Growing Nebraska’s economy, including opportunities for family operations, is essential to sustainable tax relief for all Nebraskans, and that was the foundational purpose for the roundtable held last week in Lincoln. On Oct. 30, I partnered with the Platte Institute to host a roundtable discussion on the challenges producers and businesses face when trying to build or expand operations in Nebraska, specifically related to zoning. Participants included individual agricultural producers and representatives from organizations with expertise in zoning and land use. A recurring concern was the inconsistent and often unpredictable way counties handle zoning decisions. Attendees described tangible costs from these inconsistencies, including lost income due to delayed approvals, higher expenses while waiting for permits, and denials without clear justification. Several noted that basic opposition to growth can sometimes influence board decisions in ways that overlook the actual merits of a proposal or its potential benefit to the local economy. These obstacles make it difficult for producers and businesses to plan, invest, and grow, affecting both individual operations and the broader agricultural sector, and highlight the need for a more transparent and predictable permitting process.

At the roundtable, the Platte Institute shared a report explaining these challenges and discussed the Livestock Siting Assessment Matrix, created through LB106 in 2015, intended to reduce inconsistencies in Conditional Use Permit reviews for livestock facilities.

The Platte Institute surveyed counties to determine the usefulness of the matrix and of the 31 counties responding, only 10 have incorporated the matrix into their review process, while 21 do not use it, and nearly half had never heard of it before Platte’s outreach.

This limited adoption shows the challenges of implementing a voluntary tool without consistent training or engagement, leaving producers with delays and uncertainty that restrict investment and growth.

Counties that have adopted the Matrix system, demonstrate that consistent education, engagement, and accountability make the permitting process more reliable. Based on the Platte report, recommendations were made for mandatory training for county officials and a Matrix Enrollment process. My bill, LB663, incorporates some of these recommendations by requiring county officials to complete training, establishing clear review timelines, and ensuring decisions are based on written regulations rather than subjective opinion. These reforms preserve local control while providing greater consistency statewide, helping producers avoid unnecessary delays, reduce costs, and better plan for growth. The foundation of Nebraska’s economy is agriculture and it is vital to our future that we protect that industry from over regulation and sometimes hostile rejection. National security begins and ends with food security and Nebraska is the heartbeat of that.

Also last week, Governor Jim Pillen signed Executive Order No. 25-16, Protecting the Life, Health, and Welfare of Pregnant Women and Unborn Human Life. The order directs the Department of Health and Human Services to review all Medicaid providers to ensure taxpayer dollars are not used to support abortion or abortion-affiliated providers. Providers excluded, terminated, or sanctioned in other states will be removed from Nebraska’s program, and DHHS may sanction affiliates as necessary, while maintaining access to essential women’s health and family planning services. This is a significant step in protecting the unborn, the most vulnerable in our society, while ensuring women and families continue to receive necessary healthcare. Nebraska’s policies now better reflect the pro-life values Nebraskans have long supported. I have consistently defended the protection of life from conception, and I am proud to support this measure, which upholds these principles and protects the unborn.