The Legislature has an opportunity to do that this year with a billion dollars of federal pandemic recovery funding sitting on the table and the state treasury sitting pretty.
With a rush of proposals to reduce state taxes — accompanied by the potential reduction of future available state revenue — on the legislative agenda now, this could be the last year to really think big.
At least for awhile.
However, and this is a big however, there's also accompanying movement to expand the tax base, which could ease, or conceivably neutralize, the potential negative impact on future revenue.
It's impossible to predict in advance what a future Legislature will look like, but all signs point to the likelihood of a more conservative legislative body showing up for work in Lincoln next year.
A corps of influential, seasoned Republican senators who might be described as moderates in comparative Nebraska political terms will be leaving after the end of this year.
They respect the nonpartisan nature of Nebraska's unique Legislature, are unbound by dogma, and have fully embraced the independence they are accorded as senators free from the dictates of political party or elected party leaders.
And they have been doers as opposed to naysayers.
Although we don't know what it will look like yet, there's a lot of change just over the horizon. And it looks like it may be veering right.
The 1st District Republican congressional battle between Rep. Jeff Fortenberry and state Sen. Mike Flood has gotten rough and tumble right out of the gate.
Republican leaders are taking sides.
Gov. Pete Ricketts and former Gov. Dave Heineman are the biggest names and they have endorsed Flood, the former Speaker of the Legislature from Norfolk.
A big Flood fundraiser on Woodscrest Avenue in Lincoln on Tuesday evening lists 49 sponsors, including lots of familiar names of engaged Republicans.
Fortenberry, who is battling an indictment in California charging him with allegedly lying to federal officials and concealing information related to illegal foreign contributions made to his 2016 reelection campaign, has been attacking Flood in rough TV ads in the early stages of a GOP primary battle that coincides with the court battle in Los Angeles.
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Baseball hasn't started yet, but they're playing hardball in Nebraska's 1st Congressional District right now.
It's a primary election drama like no other with a subplot in California.
* Denial of Fortenberry's pending motion to move his trial from Los Angeles to Nebraska could be critical. That decision is likely Monday.
* "We are the stalemate," Sen. Mark Kolterman of Seward told his colleagues as they deadlocked once again on state aid to schools legislative reform last week.
* Here comes the Tuesday filing deadline for incumbent officeholders to seek reelection. Eyes on Sen. Steve Lathrop of Omaha, who has been the legislative leader on prison and sentencing reform, a huge, ongoing challenge facing Nebraska that is yet to be resolved.
* Without suggesting whether it should be built or not, the fact that we are considering a new $236 million state prison while holding the line on increased spending for education is jarring. How did we get here?
* Gov. Pete Ricketts is on the road again, scheduling town halls in Gering, Ogallala, Kearney, Nebraska City and Norfolk to talk about his $500 million South Platte River water initiative and plans to focus on property tax relief while cutting state income taxes.
* Some clarification on an earlier column item: While the increasing cost of ongoing renovation of the State Capitol's heating, ventilation and air conditioning system has risen from an original, but incomplete, $78 million estimate, the current proposed increase is from $106 million to $116 million.
* Ricketts might have the opportunity to appoint two senators on the way out the door next January: a successor to Flood, if he is elected to Congress, and to Sen. Mike Hilgers of Lincoln, if he is elected as Nebraska's attorney general.
* Former President Donald Trump plans to visit Wyoming on May 28 to promote the candidacy of Harriet Hageman, a Cheyenne attorney who is challenging Rep. Liz Cheney. A stop in Nebraska coming or going to campaign for Charles Herbster won't work then since Nebraska's GOP gubernatorial nominee will be chosen on May 10, but the betting money says Trump will come to Nebraska before then.
* There currently is no betting favorite to succeed Sen. John Stinner as the Legislature's Appropriations Committee chairman after Stinner completes his two legislative terms at the end of the year or to succeed Hilgers as Speaker of the Legislature if he is elected to the post of attorney general midway through his second term.
* It is hard to think of anything that is currently more threatening to Lincoln's attraction, stature, diversity and opportunity than its limited airline service with daily flights only to Chicago and Denver now. That says small town, not a growing city approaching 300,000 population.