State Senators discuss upcoming legislative session

Dozens of state senators arrived at the Lincoln Country Club Wednesday morning ready to talk about problems they’ll be addressing in next years legislative session.

Most of the unicameral’s 49 members were in attendance for the event, as well as a few candidates running for senate seats.

Senator Mike Hilgers from Lincoln did not shy away from addressing one of the state’s biggest issues, “Going forward to next year I think we know what a lot of the big issues are. How do we handle our tax environment how do we make sure the property tax issue we all talk to you about is addressed?”

Nebraska farmers have said for years the state’s high property taxes is crippling their farms.

Senator Hilgers says he wants farmers to know their complaints are not going unheard.

“We’re doing everything we can as a legislature to given them some relief we understand how important the work they do for Nebraska both culturally and economically and we’ve got to help them as much as we can.”

Aside from property taxes, several senators addressed the need for Medicaid expansion in the state.

Senator Adam Morfeld from Omaha has been a big supporter of expanding Medicaid, saying the move would keep taxpayer money in the state.

“I think the better question is how can we not expand medicaid. We’re already paying $500 million dollars a year in Nebraska taxpayer dollars to the federal government and we’re not seeing any of that come back to our state, but it’s going to other states.”

Voters will decide if they want to expand Medicaid or not in November.

When we asked Senator Morfeld what he would do if the measure failed, he said failure was not an option.