Pub. 8 2013-2013 Issue 5

www.nebankers.org 22 Extraordinary Service for Extraordinary Members. F or three decades, State Sen. Greg Adams taught York High School students the nuts and bolts of American government and economics. Today, he serves as speaker of the Nebraska Legislature. Adams first ran for public office in 1986, serving as a member of the York City Council for 10 yea r s and later as mayor of York from 1996 to 2006. After his election to the Nebraska Legislature in 2006, he retired from teaching, but his work in education con- t inued a t the State Capitol in Lincoln. From 2009 to 2012, Adams served on the Legisla- ture’s Education Committee (as chairman), Revenue Committee, the Committee on Committees, and the Midwestern Higher Education Com- mission. He became speaker of the Unicameral in 2013. Adams holds a Bachelor of Arts in education and aMaster of Arts in educa- tion from Wayne State College. Nebraska Banker magazine had the opportunity to ask Speaker Adams a few questions prior to the start of the 2014 legislative session, which began Jan. 8. Q: What was the Nebraska Legislature’s biggest achievement during the 2013 session? A: The Legislature’s biggest achieve- ment during the 2013 session might have been completion of the two- year budget, or the passage of legislation that is intended to be the begin- ning of juvenile justice reform, or any number of other im- portant pieces of legislation. However, the real achieve- ment was that we brought a class of new senators into the body, had several changes in leadership, dealt with some very difficult issues, and though at times it seemed as if we were headed for stalemate, ended the session being fairly productive. A total of 661 introduced bills were processed in some fashion in 90 days. Of those 661 bills, 104 were designated as prior- ity and all but a handful were debated. Q: What are the Legislature’s key issues for the 2014 legislative session? LEGISLATIVE PROFILE From the Classroom to the Capitol Greg Adams, Speaker of the Legislature A: At this point, prior to the session beginning, I can predict that tax re- form, Medicaid expansion, corrections reform, and probably water will be key issues in the 2014 session. However, experience dictates that there will be other issues that will create plenty of attention. Those issues will come from bills that have yet to be introduced or as a result of the interaction of personali- ties during the session. Q: As speaker of the Unicam- eral, what will be your focus for the 2014 session? As a senator, I still have two car- ryover bills from last session that I introduced that will be my focus. As speaker, my focus is considerably dif- ferent. My focus will be to manage the legislative process so that the Legis- lature can do the work expected of it. The management role of the speaker is always made more difficult if the issues are complex and politically charged. In addition, during this session there will be 17 senators who will be term limited out and several senators running for higher office. All of these variables and more will makemanaging the legislative process interesting. Q: What do you see as the big- gest challenge facing Nebraska during the next 10 years? A: The challenges facing Nebraska over the next 10 years are the challenges we have always faced as a state and face right now. They are maintaining quality of life in our state; ensuring an economic climate that is conducive to fairness, productivity, and growth; and continually improving the quality of our education system. Most policy initiatives today in the Legislature and over the next 10 years will fit somewhere within what I just listed. Q: How can bankers be helpful to you and other members of the Unicameral? Senators come to the Legislature with expertise in limited areas, but are faced with making decisions within a Speaker of the Legislature Greg Adams, District 24