WASHINGTON (AP) — The countdown toward&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-us-department-of-the-treasury-united-states-government-janet-yellen-business-6fe9b54dcdfea58bead0f4c5f9f89a64">a possible U.S. government default</a>&nbsp;is in the offing — with frictions between President Joe Biden and House Republicans raising alarms about whether the U.S. can sidestep a potential economic crisis.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/united-states-government-us-department-of-the-treasury-janet-yellen-business-cf6cf1dcfc3d0d81fb5a20f8ad442f7a">Treasury Department projects</a>&nbsp;that the federal government will on Thursday reach its legal borrowing capacity of $38.381 trillion, an artificially imposed cap that lawmakers have increased roughly 80 times since the 1960s. Markets so far remain calm, as the government can temporarily rely on accounting tweaks to stay open, meaning that any threats to the economy are several months away. Even many worried analysts assume there will be a deal.

But this particular moment seems more fraught than past brushes with the debt limit because of the broad differences between Biden and new House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who presides over&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/house-speaker-mccarthy-first-week-4f9040a752fb1fd7cc5c949adf734ab3">a restive Republican caucus</a>.

Those differences increase the risk that the government could default on its obligations for political reasons, a problem that could rattle financial markets and — if not resolved — plunge the world's largest economy into a wholly preventable recession.

The pair have several months to forge a deal, as the Treasury Department imposes “extraordinary measures” to keep the government operating until at least June. But years of intensifying partisan hostility have led to a conflicting set of demands that jeopardize the ability of the U.S. lawmakers to work together on a basic duty.

Biden insists on a clean increase to the debt limit so that existing financial commitments can be sustained, refusing to even start talks with Republicans. McCarthy is calling for negotiations that he believes will lead to spending cuts. It's unclear how much he wants to trim and if his fellow Republicans would support any deal after a testy start to the new Congress that required 15 rounds of voting to elect McCarthy speaker.

Asked twice Wednesday if there was evidence that House Republicans can ensure that the government will avert a default, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said it's their “constitutional responsibility” to protect the full faith and credit of the United States. She did not say whether the White House saw signs at this stage that a default was off the table.

“We're just not going to negotiate that,” Jean-Pierre said. “They should feel the responsibility.”

For his part, McCarthy said Biden needs to recognize the political realities that come with a divided government. He equates the debt ceiling to a credit card limit and calls for a level of fiscal restraint that did not occur under President Donald Trump, a Republican who in 2019 signed a bipartisan suspension of the debt ceiling.

“Why create a crisis over this?" McCarthy said this week. "I mean, we’ve got a Republican House, a Democratic Senate. We’ve got the president there. I think it’s arrogance to say, ‘Oh, we’re not going to negotiate about pretty much anything’ and especially when it comes to funding.”

Any deal would also need to pass the Democratic Senate. Many Democratic lawmakers are skeptical about the ability to work with Republicans aligned with the “Make America Great Again” movement started by Trump. The MAGA movement has claimed that the 2020 election lost by Trump was rigged, a falsehood that contributed to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

“There should be no political brinkmanship with the debt limit,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “It’s reckless for Speaker McCarthy and MAGA Republicans to try and use the full faith and credit of the United States as a political bargaining chip.”

In order to keep the government open, the Treasury Department on Thursday was introducing a series of accounting maneuvers known as “extraordinary measures.” These measures put a hold on contributions and investment redemptions for government workers' retirement and health care funds, giving the government enough financial space to handle its day-to-day expenses until roughly June.

What happens if these measures are exhausted without a deal to raise the debt limit is unknown. A prolonged default could be devastating, with crashing markets and panic-driven layoffs if confidence evaporated in a cornerstone of the global economy, the U.S. Treasury note.

Analysts at Bank of America cautioned in a Friday report that “there is a high degree of uncertainty about the speed and magnitude of the damage the U.S. economy would incur.” The underlying challenge is that the government would have to balance its books on a daily basis if it lacks the ability to issue debt. If the government cannot issue debt, it would have to impose cuts equal in size on an annual basis to 5% of the total U.S. economy. But the analysts say their baseline case is that the U.S. avoids default.

Still, if past debt ceiling showdowns such as the one that occurred in 2011 are any guide, Washington may be in a nervous state of suspended animation with little progress until the “X-date,” the deadline when extraordinary measures are depleted. That creates its own set of challenges.

“A deal probably won’t be reached until the last minute, raising the risk that the deadline to lift the ceiling is inadvertently missed,” said Andrew Hunter, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics.

WASHINGTON (AP) — On the brink of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/united-states-government-us-department-of-the-treasury-janet-yellen-business-cf6cf1dcfc3d0d81fb5a20f8ad442f7a">hitting the nation's legal borrowing limit on Thursday,</a>&nbsp;the government is resorting to “extraordinary measures” to avoid a default.

But -- take a breath -- the phrase technically refers to a bunch of accounting workarounds. Yes, accounting.

Because the debt cap limits the issuance of government bonds — a way the U.S. borrows money — these workarounds shift money among accounts and should keep the government open through at least June, according to a letter last week by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

In theory, President Joe Biden and Congress are supposed to use that additional time to work out an agreement to raise the nation's legal $31.38 trillion debt ceiling. These talks often grow heated and go down to the wire, with major economic damage in the balance. But there have been roughly 80 deals to raise or suspend the borrowing cap since the 1960s.

What could be worrisome is not the existence of extraordinary measures, but what happens if they are exhausted this summer without a deal in place. Economists have warned that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-business-covid-c3d5a98cf3722562e53d0c9a499510b0">could lead to a global financial crisis.</a>

So far, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Biden are playing what could be a dangerous game of chicken with the world’s largest economy in the middle.

Some questions and answers on the situation:

Yellen’s Friday letter listed two measures that will begin this month in order to prevent the government from defaulting.

First, the government will temporarily suspend payments to the retirement, disability and health benefit funds for federal employees. Second, it will suspend the reinvestment of maturing government bonds in the retirement savings accounts of government workers.

By suspending the payments, the government can reduce the amount of outstanding debt. That enables the Treasury Department to keep financing government operations, according to Yellen’s letter.

WHAT ALLOWS TREASURY TO USE THESE MEASURES?

No dispute there. Congress has given Treasury the authority to do so.

Because these are retirement accounts, no one is harmed by the government equivalent of an IOU. The funds are made whole after a debt ceiling increase or suspension becomes law. It’s not necessarily the measures that can harm the economy but rather the doubts among consumers and businesses about whether lawmakers will increase the borrowing cap.

There were $986 billion in net assets of the civil service and federal employees retirement funds at he end of fiscal 2021, according to a report by the Office of Personnel Management. The required government contributions to the funds are large enough to rely on these extraordinary measures for roughly five months.

“Treasury Secretaries in every Administration over recent decades have used these extraordinary measures when necessary,” Yellen wrote in her letter.

The measures were first deployed in 1985 and have been used at least 16 times since then, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a fiscal watchdog.

