LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts says state officials have bought all three drugs required to carry out executions.

Ricketts and Department of Correctional Services Director Scott Frakes announced Thursday that the state now possesses one of the three drugs and will receive the other two in the near future.

The department bought two of the drugs, sodium thiopental and pancuronium bromide, from a company called HarrisPharma.

Ricketts says three of Nebraska’s 11 death-row inmates have exhausted all of their appeals.

The announcement comes one day before lawmakers are scheduled to debate a death penalty repeal measure. The bill won first-round approval with a veto-proof majority in April, but two more votes are required.

Some opponents have argued that Nebraska should abolish capital punishment because the state hasn’t executed anyone since 1997.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska senators have halted debate on a bill banning discrimination against gay and lesbian employees after a test vote showed wavering support.

After more than four hours of debate Thursday, bill sponsor Sen. Adam Morfeld of Lincoln asked that the measure be put off until next year.

The bill would require 25 votes to advance. Senators voted 20-12 on the test vote. Sixteen senators were present but not voting.

Morfeld says holding the bill will give him time to gain more support.

Both Lincoln and Omaha Chambers of Commerce backed the bill. Twenty other states have similar laws.

NEW YORK (AP) — Health officials say fewer Americans are getting sick from a nasty germ sometimes found in undercooked hamburgers.

The government’s latest report card on food poisoning shows illnesses from a dangerous form of E. coli bacteria have fallen 20 percent in the last few years.

That E. coli strain got attention in the early 1990s when it was the culprit in a deadly outbreak linked to hamburger meat. Leafy vegetables have also been tied to illnesses. A 2006 outbreak of E. coli was traced to fresh spinach.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the report Thursday. It counts food poisoning cases in only 10 states, but the report is believed to be a good indicator of national trends.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska is a step closer to becoming the last state to issue driver’s licenses for youths who were brought into the country illegally but allowed to stay under a federal program.

Lawmakers gave initial approval Thursday to a bill that would provide those children of legal driving age licenses.

Only Nebraska does not give licenses to the youths who have stayed in the country under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which was approved by President Barack Obama in 2012.

Supporters of the bill say the youths contribute to Nebraska’s economy. Some conservatives tried to block the bill, saying it rewards illegal behavior.

The legislation advanced, 37-8, but two more rounds of voting are required before it goes to Gov. Pete Ricketts, who supports the current state policy.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers have given final approval to a new $8.7 billion state budget that includes an increase in state aid for property tax reductions, education and prison expenses.

Senators passed the two-year spending plan on Thursday with little debate, having reached compromises in the last several weeks.

The budget now headed to Gov. Pete Ricketts includes a total of $408 million over two years for the state’s property tax credit fund, which reduces what taxpayers owe to local counties, school districts and natural resources districts.

It also would add millions for state K-12 equalization aid and prisons, much of it for inmate medical costs.

Senators were spared from having to make major cuts after a revenue forecast in April showed that the state will likely collect more than expected.

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) — Western Sugar Cooperative intends to expand the production capacity at plants in Nebraska and Colorado while reducing its Torrington, Wyoming, operation to sugar storage and shipping.

Co-op President and CEO Rodney Perry says in a news release that investments in new technology and proven equipment will help the co-op produce more sugar from the same amount of sugar beets, using less energy.

The co-op director of shareholder relations and governmental affairs, Kent Wimmer, said Thursday that staffs at the Fort Morgan, Colorado, and Scottsbluff, Nebraska, plants likely won’t grow. But he says the Torrington, Wyoming, plant will lose 70 positions, leaving only six, after the sugar production from beets planted this spring ends in late winter 2016.

The co-op’s 1,000 grower-owners are situated in Colorado, Montana, Nebraska and Wyoming.