In last week’s column, I reflected on my ten-year anniversary at the Nebraska Catholic Conference. I talked about the NCC as my dream job and shared the top three reasons my work is fulfilling. Those 800 words didn’t give me enough room, however, to reflect on the major public policy victories we’ve accomplished under the leadership of the Bishops these last ten years.
I’m confident we do good work bearing the light of Christ in the public square and impacting public policy, but when you start looking back over the years, the blessings are all the more evident. Here’s those blessings, broken down by our four major social policy areas.
Pro-Life Wins. Easily our biggest achievement was defeating the pro-abortion industry in 2024 during the abortion-related ballot initiatives. We beat back an attempt to place an unfettered right to abortion throughout pregnancy into our state constitution. At the same time, we provided limited protections and right to life for unborn children at 12 weeks gestation.
We protected taxpayer dollars from subsidizing the abortion industry and organizations connected to the abortion industry. We strengthened our informed consent laws to ensure accurate information is provided to mothers, hoping they choose life. This has included evidence-based and supportive information for mothers whose unborn child is diagnosed with Down syndrome and information for how a mother can attempt to reverse a chemical pill abortion.
We also created a tax credit program to increase financial contributions to pregnancy help organizations doing incredible front-line work of supporting mothers in difficult pregnancies. And have ensured low-income mothers have increased access to pre-natal and post-natal health care services.
Education Wins. Easily our biggest education achievements have occurred in the last three years on school choice. In 2023, we passed a scholarship tax credit program that has increased financial contributions for students attending non-public schools. In 2024, we passed a state appropriation for increased scholarship access. Just last week, Governor Pillen announced that Nebraska will participate in a federal school choice program we advocated for in Congress. The two programs in 2023 and 2024 provided nearly $20 million in scholarships to thousands of low-income and lower-middle-income families across our state. These school choice wins had been in the making over several decades.
We also advanced major updates and increased funding for our textbook loan program. During COVID, we were a national leader in efficiently and effectively delivering millions of dollars in COVID relief funding to non-public schools across our state. We’ve also advanced programs to increase school security and provide more grant opportunities for school teachers.
Marriage, Family, & Human Sexuality Wins. Our most impactful win in this area was defeating the highly problematic “human sexuality” health standards proposed by the Nebraska State Board of Education in March 2021. These standards proposed highly sexualized and inappropriate content to children across the state. But thousands of Nebraskans stepped up after we rang the alarm, and those standards were defeated.
We have also protected children from transgender ideology by protecting them from drugs and procedures that would radically alter and damage children’s bodies. We’ve empowered parents and protected children by strongly regulating predatory social media companies and practices. And continuously defeated legislation to undermine state laws recognizing marriage as between one man and one woman.
Social & Human Development Wins. It’s hard to identify the biggest win in this area, as each topic is unique and impactful for those we advocate for. We have had several bills that expand eligibility to ensure low-income families have robust food assistance access. We have secured significant state funding for food banks to address food insecurity across the state. We have made significant progress combatting human trafficking, becoming one of the leading states in this area. We have increased funding and support for women and families fleeing domestic violence, including increased access to housing support. We have had several measures providing opportunities and support for immigrants and refugees.
All in all, I’m extremely blessed to have played a role assisting the Nebraska’s Bishops prophetically lead on these—and so many other— critical public policy issues. I’ve done this alongside a dynamite team at the NCC, and thankful to all those I’ve worked with or under at the NCC: Jim Cunningham, Greg Schleppenbach, Marge Buescher, Sheri Rickert, Michael McHale, Jeff Kanger, Lauren (Garcia) Gage, Anna Sullivan, Marion Miner, Rachael Tvrdy, Angie Korus, Jeremy Ekeler, Paige Brown, and Megan Fehr.
Last but not least, I couldn’t have done any of this without the loving, ongoing support of my tremendous wife, Makayla. God willing, she’ll let me bear the light of Christ in the public square for the NCC another ten years!
Thank you, Jesus!