Before World War I, Congress needed to approve each bond issuance. The debt limit was created as a workaround to finance the war effort without needing a constant series of votes.

Since then, a tool created to make it easier for the government to function has become a source of dysfunction, stoking partisan warfare and creating economic risk as the debt has increased in size over the past 20 years.

It looks alarming -- and it’s not clear how Biden, McCarthy and the Democratic Senate will find common ground. A default could cause millions of job losses, a deep recession that would reverberate globally and, ironically, higher interest rates that would make it harder to manage the federal debt.

McCarthy said Tuesday that talks should begin immediately on the potential spending cuts that Republicans are seeking in exchange for raising the debt limit, even though the Biden administration has equated that demand to holding the U.S. economy hostage.

“Who wants to put the nation in some type of threat at the last minute of the debt ceiling?” McCarthy said. “Nobody wants to do that. That’s why we’re asking, ’Let’s change our behavior now. Let’s sit down.”

The Biden administration wants the borrowing cap increased without any preconditions. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Tuesday ruled out holding talks with McCarthy.

DO DEBT LIMIT SHOWDOWNS HELP REDUCE GOVERNMENT DEBT?

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that annual budget deficits will grow from roughly $1 trillion to more than $2 trillion over the next 10 years.

The imbalance over the coming years increasingly reflects government expenses for programs such as Medicare and Social Security that are outstripping tax revenue. That suggests the government would need severe cuts to spending, major tax hikes or some combination of those options.

In 2011 when Barack Obama was president and Biden was vice president, there was a bipartisan deal to raise the debt limit by $900 billion in return for $917 billion worth of automatic spending cuts over 10 years.

But the debt reduction never fully materialized.

After Donald Trump became president in 2017, Republican lawmakers fueled further debt increases by passing deficit-financed tax cuts. Debt accelerated even more with the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, which caused massive government borrowing in order to pull the U.S. out of a deep recession.

The CBO last year estimated that the U.S. debt would exceed $40 trillion in 2032.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1674129864216.png" alt="Biden insists on a clean increase to the debt limit so that existing financial commitments can be sustained, refusing to even start talks with Republicans-White House photo" />
 <figcaption>Biden insists on a clean increase to the debt limit so that existing financial commitments can be sustained, refusing to even start talks with Republicans-White House photo</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The countdown toward&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-us-department-of-the-treasury-united-states-government-janet-yellen-business-6fe9b54dcdfea58bead0f4c5f9f89a64">a possible U.S. government default</a>&nbsp;is in the offing — with frictions between President Joe Biden and House Republicans raising alarms about whether the U.S. can sidestep a potential economic crisis.The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/united-states-government-us-department-of-the-treasury-janet-yellen-business-cf6cf1dcfc3d0d81fb5a20f8ad442f7a">Treasury Department projects</a>&nbsp;that the federal government will on Thursday reach its legal borrowing capacity of $38.381 trillion, an artificially imposed cap that lawmakers have increased roughly 80 times since the 1960s. Markets so far remain calm, as the government can temporarily rely on accounting tweaks to stay open, meaning that any threats to the economy are several months away. Even many worried analysts assume there will be a deal.But this particular moment seems more fraught than past brushes with the debt limit because of the broad differences between Biden and new House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who presides over&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/house-speaker-mccarthy-first-week-4f9040a752fb1fd7cc5c949adf734ab3">a restive Republican caucus</a>.Those differences increase the risk that the government could default on its obligations for political reasons, a problem that could rattle financial markets and — if not resolved — plunge the world's largest economy into a wholly preventable recession.The pair have several months to forge a deal, as the Treasury Department imposes “extraordinary measures” to keep the government operating until at least June. But years of intensifying partisan hostility have led to a conflicting set of demands that jeopardize the ability of the U.S. lawmakers to work together on a basic duty.Biden insists on a clean increase to the debt limit so that existing financial commitments can be sustained, refusing to even start talks with Republicans. McCarthy is calling for negotiations that he believes will lead to spending cuts. It's unclear how much he wants to trim and if his fellow Republicans would support any deal after a testy start to the new Congress that required 15 rounds of voting to elect McCarthy speaker.Asked twice Wednesday if there was evidence that House Republicans can ensure that the government will avert a default, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said it's their “constitutional responsibility” to protect the full faith and credit of the United States. She did not say whether the White House saw signs at this stage that a default was off the table.“We're just not going to negotiate that,” Jean-Pierre said. “They should feel the responsibility.”For his part, McCarthy said Biden needs to recognize the political realities that come with a divided government. He equates the debt ceiling to a credit card limit and calls for a level of fiscal restraint that did not occur under President Donald Trump, a Republican who in 2019 signed a bipartisan suspension of the debt ceiling.“Why create a crisis over this?" McCarthy said this week. "I mean, we’ve got a Republican House, a Democratic Senate. We’ve got the president there. I think it’s arrogance to say, ‘Oh, we’re not going to negotiate about pretty much anything’ and especially when it comes to funding.”Any deal would also need to pass the Democratic Senate. Many Democratic lawmakers are skeptical about the ability to work with Republicans aligned with the “Make America Great Again” movement started by Trump. The MAGA movement has claimed that the 2020 election lost by Trump was rigged, a falsehood that contributed to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.“There should be no political brinkmanship with the debt limit,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “It’s reckless for Speaker McCarthy and MAGA Republicans to try and use the full faith and credit of the United States as a political bargaining chip.”In order to keep the government open, the Treasury Department on Thursday was introducing a series of accounting maneuvers known as “extraordinary measures.” These measures put a hold on contributions and investment redemptions for government workers' retirement and health care funds, giving the government enough financial space to handle its day-to-day expenses until roughly June.What happens if these measures are exhausted without a deal to raise the debt limit is unknown. A prolonged default could be devastating, with crashing markets and panic-driven layoffs if confidence evaporated in a cornerstone of the global economy, the U.S. Treasury note.Analysts at Bank of America cautioned in a Friday report that “there is a high degree of uncertainty about the speed and magnitude of the damage the U.S. economy would incur.” The underlying challenge is that the government would have to balance its books on a daily basis if it lacks the ability to issue debt. If the government cannot issue debt, it would have to impose cuts equal in size on an annual basis to 5% of the total U.S. economy. But the analysts say their baseline case is that the U.S. avoids default.Still, if past debt ceiling showdowns such as the one that occurred in 2011 are any guide, Washington may be in a nervous state of suspended animation with little progress until the “X-date,” the deadline when extraordinary measures are depleted. That creates its own set of challenges.“A deal probably won’t be reached until the last minute, raising the risk that the deadline to lift the ceiling is inadvertently missed,” said Andrew Hunter, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics.--------------WASHINGTON (AP) — On the brink of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/united-states-government-us-department-of-the-treasury-janet-yellen-business-cf6cf1dcfc3d0d81fb5a20f8ad442f7a">hitting the nation's legal borrowing limit on Thursday,</a>&nbsp;the government is resorting to “extraordinary measures” to avoid a default.Sounds ominous, right?But -- take a breath -- the phrase technically refers to a bunch of accounting workarounds. Yes, accounting.Because the debt cap limits the issuance of government bonds — a way the U.S. borrows money — these workarounds shift money among accounts and should keep the government open through at least June, according to a letter last week by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.In theory, President Joe Biden and Congress are supposed to use that additional time to work out an agreement to raise the nation's legal $31.38 trillion debt ceiling. These talks often grow heated and go down to the wire, with major economic damage in the balance. But there have been roughly 80 deals to raise or suspend the borrowing cap since the 1960s.What could be worrisome is not the existence of extraordinary measures, but what happens if they are exhausted this summer without a deal in place. Economists have warned that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-business-covid-c3d5a98cf3722562e53d0c9a499510b0">could lead to a global financial crisis.</a>So far, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Biden are playing what could be a dangerous game of chicken with the world’s largest economy in the middle.Some questions and answers on the situation:WHAT ARE “EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES”?Yellen’s Friday letter listed two measures that will begin this month in order to prevent the government from defaulting.First, the government will temporarily suspend payments to the retirement, disability and health benefit funds for federal employees. Second, it will suspend the reinvestment of maturing government bonds in the retirement savings accounts of government workers.By suspending the payments, the government can reduce the amount of outstanding debt. That enables the Treasury Department to keep financing government operations, according to Yellen’s letter.WHAT ALLOWS TREASURY TO USE THESE MEASURES?No dispute there. Congress has given Treasury the authority to do so.Because these are retirement accounts, no one is harmed by the government equivalent of an IOU. The funds are made whole after a debt ceiling increase or suspension becomes law. It’s not necessarily the measures that can harm the economy but rather the doubts among consumers and businesses about whether lawmakers will increase the borrowing cap.HOW BIG ARE THESE RETIREMENT FUNDS?There were $986 billion in net assets of the civil service and federal employees retirement funds at he end of fiscal 2021, according to a report by the Office of Personnel Management. The required government contributions to the funds are large enough to rely on these extraordinary measures for roughly five months.HOW COMMON IS THIS?“Treasury Secretaries in every Administration over recent decades have used these extraordinary measures when necessary,” Yellen wrote in her letter.The measures were first deployed in 1985 and have been used at least 16 times since then, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a fiscal watchdog.WHY DO WE HAVE A DEBT LIMIT?Before World War I, Congress needed to approve each bond issuance. The debt limit was created as a workaround to finance the war effort without needing a constant series of votes.Since then, a tool created to make it easier for the government to function has become a source of dysfunction, stoking partisan warfare and creating economic risk as the debt has increased in size over the past 20 years.HOW RISKY IS THE BRINKMANSHIP THIS TIME?It looks alarming -- and it’s not clear how Biden, McCarthy and the Democratic Senate will find common ground. A default could cause millions of job losses, a deep recession that would reverberate globally and, ironically, higher interest rates that would make it harder to manage the federal debt.McCarthy said Tuesday that talks should begin immediately on the potential spending cuts that Republicans are seeking in exchange for raising the debt limit, even though the Biden administration has equated that demand to holding the U.S. economy hostage.“Who wants to put the nation in some type of threat at the last minute of the debt ceiling?” McCarthy said. “Nobody wants to do that. That’s why we’re asking, ’Let’s change our behavior now. Let’s sit down.”The Biden administration wants the borrowing cap increased without any preconditions. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Tuesday ruled out holding talks with McCarthy.DO DEBT LIMIT SHOWDOWNS HELP REDUCE GOVERNMENT DEBT?Not so much.The Congressional Budget Office estimates that annual budget deficits will grow from roughly $1 trillion to more than $2 trillion over the next 10 years.The imbalance over the coming years increasingly reflects government expenses for programs such as Medicare and Social Security that are outstripping tax revenue. That suggests the government would need severe cuts to spending, major tax hikes or some combination of those options.In 2011 when Barack Obama was president and Biden was vice president, there was a bipartisan deal to raise the debt limit by $900 billion in return for $917 billion worth of automatic spending cuts over 10 years.But the debt reduction never fully materialized.After Donald Trump became president in 2017, Republican lawmakers fueled further debt increases by passing deficit-financed tax cuts. Debt accelerated even more with the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, which caused massive government borrowing in order to pull the U.S. out of a deep recession.The CBO last year estimated that the U.S. debt would exceed $40 trillion in 2032.

