Making case for earlier move into Phase III

I spent the weekend clearing off my desk while ruminating about a number of different issues in preparation for the second half of the year.

At the request of Merrick County, I am working with Gov. Ricketts asking for the county to be placed in Phase III (less restrictive) of the Directed Health Measure, ahead of the rest of their health district. The Central District Health Department, comprising Hall, Hamilton and Merrick counties, is one of the few state health districts still at Phase II. Hamilton County could also make the case they are ready to enter Phase III.

Merrick County, with only two positive cases of coronavirus in the last 14 days, should not be considered a “Hot Spot.” Moving to Phase III would allow bars and restaurants to operate at 100 percent of rate occupancy, instead of 50 percent. Indoor gathering would be limited to 50 percent of rate occupancy and outdoor gathering limited to 75 percent or rate occupancy, instead of 25 percent allowed in Phase II.

Despite Nebraska reporting the lowest May unemployment in the country of 5.2 percent, the Nebraska Department of Labor announced last week it is offering extended unemployment benefits for the first time in 40 years.

DOL said Nebraskans who have exhausted their regular unemployment benefits and/ or Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits will be eligible for an additional 13 weeks of benefits. Typically, you can receive no more than 26 weeks of unemployment benefits during a 12-month period.

I was discouraged to read China decided to ban imports from a single Tyson Foods poultry plant in Springdale, Ark. A spokesperson from the U.S. Ag Department said there is no evidence of the coronavirus being transmitted by food or food packaging. Plus, the poultry product is frozen and spends 30 days in an ocean container prior to arriving in China. Ideally the issue can be resolved quickly in trade talks between the two countries.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently warned consumers that several types of imported hand sanitizer may contain methanol, which can be toxic when applied to the skin or ingested. Three people in New Mexico recently died after drinking hand sanitizer containing methanol, a toxic form of alcohol.

During a time when ethanol plants are facing catastrophic losses, members of Nebraska’s ethanol community began formulating a plan to utilize cornbased ethanol in hand sanitizer. All hand sanitizer produced as part of this project meets FDA guidelines and uses the World Health Organization formula for hand sanitizer.

All ingredients for hand sanitizer produced through this project were donated by Nebraska’s ethanol producers. This effort allows hand sanitizer to be provided free of charge to hospitals, doctors’ offices, nursing homes, first responders, and other facilities in need. The project will continue as resources allow.

I want to follow up on last week’s column about the state “decoupling” from the federal tax changes in the CARES Act. Failure to decouple will result in a $250 million revenue loss for the state over a three-year period. Will this be a fortuitous, one time federal tax loophole for certain businesses at the expense of other Nebraska taxpayers or a needed additional stimulus to get businesses economically healthy? If there is to be any property tax relief passed this year there needs to be money in the state budget to fund it.

If you have any legislative concerns you would like to discuss, please feel free to contact me or my legislative staff. My email address is cfriesen@leg.ne.gov and the office telephone number is 402-471-2630.