Tuesday January 19 Call to Action - Do it today!

[Range Mom]

REQUEST A PUBLIC VOTE FOR UNICAMERAL COMMITTEE CHAIRS
This week, Nebraska’s 49 state senators will approve the rules governing Unicameral procedures. This is the ideal time to change a practice that should never have been allowed to happen - secret ballots for committee chairs.
1. Committee Chairmanships are highly prized for one reason: POWER. Senators who are committee chairs control hearing dates, closed-door debate, and have the potential power to kill any bill they – or their party – may not support.
2.  Because the election of committee chairs is now conducted in secret, the people are not allowed to know HOW committee chairs were selected - or WHO voted for them. All we know is the name of the senator in control.
3. Secret votes are a major reason why we have not been able to pass more 2A supporting legislation
4. Secret votes for the chairs of the legislative committees also block transparency. They allow backroom deals and legislative gridlock.
5. Last but certainly not least, secret ballots are in violation of the Nebraska Constitution, which specifies public voting. That fact alone ultimately undermines a government of – by – for the people.

Elected officials are to be accountable for their votes.   BY 5 PM Tuesday, please email your Senator and others ask them to vote YES - to change the rule and make votes for committee chairs a public vote.


Senator                     Email               City
Albrecht, Joni   jalbrecht@leg.ne.gov   Thurston
Aguilar, Raymond   raguilar@leg.ne.gov   Grand Island
Arch, John   jarch@leg.ne.gov   La Vista
Bostelman, Bruce   bbostelman@leg.ne.gov   Brainard
Brandt, Tom   tbrandt@leg.ne.gov   Plymouth
Brewer, Tom   tbrewer@leg.ne.gov   Gordon
Briese, Tom   tbriese@leg.ne.gov    Albion
Clements, Robert   rclements@leg.ne.gov   Elmwood
Dorn, Myron   mdorn@leg.ne.gov   Adams
Erdman, Steve   serdman@leg.ne.gov   Bayard
Flood, Mike    mflood@leg.ne.gov   Norfolk
Friesen, Curt   cfriesen@leg.ne.gov   Henderson
Geist, Suzanne   sgeist@leg.ne.gov   Lincoln
Gragert, Tim   tgragert@leg.ne.gov   Creighton
Groene, Mike   mgroene@leg.ne.gov   North Platte
Halloran,  Steve   shalloran@leg.ne.gov   Hastings
Hansen, Ben   bhansen@leg.ne.gov   Blair
Hilgers,  Mike   mhilgers@leg.ne.gov   Lincoln
Hilkemann, Robert   rhilkemann@leg.ne.gov   Omaha
Hughes, Dan   dhughes@leg.ne.gov   Venango
Kolterman, Mark   mkolterman@leg.ne.gov   Seward
Lindstrom, Brett   blindstrom@leg.ne.gov   Omaha
Linehan, Lou Ann   llinehan@leg.ne.gov   Elkhorn
Lowe, John S., Sr.   jlowe@leg.ne.gov   Kearney
Moser, Mike   mmoser@leg.ne.gov   Columbus
Murman, Dave   dmurman@leg.ne.gov   Glenvil
Pahls, Rich   rpahls@leg.ne.gov    Omaha
Sanders, Rita    rsanders@leg.ne.gov   Bellevue
Slama, Julie   jslama@leg.ne.gov   Peru
Stinner,  John P.   jstinner@leg.ne.gov   Gering

[eelstrebor1]

deleted

[josher89]

I have emailed all of our state senators and have heard back from seven. Six have indicated they support open and transparent government with one even including in their response an 'op-ed' of the practice of secret ballots within the Unicam and why it needs to be abolished.

The remaining senator that did respond, from South Omaha, indicated that they would take my comments into consideration. We shall see.

This vote on the rule changes will occur tomorrow, Jan, 21st, and I truly hope that not just the NFOA members contacted their senators, but that all Nebraskans that were aware are doing something about this.  We need government that we can hold accountable and this is one way to do that.

Keep your powder dry!

[Range Mom]

Thank you Josher89!

[josher89]

These senators are on the naughty list as they voted against the rule change to make officer elections a vote and not a secret ballot!

Aguilar, Day, Hansen, M., McCollister, Stinner, Blood, DeBoer, Hilkemann, McDonnel,l Vargas, Bostar, Dorn, Hughes, McKinney, Walz, Brandt, Flood, Hunt, Morfeld, Wayne, Cavanaugh, J., Friesen, Kolterman, Pahls, Williams, Cavanaugh, M., Gragert, Lathrop, Pansing, Brooks, & Wishart.

Flood their inboxes and phone lines with distain for voting to conduct business in secret - a direct violation of the Nebraska Constitution!  Hold these people accountable!!!

[FarmerRick]

These senators are on the naughty list as they voted against the rule change to make officer elections a vote and not a secret ballot!

Aguilar, Day, Hansen, M., McCollister, Stinner, Blood, DeBoer, Hilkemann, McDonnel,l Vargas, Bostar, Dorn, Hughes, McKinney, Walz, Brandt, Flood, Hunt, Morfeld, Wayne, Cavanaugh, J., Friesen, Kolterman, Pahls, Williams, Cavanaugh, M., Gragert, Lathrop, Pansing, Brooks, & Wishart.

Flood their inboxes and phone lines with distain for voting to conduct business in secret - a direct violation of the Nebraska Constitution!  Hold these people accountable!!!

All liberal Dems or RINOs.  They won't care, they haven't cared in the past.