Biden-House GOP: Showdown over debt limit of $38.3 trillion

The Federal 
Trade Commission opened a claims process for former AT&amp;T customers 
who have yet to claim a refund stemming from the FTC’s lawsuit against 
the company for misleading consumers about its unlimited data plans.

Former AT&amp;T
 customers may be eligible to claim a refund from the $7 million 
remaining in a fund created to settle allegations that the wireless 
provider charged for “unlimited” data plans while reducing their data speeds, a practice known as throttling.

The <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2019/11/att-pay-60-million-resolve-ftc-allegations-it-misled-consumers-unlimited-data-promises">FTC in 2019 required AT&amp;T to provide $60 million</a>
 for refunds for failing to disclose to millions of smartphone customers
 with unlimited data plans that once they reached a certain amount of 
data use in a given billing cycle, AT&amp;T would reduce or throttle 
their data speeds. Some customers experienced data speeds so slow that 
many common phone applications, such as web browsing and video 
streaming, became difficult or nearly impossible to use.

The money paid by AT&amp;T was 
deposited into a fund that the company used to provide partial refunds 
to current and former customers who had unlimited plans that were 
throttled by AT&amp;T. The company gave a bill credit to current 
AT&amp;T customers and sent refund checks to former customers.

AT&amp;T has not been able to 
reach everyone who was eligible for a refund. The FTC is using the 
remaining $7 million from the fund to provide partial refunds to 
consumers who meet all these requirements:

Consumers who meet these requirements can submit a claim online at <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/ATT">www.ftc.gov/ATT</a>. Consumers can contact the claims administrator by calling 1-877-654-1982 or emailing <a href="mailto:info@ATTDataThrottling.com">info@ATTDataThrottling.com</a>

