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Nebraska State Legislative District 01

4-year term, limited to two consecutive terms, $12,000Members of the country’s only unicameral legislative body create laws and make the rules for Nebraskans under certain constitutional limitations. This body also oversees many health care services and decides how much money public schools (from kindergartens to colleges) receive each year. If you are concerned about who pays how much in taxes and how those funds get spent, this is a very important election.

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  • Candidate picture

    Robert Hallstrom
    (NON)

  • Candidate picture

    Dennis Schaardt
    (NON)

Biographical Information

What is your top concern about K-12 education in Nebraska and what would be your solution?

What steps would you support to ensure access to clean water for all Nebraskans?

What are the most important challenges facing our state, and how do you propose to address them?

Education Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca High School; University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Bachelor of Science); University of Nebraska College of Law (Juris Doctorate)
Current Public Office, dates held N/A
Past Public Office, dates held N/A
Military experience N/A
Volunteer experience Church Council and Board President; Jaycee President; Little League Coach
Campaign Twitter Handle @ N/A
Over-reliance on property taxes to fund K-12 education, especially in rural areas in general and teacher salaries, shortages and retention more specifically, are my top concerns with K-12 education. I support maintaining the Education Futures Fund and the increased portion of the cost of special education being paid for by the state. For teachers, existing scholarship programs, loan forgiveness and other types of incentives should be built upon. We need to address salaries and benefits to assist in the recruitment and retention of para-educators and other education support professionals. Mental health issues with our youth in the school system is also an emerging issue for which greater resources need to be committed.
Problems associated with nitrates buried in the Nebraska soil and their impact on groundwater and our water supply did not occur overnight and will need to be addressed incrementally over time. I support local control of our groundwater and prefer a "carrot," rather than a "stick" approach to addressing these issues. As a result, I would prefer voluntary actions, rather than government mandates to address these issues. Providing additional education to farmers; encouraging or incentivizing the use of accepted conservation tools and encouraging farming practices designed to reduce the leaching the nitrates into our groundwater would provide positive, proactive, rather than "one size fits all," solutions.
Property taxes; workforce shortage; workforce housing shortage; access to rural health care; and affordability and accessibility of child care, all of which relate to rural economic development. We need to provide meaningful and sustainable property tax relief by reducing spending and increasing efficiencies at both the state and local levels; establish an overall tax system that attracts employees to Nebraska; provide an adequate supply of rural workforce housing by enhancing existing programs to increase the number of housing units in Nebraska; provide adequate Medicaid provider reimbursement rates to stem the tide of pharmacy and nursing home closures; and reduce regulations for childcare providers without impacting quality of care.
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