Pub. 9 2014-2015 Issue 6

www.nebankers.org 24 Extraordinary Service for Extraordinary Members. T HE HALLS OF THE NEBRASKA Capitol building were a familiar sight to Speaker Galen Hadley when he began his first term as a state senator in 2008. “I used to walk to school through the Capitol during the winter with no thought that I actually would be serving in the Unicameral one day,” he stated. The senator from Ke- arney grew up in the German-Russian bottoms neighborhood in Lincoln and used to cut through the Capitol building on his way to and from class at Lincoln High School. After high school, Hadley attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, graduating with a degree in accounting. He then received anMBA from the Uni- LEGISLATIVE PROFILE Capitol Holds Warm Memories for Speaker Hadley Speaker Galen Hadley may be reached at ghadley@leg.ne.gov or at the following address: State Senator Galen Hadley, Speaker of the Nebraska Legislature, District 37, State Capitol, PO Box 94604, Lincoln, NE 68509-4604. versity of Colorado and later returned to UNL to obtain a Ph.D. in accounting. In between schooling, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, worked for Eastman Kodak, and married Marilyn Bowen in 1974. Hadley spent 20 years at the Univer- sity of South Dakota, where he taught, served as vice president, and later served as interim university president. In 1991, Hadley and his wife both took positions at the University of Nebraska at Kearney—Hadley as dean of the Business College and Marilyn as dean of the Education College. It was in Kearney that Hadley first became involved in public service. He served on the Kearney City Council and also as mayor. “I decided to run just to see what politics was all about,” said Hadley. “I have certainly enjoyed my time.” Hadley was re-elected to the Nebras- ka Legislature in 2012 and was elected to serve as speaker of the Legislature in 2015. As speaker, Hadley sets the session calendar and daily agenda; serves as the Legislature’s presiding officer in the absence of the lieutenant governor; and workswith fellow legislators to overcome differences as legislation is considered. Nebraska Banker magazine had the opportunity to ask Speaker Hadley a few questions prior to the start of the 2015 legislative session, which began Jan. 7. Q: What was the Nebraska Legislature’s biggest achievement during the 2014 sessio n? A: The tax packageswe passed during 2014 will amount to almost half a mil- lion dollars over the next five years. We indexed out tax brackets, added funding to the property tax credit fund, exempted more of Social Security from Nebraska income tax, and some other items. Q: What are the Legislature’s key issues for the 2015 Legislative Session? A: Key issues this session include Correctional problems, Department of Health & Human Services problems, property tax problems, and school aid problems. Q: As speaker of the Unicam- eral, what will be your focus for the 2015 Session? A: To see that we make progress in solving the problems in the key issues stated above. Q: What do you see as the big- gest challenge facing Nebraska during the next 10 years? A: The shift in population from rural Nebraska to urban Nebraska is a big challenge. Amajority of our people now live in urban areas. We must find a way to stem the tide of outflow of people from rural to urban areas. Q: Howcan bankers be helpful to you and other members of the Unicameral? Since there aremore than 200 banks in Nebraska with over 800 branches you are in contact with all citizens in Nebraska. We welcome your input on how our policies are impacting all of Nebraska—from Omaha to Scottsbluff and from Norfolk to Red Cloud. You can help us by relaying concerns to us. 