 if they have questions or if they would like to request a claim form. Consumers have until May 18, 2023, to submit a claim.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1619632629588.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>FTCThe Federal 
Trade Commission opened a claims process for former AT&amp;T customers 
who have yet to claim a refund stemming from the FTC’s lawsuit against 
the company for misleading consumers about its unlimited data plans.Former AT&amp;T
 customers may be eligible to claim a refund from the $7 million 
remaining in a fund created to settle allegations that the wireless 
provider charged for “unlimited” data plans while reducing their data speeds, a practice known as throttling.The <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2019/11/att-pay-60-million-resolve-ftc-allegations-it-misled-consumers-unlimited-data-promises">FTC in 2019 required AT&amp;T to provide $60 million</a>
 for refunds for failing to disclose to millions of smartphone customers
 with unlimited data plans that once they reached a certain amount of 
data use in a given billing cycle, AT&amp;T would reduce or throttle 
their data speeds. Some customers experienced data speeds so slow that 
many common phone applications, such as web browsing and video 
streaming, became difficult or nearly impossible to use.The money paid by AT&amp;T was 
deposited into a fund that the company used to provide partial refunds 
to current and former customers who had unlimited plans that were 
throttled by AT&amp;T. The company gave a bill credit to current 
AT&amp;T customers and sent refund checks to former customers.AT&amp;T has not been able to 
reach everyone who was eligible for a refund. The FTC is using the 
remaining $7 million from the fund to provide partial refunds to 
consumers who meet all these requirements:<ul>
 <li>they are a former AT&amp;T customer;</li><li>they had an unlimited data plan at some point between October 1, 2011 and June 30, 2015;</li><li>they experienced data throttling; and </li><li>they have not received a bill credit or payment from AT&amp;T related to this matter.</li>
 </ul>Consumers who meet these requirements can submit a claim online at <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/ATT">www.ftc.gov/ATT</a>. Consumers can contact the claims administrator by calling 1-877-654-1982 or emailing <a href="mailto:info@ATTDataThrottling.com">info@ATTDataThrottling.com</a> if they have questions or if they would like to request a claim form. Consumers have until May 18, 2023, to submit a claim.

AT&T throttle your wireless? Apply for a payment from FTC

By CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2023-01-18/crews-have-cleaned-up-most-of-the-oil-that-spilled-out-of-the-keystone-pipeline-in-kansas">Kansas News Service</a>

The pipeline company that spilled nearly 600,000 gallons of oil onto 
fields and into a stream in north-central Kansas says it has cleaned up 
more than 85% of the crude.

Meanwhile, the <a href="https://www.backroadsnews.com/" target="_blank">Washington County, Kansas, newspaper</a> reported that the Keystone pipeline is by far the county’s biggest source of tax revenue. The county’s second-biggest source of tax revenue? Also a pipeline operator.

TC
 Energy estimates that 588,000 gallons of crude oil spewed out when the 
Keystone pipeline burst on Dec. 7 — the biggest spill yet on the 
Canadian company’s largest oil pipeline system.

The company says 
crews have recovered about 516,000 gallons. More than 800 workers are on
 site, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Much of the work focuses on Mill Creek. Several miles of the stream <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2023-01-05/crews-are-diverting-a-kansas-creek-as-they-race-to-clean-an-oil-spill-and-prevent-further-pollution" target="_blank">have been blocked off</a> to facilitate the intensive cleanup and contain the contamination.

A
 state environmental agency said last week that it was seeing a drop in 
chemical levels downstream from the isolated segment of the creek.

The Washington County News reported Thursday that seven of the county’s 10 biggest taxpayers involve pipelines.

But revenues from the Keystone pipeline eclipse the rest, and only kicked in recently because a 10-year tax exemption expired.

The
 county, two school districts and other local units of government get 
more than $1.9 million combined in taxes from the Keystone this year, 
the newspaper said.

The second-biggest source of tax revenue, 
another pipeline owned by Northern Natural Gas, paid about $670,000 to 
local units of government in Washington County last year.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1674079663660.png" alt="Crews clean Mill Creek / EPA photo" />
 <figcaption>Crews clean Mill Creek / EPA photo</figcaption>
 </figure>By CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2023-01-18/crews-have-cleaned-up-most-of-the-oil-that-spilled-out-of-the-keystone-pipeline-in-kansas">Kansas News Service</a>The pipeline company that spilled nearly 600,000 gallons of oil onto 
fields and into a stream in north-central Kansas says it has cleaned up 
more than 85% of the crude.Meanwhile, the <a href="https://www.backroadsnews.com/" target="_blank">Washington County, Kansas, newspaper</a> reported that the Keystone pipeline is by far the county’s biggest source of tax revenue. The county’s second-biggest source of tax revenue? Also a pipeline operator.TC
 Energy estimates that 588,000 gallons of crude oil spewed out when the 
Keystone pipeline burst on Dec. 7 — the biggest spill yet on the 
Canadian company’s largest oil pipeline system.The company says 
crews have recovered about 516,000 gallons. More than 800 workers are on
 site, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.Much of the work focuses on Mill Creek. Several miles of the stream <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2023-01-05/crews-are-diverting-a-kansas-creek-as-they-race-to-clean-an-oil-spill-and-prevent-further-pollution" target="_blank">have been blocked off</a> to facilitate the intensive cleanup and contain the contamination.A
 state environmental agency said last week that it was seeing a drop in 
chemical levels downstream from the isolated segment of the creek.<h2>Biggest taxpayers in Washington County</h2>The Washington County News reported Thursday that seven of the county’s 10 biggest taxpayers involve pipelines.But revenues from the Keystone pipeline eclipse the rest, and only kicked in recently because a 10-year tax exemption expired.The
 county, two school districts and other local units of government get 
more than $1.9 million combined in taxes from the Keystone this year, 
the newspaper said.The second-biggest source of tax revenue, 
another pipeline owned by Northern Natural Gas, paid about $670,000 to 
local units of government in Washington County last year.

Crews have cleaned up most of Keystone's Kansas oil spill

By PAUL HAMMEL <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/01/18/pillen-touts-historic-package-of-tax-cuts-saying-we-have-to-compete-better-with-other-states/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — Gov. Jim Pillen unveiled a package of proposed tax cuts on 
Wednesday that he labeled as “historic” and making Nebraska more 
competitive with other states.

The package includes a gradual reduction in state personal and 
corporate income tax rates to a flat, 3.99% — which mirrors the rate 
recently adopted in Iowa — and a shift in the funding of community 
colleges off property taxes.

It also would adopt a new way of valuing agricultural property based 
on the land’s income-producing potential and would limits increases in 
ag land valuations for tax purposes.

In addition, state lawmakers<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/11/17/key-senator-says-rosy-state-finances-call-for-accelerating-tax-breaks/"> will be asked to accelerate,</a>
 and make immediate, the elimination of state income taxes on Social 
Security. Last year, the Nebraska Legislature passed a bill to phase out
 such taxes over a period of years.

“We in Nebraska have to compete better with our neighbors. That’s 
really a key piece,” Pillen said at a press conference with several 
state senators standing behind him.

The newly elected governor said that the tax cuts, which amount to 
$720 million in income tax reductions alone, would place the state among
 the 15 lowest nationwide in taxing income, as calculated by the Tax 
Foundation’s business climate rankings.

While business groups hailed Pillen’s proposals as “bold,” one 
watchdog group questioned whether the state would be able to continue 
funding of state services if such a huge tax cut is approved, coupled 
with a proposal to <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/01/17/nebraska-gov-pillen-wants-2-5-billion-in-new-funding-for-schools-property-tax-relief/">invest an additional $2.5 billion</a> in state aid to K-12 schools.

Rebecca Firestone of the Lincoln-based OpenSky Policy Institute also 
said “a robust body of evidence” indicates that lower tax rates alone do
 not determine where people and businesses locate.

“Other factors such as quality of life, access to good jobs and the 
desire to be close to family rank much higher than taxes in the 
decisions of businesses and individuals,” Firestone said, adding that 
there are “serious concerns” about Pillen’s proposals.

