Sen. Storer talks rural nursing home crisis in weekly column

BY: Sen. Tanya Storer

This week marked progress on key legislation that will help not only citizens of the 43rd district but Nebraskans as a whole.

Rural Nebraska is facing a nursing home crisis, and with the aging baby boomer population, this is only expected to get worse. Two nursing homes in District 43 have closed in recent years, one in Valentine and one in Butte, but local, determined residents are working to find solutions. The first hurdle is obtaining what is known as a Certificate of Need from the state. Both communities found a path to meet that requirement, but now face a regulation of completing the projects within 2 years, which is simply not realistic. I was able to work with Sen. Merv Riepe and use his carryover bill from last year, LB 437, as a vehicle to adopt language to change this provision to 3 years with an option for an additional 1 year extension, giving communities up to 4 years after state approval, to get a nursing home up and running. We were able to pass LB 437 last week, marking a major victory for these communities! I appreciate the cooperation of Sen. Riepe and others to get it done.

I also presented LB1115 before the General Affairs Committee last week. This bill is a targeted update to Nebraska’s beer franchise laws, designed to support small craft breweries producing fewer than 20,000 barrels annually. When the state adopted its franchise statute in 1989, the intent was to protect independent wholesalers from the market dominance of large national manufacturers. Today, however, small local breweries often find themselves constrained by statutory provisions that can lock them into long-term distribution arrangements with limited flexibility.

LB1115 narrows the application of franchise law so that it continues to protect distributors from large suppliers, while restoring ordinary contract freedom for small brewers. The bill does not dismantle the three-tier system, eliminate distributors, or reduce regulatory oversight. Instead, it ensures that small business owners have a fair voice in their own distribution relationships and are not disproportionately burdened by regulations designed for a different era.

Together, these measures reflect a broader principle: government systems should be structured to protect the vulnerable, preserve due process, and allow small businesses to compete under fair and modernized laws. It’s just common sense. We need to support our small businesses and keep government out of the way of growing our local economies.

Respectfully,

Senator Tanya Storer