The Nebraska Department of Correctional Services announced the effort on Monday, less than a week after state officials announced a new contract with the union representing prison workers. The new contract offers raises based on longevity, which prison employees have sought for years.

Corrections Director Scott Frakes says the new programs are designed to draw new talent and show appreciation for corrections workers who accept supervisory duties.

The new programs are separate from the contract. They include a $3,000 signing bonus for high-demand positions at certain prisons, referral bonuses and rewards of $125 to $150 for supervisors who successfully retain employees. Prison administrators have also expanded a merit incentive program.

All the proposals are set for debate in the full Legislature between now and the session’s final scheduled day on June 6.

Here’s a breakdown of things to watch:

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PROPERTY TAXES

Many state lawmakers campaigned on promises to lower property taxes, but they have yet to agree on how to do it.

The latest plan from the tax-focused Revenue Committee seeks to ease the burden on property owners by raising the state sales tax from 5.5% to 6.25%, eliminating sales tax exemptions and boosting state funding to K-12 schools. Nebraska’s cigarette tax would jump from 64 cents to $1 per pack.

The extra revenue would then be used to lower school property taxes by an average of 20 percent — a major savings for farmers, ranchers and homeowners. It’s already proven controversial, with Gov. Pete Ricketts strongly opposed and “alarmed that senators are even considering this.”

Supporters of the plan say it could easily change but argue that senators need a plan that will offset sharp increases in property tax bills over the past several years. Ricketts’ proposal to slow the growth of local government tax collections doesn’t appear to have enough support to pass in the Legislature.

“We can sit here and stare at the problem, or we can actually try to fix the problem before we have a crisis,” said Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, of Omaha, the committee’s chairwoman.

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THE BUDGET

Lawmakers will soon consider a new state spending plan, which is now being crafted by the Appropriations Committee. The $9.4 billion budget includes extra money for property tax credits, K-12 schools and a voter-approved initiative to expand Medicaid.

Still uncertain is how lawmakers will balance the budget with other priorities, such as tweaking the state’s tax incentives for businesses.

“These next few weeks will be a heavy lift for all of us,” said Sen. John Stinner, of Gering, the committee’s chairman.

Stinner said he expects a lot of debate over how much money the state should keep in its cash reserve. It’s designed for emergencies and one-time expenses, and lawmakers have drawn from it heavily the last few years to balance the budget and pay for road projects.

The budget outlook could also change on Thursday when the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board meets to update its estimates of how much tax revenue the state will collect.

The debate may be less contentious than last year, however, because lawmakers will no longer have an argument over how to spend federal family-planning dollars. The money has traditionally gone to the state but was awarded to a private organization this year. That decision came after Ricketts inserted requirements into the budget that effectively prevented any of the money from going to Planned Parenthood of the Heartland.

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DEATH PENALTY

Three years after voters overturned the Legislature’s 2015 vote to abolish the death penalty, lawmakers will tackle the issue once again.

Sen. Ernie Chambers, of Omaha, a longtime opponent of capital punishment, has introduced a repeal bill that’s slated for floor debate this week. The Judiciary Committee advanced the measure last month on a 5-2 vote.

It’s unlikely to pass, however, because the Legislature’s membership has changed since 2015 and a larger number of senators now support capital punishment. Several Republican lawmakers who voted for the repeal in 2015 were targeted by Ricketts in the 2016 election and lost their seats.

Ricketts was instrumental in last year’s execution of Carey Dean Moore, the state’s first inmate to die by lethal injection. The Republican governor helped finance a ballot drive to restore capital punishment, and once it was back in place, his administration changed Nebraska’s lethal injection protocol to overcome challenges in purchasing the necessary drugs.

Before Moore’s execution, Nebraska last carried out a death sentence in 1997, using the electric chair.

Chambers opposes the death penalty on grounds that it diminishes the value of human life, amounts to cruel and unusual punishment and is disproportionately imposed on minorities. He argues that a life-and-death issue such as capital punishment shouldn’t be left to the whims of voters.

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MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Lawmakers have yet to debate a proposal to legalize medical marijuana, despite the looming threat of a statewide ballot initiative that could usher in one of the nation’s least restrictive programs.