Robust tax receipts, fueled in part by federal pandemic spending, has
 left Nebraska with a budget surplus of $1.9 billion by the end of the 
2024-25 fiscal year. That glut of money has prompted several proposals 
to cut taxes or increase spending on critical needs, such as addressing 
the state’s workforce shortage.

Pillen, during his press conference, said he had said “no, no and no”
 to new spending ideas. Afterwards, he called his plan “very 
sustainable” and “very, very conservative” and said reducing taxes was a
 higher priority than increased spending.

As an example, he said that the state’s hospitals, which are 
struggling with workforce shortages and increasing costs, need to 
“tighten their belts” and that spending more money for health care isn’t
 “solving anything.”

Aspects of the governor’s plan, which was introduced in the Legislature, are:

Such “opportunity scholarship” proposals have been pushed 
unsuccessfully for several years by State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of 
Elkhorn. She said it is a way of giving mostly low-income students an 
alternative to public schools.

The proposals have been opposed by school groups, which say it <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/03/01/controversial-opportunity-scholarship-issue-gains-new-life-its-not-trickery-linehan-says/">diverts public funds away from public</a>&nbsp;schools to private schools and is a step toward state funding of private schools.

There was some confusion at the press conference about what exactly 
was in Pillen’s proposed flat tax, which critics have said benefits 
mostly higher income families.

The bill, as introduced, doesn’t exactly do that, Pillen Chief of 
Staff Kenny Zoeller said after the press conference. However, he said, a
 flat tax is the intent. He said an amendment will be worked out with 
the Legislature’s Revenue Committee.

There were also questions about what happens to taxpayers who 
currently pay less than 3.99%. Right now, for instance, married couples 
with an adjusted gross income of less than $41,190 already pay at a rate
 of 3.5%, and couples with incomes of $6,860 or less pay at 2.46%.

Pillen said that under his plan, everyone would pay 3.99% eventually.

“It’s treating everyone the same. Taxing income on an equitable basis is the fairest way I know,” he said.

But Linehan, who chairs the powerful Revenue Committee that guides 
tax policy in the Legislature, said she would not do anything to harm 
low-income people.

Pillen was asked what benefit his tax plans have for urban 
homeowners. In some instances, such homeowners are now seeing steep 
rises in their property valuations for tax purposes.

The governor said “we’re working on all aspects of property taxes.”

“They’re so high, you don’t have to own property (to be impacted),” he said. “We’re still working on that piece.”

Jim Vokal of the Omaha-based Platte Institute said he was excited to 
see the new governor’s focus “on objectives important to Nebraska’s 
taxpayers: reducing the overall tax burden on our families and 
businesses and making our state economically competitive for job 
creation and growth.”

There’s long been an argument in Nebraska that, because the state’s 
personal and corporate income taxes and property taxes are so high, 
generous tax incentives must be offered to encourage companies to expand
 or locate in the state.

Linehan said that once the state’s personal and corporate rates are 
lowered to 3.99%, a conversation about reducing tax incentives — which 
one report indicated <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/11/04/report-on-state-tax-incentives-show-costs-outweigh-benefits/">cost Nebraska $93.4 million more than the benefits they generated —</a>&nbsp;should occur.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1674073382478.png" alt="Gov. Jim Pillen, flanked by several state senators, unveiled his tax cut proposals Wednesday. (Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner)" />
 <figcaption>Gov. Jim Pillen, flanked by several state senators, unveiled his tax cut proposals Wednesday. (Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
 </figure>By PAUL HAMMEL <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/01/18/pillen-touts-historic-package-of-tax-cuts-saying-we-have-to-compete-better-with-other-states/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — Gov. Jim Pillen unveiled a package of proposed tax cuts on 
Wednesday that he labeled as “historic” and making Nebraska more 
competitive with other states.The package includes a gradual reduction in state personal and 
corporate income tax rates to a flat, 3.99% — which mirrors the rate 
recently adopted in Iowa — and a shift in the funding of community 
colleges off property taxes.It also would adopt a new way of valuing agricultural property based 
on the land’s income-producing potential and would limits increases in 
ag land valuations for tax purposes.In addition, state lawmakers<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/11/17/key-senator-says-rosy-state-finances-call-for-accelerating-tax-breaks/"> will be asked to accelerate,</a>
 and make immediate, the elimination of state income taxes on Social 
Security. Last year, the Nebraska Legislature passed a bill to phase out
 such taxes over a period of years.“We in Nebraska have to compete better with our neighbors. That’s 
really a key piece,” Pillen said at a press conference with several 
state senators standing behind him.The newly elected governor said that the tax cuts, which amount to 
$720 million in income tax reductions alone, would place the state among
 the 15 lowest nationwide in taxing income, as calculated by the Tax 
Foundation’s business climate rankings.While business groups hailed Pillen’s proposals as “bold,” one 
watchdog group questioned whether the state would be able to continue 
funding of state services if such a huge tax cut is approved, coupled 
with a proposal to <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/01/17/nebraska-gov-pillen-wants-2-5-billion-in-new-funding-for-schools-property-tax-relief/">invest an additional $2.5 billion</a> in state aid to K-12 schools.<h2>‘Serious concerns’ </h2>Rebecca Firestone of the Lincoln-based OpenSky Policy Institute also 
said “a robust body of evidence” indicates that lower tax rates alone do
 not determine where people and businesses locate.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1674073436345.jpeg" alt="Rebecca Firestone, executive director of the OpenSky Policy Institute (Courtesy of OpenSky)" />
 <figcaption>Rebecca Firestone, executive director of the OpenSky Policy Institute (Courtesy of OpenSky)</figcaption>
 </figure>“Other factors such as quality of life, access to good jobs and the 
desire to be close to family rank much higher than taxes in the 
decisions of businesses and individuals,” Firestone said, adding that 
there are “serious concerns” about Pillen’s proposals.Robust tax receipts, fueled in part by federal pandemic spending, has
 left Nebraska with a budget surplus of $1.9 billion by the end of the 
2024-25 fiscal year. That glut of money has prompted several proposals 
to cut taxes or increase spending on critical needs, such as addressing 
the state’s workforce shortage.Pillen, during his press conference, said he had said “no, no and no”
 to new spending ideas. Afterwards, he called his plan “very 
sustainable” and “very, very conservative” and said reducing taxes was a
 higher priority than increased spending.As an example, he said that the state’s hospitals, which are 
struggling with workforce shortages and increasing costs, need to 
“tighten their belts” and that spending more money for health care isn’t
 “solving anything.”Aspects of the governor’s plan, which was introduced in the Legislature, are:<ul>
 <li>Reducing the state’s income tax rates, which now top out at 6.2%, gradually to a flat tax of 3.99% by tax year 2027.</li><li>Taking the funding of community colleges off the property tax rolls 
and making it a state responsibility, which would mean a $250 million 
shift from property taxes to state sales and income taxes.</li><li>Putting a cap of 3.5% on increases in valuations of farm and ranch 
land, addressing the explosive growth in ag land valuations in recent 
decades. Also, valuation of farmland for tax purposes would change from 
being based on recent sales to being based on income potential, as is 
done in Iowa and South Dakota.</li><li>Accelerating the elimination of taxes on Social Security income 
adopted last year on a phased-in basis and making it immediate. That 
would amount to a $16.7 million tax break.</li><li>Providing $25 million a year in tax credits for those who donate toward private school scholarships.</li>
 </ul><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1674073476801.jpeg" alt="State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn (Courtesy of Unicameral Information Office)" />
 <figcaption>State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn (Courtesy of Unicameral Information Office)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Opportunity scholarships</h2>Such “opportunity scholarship” proposals have been pushed 
unsuccessfully for several years by State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of 
Elkhorn. She said it is a way of giving mostly low-income students an 
alternative to public schools.The proposals have been opposed by school groups, which say it <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/03/01/controversial-opportunity-scholarship-issue-gains-new-life-its-not-trickery-linehan-says/">diverts public funds away from public</a>&nbsp;schools to private schools and is a step toward state funding of private schools.There was some confusion at the press conference about what exactly 
was in Pillen’s proposed flat tax, which critics have said benefits 
mostly higher income families.The bill, as introduced, doesn’t exactly do that, Pillen Chief of 
Staff Kenny Zoeller said after the press conference. However, he said, a
 flat tax is the intent. He said an amendment will be worked out with 
the Legislature’s Revenue Committee.There were also questions about what happens to taxpayers who 
currently pay less than 3.99%. Right now, for instance, married couples 
with an adjusted gross income of less than $41,190 already pay at a rate
 of 3.5%, and couples with incomes of $6,860 or less pay at 2.46%.Pillen said that under his plan, everyone would pay 3.99% eventually.<h2>Flat tax called ‘fairest way’</h2>“It’s treating everyone the same. Taxing income on an equitable basis is the fairest way I know,” he said.But Linehan, who chairs the powerful Revenue Committee that guides 
tax policy in the Legislature, said she would not do anything to harm 
low-income people.Pillen was asked what benefit his tax plans have for urban 
homeowners. In some instances, such homeowners are now seeing steep 
rises in their property valuations for tax purposes.The governor said “we’re working on all aspects of property taxes.”“They’re so high, you don’t have to own property (to be impacted),” he said. “We’re still working on that piece.”Jim Vokal of the Omaha-based Platte Institute said he was excited to 
see the new governor’s focus “on objectives important to Nebraska’s 
taxpayers: reducing the overall tax burden on our families and 
businesses and making our state economically competitive for job 
creation and growth.”There’s long been an argument in Nebraska that, because the state’s 
personal and corporate income taxes and property taxes are so high, 
generous tax incentives must be offered to encourage companies to expand
 or locate in the state.Linehan said that once the state’s personal and corporate rates are 
lowered to 3.99%, a conversation about reducing tax incentives — which 
one report indicated <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/11/04/report-on-state-tax-incentives-show-costs-outweigh-benefits/">cost Nebraska $93.4 million more than the benefits they generated —</a>&nbsp;should occur.

