Editor’s note: Newly-elected District #41 State Senator Tom Briese will be among the new state senators sworn in when the Nebraska Legislature convenes next week in Lincoln.
The Elgin Review, along with other newspapers in the district will be publishing a column by Briese to help keep constituents informed about matters of state government. Here are his thoughts as he prepares to serve in the state legislature.
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I want to start by wishing you and yours a very Happy New Year, and I hope that your Christmas was merry. For those of you who do not know me, my name is Tom Briese, I am a farmer in Boone county, raising corn and soybeans, and I am honored and humbled to have earned the opportunity to represent the 41st district of Nebraska in the Unicameral Legislature. District 41 comprises Antelope, Boone, Garfield, Greeley, Howard, Pierce, Sherman, Valley, and Wheeler Counties, and has been represented since 2009 by Senator Kate Sullivan of Cedar Rapids.
I want to thank Senator Sullivan for her years of dedicated service and leadership in the Nebraska Legislature. She set an outstanding example of leadership and service to the 41st District, and I can only hope to live up to that example.
The First Session of the 105th Legislature will convene on January 4th, and I will be sworn in along with 16 other new senators. In that first week, we will elect committee chairs, senators will be assigned to committees and placed in offices, and we will have until the 18th to introduce bills. As this will be an odd-numbered year, the session will run for 90 working days, until early June, and we will be tasked with creating and passing a biennial budget.
This will be an especially difficult year, with the tone dictated by revenue shortfalls projected into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Despite the challenges we will face, I look forward to this session, and to serving the people of the 41st District.
Expect to see a column like this from my office every two weeks during the legislative session, barring unforeseen circumstances. Once I have been assigned an office, email address, and phone number, I will include that information in a subsequent column. I encourage you to get in touch with my office by email, phone, or letter, and you are always welcome to swing by our office when you are in Lincoln to say “hi.”
Lastly, I am excited to introduce the staff you may speak with if you call or visit. Elizabeth Todsen will be my Administrative Assistant. She is a native of Ord, Nebraska and has been very involved with elections and policy in Valley County, at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, and at the state level.
Edward Boone will be my Legislative Aide. He has legislative experience in Nebraska, is a veteran of Afghanistan, and is involved in several local charities. I am confident that Elizabeth and Edward will help me to do the very best job possible of serving you in Lincoln.”