[bauhaus]

Of the thirteen turncoats, six cannot run in the 2022 election due to term limits and three are up for re-election.  Those three are:
Tim Gragert (Dist 40)
Myron Dorn (Dist 30)
Tom Brandt (Dist 32)

Gragert and Dorn had close elections.  Gragert might have a chance at being Primaried out, it was a split field his last run.  In any case, all three should be aware we are willing to vote Blue in their cases, just to clean house and reset.  There may also be a chance to flip districts 6 and 10 to Red.

The most important thing we need is public and/or written commitments to support the end of secret ballots from the NEW Republican candidates for the following districts: 4, 6, 8, 10, 18, 20, 24, 26, 28, 34, 36, 44, 42, 46, 48.  Either that or we all vote Democrat because they never pass up an opportunity to take and wield power, unlike the Republicans.   

[Opusnbill7]

Or, maybe, just vote for the best person for the job instead of worrying about their party affiliation. 

I disagree on the secret ballots because it opens up the committee process to party influence instead of picking the best person for the job.  We already see what a mess that is at the federal level, where the parties both care more about being in power and staying in power than helping the average citizen.

Why would we want to make our state system worse?

I for one would much rather rely on the judgment of the person I picked with regards to his peers suitability to lead a committee than an unelected party boss (or Rickett's huge money bags).

Regardless of the party they belong to.

[Otterf18]

I will post the email I received from Tim Gragert when I questioned why he voted to keep the voting secret.

Thanks for the email. I'd be happy to give you my reasons for keeping the voting secret when voting for chairpersons of the standing committees.  Before I went to Lincoln, I thought transparency was of the utmost importance and I still believe that.  However, after serving in the legislature I have found that many issues are not as black and white as they seem on the cover.  As you may know, I did run for the chair of the Natural Resources Committee and I got a real eye opener on what goes down behind the scene.  Deals will be made whether the vote is secret or not!  Why I feel the vote needs to remain secret is because that is the best way to get the most qualified individual for the position. Sheldon we all come to Lincoln with human nature attached to each of us and the one thing all of us have to battle is “ an eye for an eye”.  There are those, and I am living it today, that will go on a search and destroy mission even if they aren't 100% sure if you voted for them or not.  I will not say who I voted for for that reason. 

There are two factors why I think the vote should remain secret. The first is so the individuals voted in are not based primarily on the party they represent (there would be a great deal of pressure to vote down party lines), which could result in not getting the most qualified individual, and second, I believe changing the vote from a secret ballot could, and in some cases would, derail the ability for the legislature to work effectively. There would be individuals simply getting back at the individual that didn’t vote for him or her - human nature.  So Sheldon, for me in this case and with transparency being very important to me, I feel the current way of electing chairs, that by the way has been in place for the past 50 years, is best for the over all good of the legislature.  I really don’t believe there is a Senator that I have worked with over the past two years who would tell you that I am not the most transparent person, maybe too transparent if that is possible, for my own good.  What is fortunate about our unicameral is every bill gets a hearing and the public is encouraged to testify and each hearing can be viewed by the pubic and one can watch how that elected chair performs which I feel is where real transparency needs to be experienced.

Again thanks for the email.
Tim

Tim Gragert, Senator
District #40

[bullit]

Weak kneed people are what keeps the Taliban in business.  Sheldon, I hope you were wearing Ben Sasse's recently purchased, lightly used Muck Boots from Tractor Supply when you read this.

I will post the email I received from Tim Gragert when I questioned why he voted to keep the voting secret.

Thanks for the email. I'd be happy to give you my reasons for keeping the voting secret when voting for chairpersons of the standing committees.  Before I went to Lincoln, I thought transparency was of the utmost importance and I still believe that.  However, after serving in the legislature I have found that many issues are not as black and white as they seem on the cover.  As you may know, I did run for the chair of the Natural Resources Committee and I got a real eye opener on what goes down behind the scene.  Deals will be made whether the vote is secret or not!  Why I feel the vote needs to remain secret is because that is the best way to get the most qualified individual for the position. Sheldon we all come to Lincoln with human nature attached to each of us and the one thing all of us have to battle is “ an eye for an eye”.  There are those, and I am living it today, that will go on a search and destroy mission even if they aren't 100% sure if you voted for them or not.  I will not say who I voted for for that reason. 

There are two factors why I think the vote should remain secret. The first is so the individuals voted in are not based primarily on the party they represent (there would be a great deal of pressure to vote down party lines), which could result in not getting the most qualified individual, and second, I believe changing the vote from a secret ballot could, and in some cases would, derail the ability for the legislature to work effectively. There would be individuals simply getting back at the individual that didn’t vote for him or her - human nature.  So Sheldon, for me in this case and with transparency being very important to me, I feel the current way of electing chairs, that by the way has been in place for the past 50 years, is best for the over all good of the legislature.  I really don’t believe there is a Senator that I have worked with over the past two years who would tell you that I am not the most transparent person, maybe too transparent if that is possible, for my own good.  What is fortunate about our unicameral is every bill gets a hearing and the public is encouraged to testify and each hearing can be viewed by the pubic and one can watch how that elected chair performs which I feel is where real transparency needs to be experienced.

Again thanks for the email.
Tim

Tim Gragert, Senator
District #40

[Les]

Weak kneed people are what keeps the Taliban in business.  Sheldon, I hope you were wearing Ben Sasse's recently purchased, lightly used Muck Boots from Tractor Supply when you read this.

Or Orschelns.