New Neb. governor touts ‘historic’ package of tax cuts

By MATT O'BRIEN Associated Press

Microsoft is cutting 10,000 workers, almost 5% of its workforce, 
joining other tech companies that have scaled back their pandemic-era 
expansions.

The company said in a regulatory filing Wednesday that
 the layoffs were a response to “macroeconomic conditions and changing 
customer priorities.”

The Redmond, Washington-based software giant
 said it will also be making changes to its hardware portfolio and 
consolidating its leased office locations.

Microsoft is cutting 
far fewer jobs than it had added during the COVID-19 pandemic as it 
responded to a boom in demand for its workplace software and cloud 
computing services with so many people working and studying from home.

“A big part of this is just overexuberance in hiring,” said Joshua White, a finance professor at Vanderbilt University.

Microsoft’s
 workforce expanded by about 36% in the two fiscal years following the 
emergence of the pandemic, growing from 163,000 workers at the end of 
June 2020, to 221,000 in June 2022.

The layoffs represent “less 
than 5 percent of our total employee base, with some notifications 
happening today,” CEO Satya Nadella said in an email to employees.

“While
 we are eliminating roles in some areas, we will continue to hire in key
 strategic areas,” Nadella said. He emphasized the importance of 
building a “new computer platform” using advances in artificial 
intelligence.

He said customers that were accelerating their 
spending on digital technology during the pandemic are now trying to 
“optimize their digital spend to do more with less.”

“We’re also 
seeing organizations in every industry and geography exercise caution as
 some parts of the world are in a recession and other parts are 
anticipating one,” Nadella wrote.

Other tech companies have also been <a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-san-francisco-marc-benioff-bbb2f3a09eafdfc7cda54a3b87e538ad">trimming jobs</a> amid concerns about an economic slowdown.

Amazon
 and business software maker Salesforce earlier this month announced 
major job cuts as they prune payrolls that rapidly expanded during the 
pandemic lockdown.

Amazon said that it will be cutting about 
18,000 positions. It’s the largest set of layoffs in the Seattle 
company’s history, although just a fraction of its 1.5 million global 
workforce.

Facebook parent Meta is laying off 11,000 people, about
 13% of its workforce. And Elon Musk, the new Twitter CEO, has slashed 
the company’s workforce.

Nadella made no direct mention of the 
layoffs on Wednesday when he put in an appearance at the World Economic 
Forum’s annual meeting happening this week in Davos, Switzerland.

When
 asked by the forum’s founder Klaus Schwab on what tech layoffs meant 
for the industry’s business model, Nadella said companies that boomed 
during the COVID-19 pandemic are now seeing “normalization” of that 
demand.

“Quite frankly, we in the tech industry will also have to 
get efficient, right?” Nadella said. “It’s not about everyone else doing
 more with less. We will have to do more with less. So we will have to 
show our own productivity gains with our own sort of technology.”

Microsoft
 didn't immediately respond to questions about where the layoffs and 
office closures would be concentrated. As of June, it had 122,000 
workers in the U.S. and 99,000 elsewhere.

White, the Vanderbilt 
professor, said all industries are looking to cut costs ahead of a 
possible recession but tech companies could be particularly sensitive to
 the rapid rise in interest rates, a tool that has been used 
aggressively in recent months by the Federal Reserve in its fight 
against inflation.

“This hits tech companies a little harder than 
it does industrials or consumer staples because a huge portion of 
Microsoft’s value is on projects with cash flows that won’t pay off for 
several years," he said.

Among the projects that have been 
attracting attention recently is Microsoft’s investment in its San 
Francisco startup partner OpenAI, maker of the writing tool ChatGPT and 
other AI systems that can generate readable text, images and computer 
code.

Microsoft, which owns the Xbox game business, also faces 
regulatory uncertainty in the U.S. and Europe delaying its planned $68.7
 billion takeover of video game company Activision Blizzard, which had 
about 9,800 employees as of a year ago.