The bill is still in committee, but supporters say they’re trying to find a compromise that will build support for the proposal.

Even so, it’s unlikely to pass in a Legislature that has traditionally rejected medical marijuana programs. A petition drive is already underway to put the issue on the November 2020 general election ballot.

The group says applicants must have operations in counties or tribal areas falling under emergency or disaster declarations made by the Nebraska governor or the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency. Applicants must demonstrate genuine need and that their assets aren’t adequate to rebuild from the damage suffered.

Membership in Nebraska Cattlemen is not required for the help.

The applications must be postmarked by May 31 and mailed to 4611 Cattle Drive, Lincoln, NE 68521 or emailed to [email protected].

Mike Hoskins told the Omaha World-Herald that the historical treasures of the 55th Wing were locked inside the wing historian’s office and other offices at Offutt Air Force Base as the Missouri River water rose March 16. Historian John McQueney was at his home miles away, and Hoskins knew he had little time to wait. So he called in base firefighters to break down doors.

The late-winter floods that struck several Plains states breached or overtopped levees, caused more than $3 billion in damage and killed at least three people, officials have said.

McQueney and Hoskins talked over their phones about priorities as the floodwater climbed higher. First among the rescued items were two on loan from the Air Force museum in Dayton, Ohio: a giant aerial reconnaissance camera from the 1940s and a propeller from a World War II-vintage P-51 Mustang fighter.

Other items included copies of letters written during World War I by Lt. Jarvis Offutt, the base’s Omaha-born namesake.

They took away artifacts from the 55th Wing’s early days as a World War II fighter unit and from the wing’s Cold War days of flying shadowy observation missions.

McQueney also advised them to save certain historical files from his cabinets, including papers connected to the construction of the Glenn L. Martin bomber plant at the base just before World War II. Two of the B-29 bombers later were dubbed “Enola Gay” and “Bockscar” before dropping atomic bombs on Japan.

The airmen first tried to pick and choose what artifacts to place in Hoskins’ car and two pickup trucks. Eventually they became less selective.

“We just grabbed everything and threw it in the car,” said Hoskins, now a civilian who works in the wing’s Plans and Programs office. “If it looked old, we grabbed it.”

“These guys did us proud,” said the president of the 55th Wing’s alumni group, Joe Spivey, about Hoskins, McQueney and the rescue team. “They saved the history so it can be enjoyed by everyone.”

The university’s Interfraternity Council voted unanimously last month to enact the ban, which goes into effect Aug. 1. It won’t affect fraternity events at a restaurant or hotel in which alcoholic beverages are provided by a third-party vendor.

The council’s president, Justin Henry, told the Lincoln Journal Star that safety concerns are behind the decision. More than 90% of alcohol-related trips to hospitals from fraternity events are caused by the consumption of hard liquor, Henry said. The cutoff is anything more than 30 proof, which leaves wine and most beers still on the drink menu.

Henry said he saw “outrageous behavior” during parties before Nebraska football games when he was a freshman member of Alpha Gamma Sigma.

“I don’t think that you will see that if there’s no hard alcohol present,” he said. “I think (the ban) eliminates a lot of the risky behavior, if you will, that comes along with that.”

Unlike the fraternities, Panhellenic and national sorority chapters don’t allow any alcohol at sorority events. Andrea Harris, president of the university’s Panhellenic Association, said sorority recruitment in August will include education on the fraternities’ new rules.

An attempt to ban hard alcohol at fraternity events three years ago failed within weeks, mostly because of a lack of enforcement, Henry said.

“We will have teeth behind ours in place, enforcement behind it when everyone is under these rules,” he said.

Part of that enforcement will involve the council judicial board, which includes the judicial board chairs of the fraternities. The members are rotated and will be randomly selected for each case.

Matters concerning the ban will go directly to the board rather than through the university, Henry said.

A first offense will result in a notice to the fraternity’s national chapter. A second offense will include a fine and social probation.

Chief Justice Mike Heavican said in a statement that the court wants student “to understand how the court system works to ensure that justice is served.”

Arguments will begin at 9:45 a.m. with an introductory program for students beginning at 9:30 a.m. to provide background information on Law Day and the Nebraska court system.

All argument sessions are open to the public.