Sen. John Stinner of Gering, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, takes notes Tuesday during a hearing at the Capitol on how the state might use federal pandemic recovery assistance.Â
GWYNETH ROBERTS, Journal Star
Nebraska Commissioner of Education Matthew Blomstedt speaks at an Appropriations Committee hearing Tuesday at the Capitol. He was among more than 40 testifiers who talked about how the state should use federal pandemic recovery money.
GWYNETH ROBERTS, Journal Star
Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha looks at handouts during an Appropriations Committee hearing on Tuesday at the Capitol.Â
GWYNETH ROBERTS, Journal Star
University of Nebraska President Ted Carter (right) speaks at an Appropriations Committee hearing Tuesday at the Capitol.Â
That's what Sen. Anna Wishart of Lincoln urged Nebraskans to do Tuesday as more than 40 representatives from a host of educational, government, business, health care and family interests lined up to offer their proposals for the expenditure of more than a billion dollars of federal pandemic recovery assistance allocated to the state.
Development of water resources, recreation and tourism at designated sites across the state; funding to help spur shovel-ready construction projects; statewide workforce development; creation of economic development mega-sites; a host of educational projects and investments; expansion of rural broadband infrastructure; and health care investments all made the list.
Forty-eight Nebraskans representing a broad range of interests signed up to present their views to the senators.
The Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry briefed the news media on its priorities in advance of the hearing, with Chamber President Bryan Slone pointing to workforce development as "the No. 1 issue for the state" in terms of growth.
Housing and child care programs are part of that solution, Slone said.
"Nebraska needs to up its game in terms of innovation, technology and infrastructure," he said.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Wishart told members of the Legislature's Appropriations Committee.
And it's a chance to direct some of the funding to assist "parts of our state that are losing population" by providing them with some "opportunities for growth," Wishart said.Â
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Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha told the committee that the infusion of federal dollars, which need to be spent by 2026, provides "a great opportunity for the state to rethink its approach to economic development."
Sen. John Stinner of Gering, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, said Gov. Pete Ricketts will present his own ideas for expenditure of the federal funding to the Legislature in the form of a bill next year.
Speaker of the Legislature Mike Hilgers of Lincoln suggested the money can be used to develop tourism, recreation and water resources across the state.
Hilgers is chairman of the Legislature's adventurously named STAR WARS Committee, an amended designation of the Statewide Tourism and Recreational Water Access and Resources Sustainability Committee.
The committee is studying developmental opportunities along the Platte River, at Lake McConaughy near Ogallala, at Lewis and Clark Lake along the border with South Dakota and at Niobrara State Park in the northeast corner of the state.Â
Those developments include flood control, recreation, tourism and water resource sustainability.
There is no price tag attached to that proposed investment yet, Hilgers said.
Sen. Mike McDonnell of Omaha said there may be as many as 125 shovel-ready development projects and up to $700 million in private sector funding available for state funding assistance.
Nebraska Commissioner of Education Matthew Blomstedt identified workforce engagement as one of the educational priorities for the state's schools, and State Court Administrator Corey Steel pointed to the need for "substantial broadband infrastructure."
See the Nebraska laws that went into effect at end of August
Sen. John Stinner of Gering, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, takes notes Tuesday during a hearing at the Capitol on how the state might use federal pandemic recovery assistance.Â
Nebraska Commissioner of Education Matthew Blomstedt speaks at an Appropriations Committee hearing Tuesday at the Capitol. He was among more than 40 testifiers who talked about how the state should use federal pandemic recovery money.