By MATT O'BRIEN Associated PressMicrosoft is cutting 10,000 workers, almost 5% of its workforce, 
joining other tech companies that have scaled back their pandemic-era 
expansions.The company said in a regulatory filing Wednesday that
 the layoffs were a response to “macroeconomic conditions and changing 
customer priorities.”The Redmond, Washington-based software giant
 said it will also be making changes to its hardware portfolio and 
consolidating its leased office locations.Microsoft is cutting 
far fewer jobs than it had added during the COVID-19 pandemic as it 
responded to a boom in demand for its workplace software and cloud 
computing services with so many people working and studying from home.“A big part of this is just overexuberance in hiring,” said Joshua White, a finance professor at Vanderbilt University.Microsoft’s
 workforce expanded by about 36% in the two fiscal years following the 
emergence of the pandemic, growing from 163,000 workers at the end of 
June 2020, to 221,000 in June 2022.The layoffs represent “less 
than 5 percent of our total employee base, with some notifications 
happening today,” CEO Satya Nadella said in an email to employees.“While
 we are eliminating roles in some areas, we will continue to hire in key
 strategic areas,” Nadella said. He emphasized the importance of 
building a “new computer platform” using advances in artificial 
intelligence.He said customers that were accelerating their 
spending on digital technology during the pandemic are now trying to 
“optimize their digital spend to do more with less.”“We’re also 
seeing organizations in every industry and geography exercise caution as
 some parts of the world are in a recession and other parts are 
anticipating one,” Nadella wrote.Other tech companies have also been <a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-san-francisco-marc-benioff-bbb2f3a09eafdfc7cda54a3b87e538ad">trimming jobs</a> amid concerns about an economic slowdown.Amazon
 and business software maker Salesforce earlier this month announced 
major job cuts as they prune payrolls that rapidly expanded during the 
pandemic lockdown.Amazon said that it will be cutting about 
18,000 positions. It’s the largest set of layoffs in the Seattle 
company’s history, although just a fraction of its 1.5 million global 
workforce.Facebook parent Meta is laying off 11,000 people, about
 13% of its workforce. And Elon Musk, the new Twitter CEO, has slashed 
the company’s workforce.Nadella made no direct mention of the 
layoffs on Wednesday when he put in an appearance at the World Economic 
Forum’s annual meeting happening this week in Davos, Switzerland.When
 asked by the forum’s founder Klaus Schwab on what tech layoffs meant 
for the industry’s business model, Nadella said companies that boomed 
during the COVID-19 pandemic are now seeing “normalization” of that 
demand.“Quite frankly, we in the tech industry will also have to 
get efficient, right?” Nadella said. “It’s not about everyone else doing
 more with less. We will have to do more with less. So we will have to 
show our own productivity gains with our own sort of technology.”Microsoft
 didn't immediately respond to questions about where the layoffs and 
office closures would be concentrated. As of June, it had 122,000 
workers in the U.S. and 99,000 elsewhere.White, the Vanderbilt 
professor, said all industries are looking to cut costs ahead of a 
possible recession but tech companies could be particularly sensitive to
 the rapid rise in interest rates, a tool that has been used 
aggressively in recent months by the Federal Reserve in its fight 
against inflation.“This hits tech companies a little harder than 
it does industrials or consumer staples because a huge portion of 
Microsoft’s value is on projects with cash flows that won’t pay off for 
several years," he said.Among the projects that have been 
attracting attention recently is Microsoft’s investment in its San 
Francisco startup partner OpenAI, maker of the writing tool ChatGPT and 
other AI systems that can generate readable text, images and computer 
code.Microsoft, which owns the Xbox game business, also faces 
regulatory uncertainty in the U.S. and Europe delaying its planned $68.7
 billion takeover of video game company Activision Blizzard, which had 
about 9,800 employees as of a year ago.

Job cuts in tech sector spread, Microsoft lays off 10,000

By PAUL HAMMEL <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/after-eight-years-of-failed-efforts-advocates-for-legalizing-medical-cannabis-try-again-in-the-legislature/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — Advocates for 
legalizing cannabis for medical use are trying again in 2023, despite at
 least eight years of setbacks in Nebraska.

“There is one thing we will not do, and that is give up,” said Crista
 Eggers of Gretna, whose son suffers from intractable epileptic 
seizures.

The first proposal in the Nebraska Legislature to legalize marijuana 
for medicinal use was defeated eight years ago, when a bill introduced 
by Bellevue Sen. Tommy Garrett was blocked.

Other similar legislation has failed, but in 2020, a medical 
marijuana ballot initiative was headed to almost certain victory before 
it was tossed off the ballot by the Nebraska Supreme Court for violating
 the state’s “single subject” rule for such initiatives.

Despite those disappointments, another effort was launched Tuesday with the introduction of <a target="_blank" href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/108/PDF/Intro/LB588.pdf">Legislative Bill 588, the “Medicinal Cannabis Act,”</a> by State Sen. Anna Wishart of Lincoln, a leading advocate.

Wishart said LB 588 is “one of the most conservative medical cannabis
 bills in the nation” and is being introduced amid “growing evidence” 
that marijuana has medicinal values for reducing seizures and relieving 
pain and that it can help reduce use of opioids.

“It is long past time that Nebraskans have access to a far safer alternative medicine,” the senator said.

Thirty-seven states, including Missouri and Colorado, have legalized medical marijuana.

LB 588 is similar to a bill introduced in 2021 that came two votes 
short of overcoming a filibuster. Eggers, who is a spokeswoman for 
Nebraska Families for Medical Cannabis, said the bill prohibits the 
smoking of marijuana as medicine and home growing of cannabis, and it 
has a narrower list of maladies that can be treated with cannabis.

Post-traumatic stress syndrome, for instance, is excluded, despite 
support for the use of cannabis for PTSD from some veterans groups, 
including the American Legion.

“Hopefully, with a new administration and a new governor, we can have a conversation,” Eggers said.

New Gov. Jim Pillen appears to have a similar stance on legalizing 
cannabis for medicinal use as his predecessor, Gov. Pete Ricketts, who 
opposed legalization unless there was testing and marijuana was approved
 as a drug by the Federal Drug Administration.

Pillen, in October, gave <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ketv.com/article/nebraska-republican-jim-pillen-gubernatorial-plans/41771442">Omaha television station KETV</a> a similar opinion.

“I am a supporter of FDA-approved process prescriptions, so approved 
medical marijuana through the FDA process, then we have safe product 
that all of us can agree on,” Pillen told KETV.

Last year, an initiative petition drive to get the issue on the ballot fell short. Advocates <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/08/22/medical-marijuana-petitions-fail-to-qualify-for-november-ballot/">blamed the lack of paid petition</a> circulators and the death of a major financier of the successful 2020 petition drive.

But Eggers said there’s “no question” that Nebraskans support 
allowing medical marijuana, and she hopes lawmakers “show compassion” 
this year.

Another longtime advocate, Dominic Gillen, whose son, Will,
 struggles with frequent seizures, said it’s time for lawmakers to act.

