bill and amendment would not decrease contribution levels for school districts, but Royers said there is some “wiggle room” to bring districts to the table while benefiting the state and teachers.Doing so could lead to property tax relief, repurposing those payroll obligations toward teacher salaries or both, Royers said, and could be a win for communities on tax relief or educators on pay increases.Asked whether the bill could pair with a separate NSEA priority, LB 440, to cover 6 weeks of paid family and medical leave for all teachers during or after significant life events, Royers said it’s possible.LB 440, the 2025 priority bill of State Sen. Ashlei Spivey of Omaha, would impose a&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/03/10/teachers-praise-bill-for-6-weeks-paid-family-medical-leave-for-all-nebraska-educators/">0.35% payroll fee on teachers</a>, which school districts would also match, to cover the group benefit.&nbsp;The current estimated payroll this fiscal year for all school employees (not just teachers as under LB 440) would mean the state’s 245 school districts, mostly funded through property taxes or state dollars, would need to cover about $8.8 million. This would be less if limited to teachers.“Synergy is great when you have multiple bills, but we also recognize a bill could fail,” Royers said of the Spivey and Ballard bills. “We don’t want to build our plan around both bills passing.”Royers said he’s confident that the NSEA, Ballard and Pillen can find a path forward on school retirement.“We think ultimately we’ll land on a good bill,” Royers said. “We’re just not quite there yet.”