“My family has been fighting for this for eight years. A 
handful of senators in the Capitol building are preventing my son from 
having a better quality of life,” Gillen said. “This is wrong.”

Eggers added that if LB 588 fails to pass, advocates will once again launch a petition drive to seek voter approval.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1674060688962.png" alt="Stacks of signed petitions sat in Crista Eggers’ home in Omaha in May 2022, awaiting submission to the state in July. Eggers is the statewide campaign coordinator for Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana. (Rebecca S. Gratz)" />
 <figcaption>Stacks of signed petitions sat in Crista Eggers’ home in Omaha in May 2022, awaiting submission to the state in July. Eggers is the statewide campaign coordinator for Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana. (Rebecca S. Gratz)</figcaption>
 </figure>By PAUL HAMMEL <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/after-eight-years-of-failed-efforts-advocates-for-legalizing-medical-cannabis-try-again-in-the-legislature/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — Advocates for 
legalizing cannabis for medical use are trying again in 2023, despite at
 least eight years of setbacks in Nebraska.“There is one thing we will not do, and that is give up,” said Crista
 Eggers of Gretna, whose son suffers from intractable epileptic 
seizures.The first proposal in the Nebraska Legislature to legalize marijuana 
for medicinal use was defeated eight years ago, when a bill introduced 
by Bellevue Sen. Tommy Garrett was blocked.Other similar legislation has failed, but in 2020, a medical 
marijuana ballot initiative was headed to almost certain victory before 
it was tossed off the ballot by the Nebraska Supreme Court for violating
 the state’s “single subject” rule for such initiatives.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1660224007414.jpeg" alt="State Sen. Anna Wishart of Lincoln (Courtesy of Unicameral Information Office)" />
 <figcaption>State Sen. Anna Wishart of Lincoln (Courtesy of Unicameral Information Office)</figcaption>
 </figure>Despite those disappointments, another effort was launched Tuesday with the introduction of <a target="_blank" href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/108/PDF/Intro/LB588.pdf">Legislative Bill 588, the “Medicinal Cannabis Act,”</a> by State Sen. Anna Wishart of Lincoln, a leading advocate.Wishart said LB 588 is “one of the most conservative medical cannabis
 bills in the nation” and is being introduced amid “growing evidence” 
that marijuana has medicinal values for reducing seizures and relieving 
pain and that it can help reduce use of opioids.<h2>‘Long past time’</h2>“It is long past time that Nebraskans have access to a far safer alternative medicine,” the senator said.Thirty-seven states, including Missouri and Colorado, have legalized medical marijuana.LB 588 is similar to a bill introduced in 2021 that came two votes 
short of overcoming a filibuster. Eggers, who is a spokeswoman for 
Nebraska Families for Medical Cannabis, said the bill prohibits the 
smoking of marijuana as medicine and home growing of cannabis, and it 
has a narrower list of maladies that can be treated with cannabis.Post-traumatic stress syndrome, for instance, is excluded, despite 
support for the use of cannabis for PTSD from some veterans groups, 
including the American Legion.“Hopefully, with a new administration and a new governor, we can have a conversation,” Eggers said.New Gov. Jim Pillen appears to have a similar stance on legalizing 
cannabis for medicinal use as his predecessor, Gov. Pete Ricketts, who 
opposed legalization unless there was testing and marijuana was approved
 as a drug by the Federal Drug Administration.Pillen, in October, gave <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ketv.com/article/nebraska-republican-jim-pillen-gubernatorial-plans/41771442">Omaha television station KETV</a> a similar opinion.<h2>Pillen wants FDA approval</h2>“I am a supporter of FDA-approved process prescriptions, so approved 
medical marijuana through the FDA process, then we have safe product 
that all of us can agree on,” Pillen told KETV.Last year, an initiative petition drive to get the issue on the ballot fell short. Advocates <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/08/22/medical-marijuana-petitions-fail-to-qualify-for-november-ballot/">blamed the lack of paid petition</a> circulators and the death of a major financier of the successful 2020 petition drive.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1674060795215.jpeg" alt="Parents of these children, who suffer from epileptic seizures, have been among those pleading for Nebraska to legalize medical marijuana. Pictured are, from left, Colton Eggers, Jayen Hochstein and Will Gillen. (Courtesy of Crista Eggers)" />
 <figcaption>Parents of these children, who suffer from epileptic seizures, have been among those pleading for Nebraska to legalize medical marijuana. Pictured are, from left, Colton Eggers, Jayen Hochstein and Will Gillen. (Courtesy of Crista Eggers)</figcaption>
 </figure>But Eggers said there’s “no question” that Nebraskans support 
allowing medical marijuana, and she hopes lawmakers “show compassion” 
this year.Another longtime advocate, Dominic Gillen, whose son, Will,
 struggles with frequent seizures, said it’s time for lawmakers to act.“My family has been fighting for this for eight years. A 
handful of senators in the Capitol building are preventing my son from 
having a better quality of life,” Gillen said. “This is wrong.”Eggers added that if LB 588 fails to pass, advocates will once again launch a petition drive to seek voter approval.

Advocates push yet again for medical marijuana in Neb.

By AARON SANDERFORD <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/01/17/nebraska-gov-pillen-wants-2-5-billion-in-new-funding-for-schools-property-tax-relief/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — Every school district in Nebraska would receive at least 
$1,500 per student in state aid for K-12 education, and the state would 
pick up more of the tab for special education, under a set of three 
school funding proposals that Gov. Jim Pillen unveiled Tuesday.

“All of us in Nebraska agree on two really simple things: that we 
never, ever quit on our kids … and we all agree that property taxes have
 gotten so out of whack in Nebraska that you don’t even need to own 
property to be affected,” Pillen said.

o ensure that property-tax payers feel relief from the proposals’ 
projected $2.5 billion in new state spending by 2029-30, the package 
includes a “soft cap” on increased school spending, as proposed in <a target="_blank" href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/108/PDF/Intro/LB589.pdf">Legislative Bill 589</a>, sponsored by State Sen. Tom Briese of Albion.

The cap would allow spending increases of no more than 3% of a school
 district’s annual revenue growth. It would allow for additional 
spending to keep up with student population growth and increases in 
students in poverty and those learning English.

Districts would need the approval of a supermajority of their board or 60% of district voters to override the cap.

“It’s simply an effort to protect the property-tax payers and try to 
ensure that these dollars yield property tax relief over time,” Briese 
said in an interview after the announcement.

Pillen’s push for a baseline amount of state aid for every student 
has been a goal for rural senators for decades. There is no minimum 
today. While campaigning, Pillen argued it was unfair that 158 of 
Nebraska’s 244 school districts receive no equalization aid under the 
current state aid formula.

Senators said the $1,500 in per student in baseline aid could reduce 
how much equalization aid larger districts are already receiving &nbsp;by up 
to the same amount, but the detailed analysis may have to wait for the 
committee hearing.

<a target="_blank" href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/108/PDF/Intro/LB583.pdf">Legislative Bill 583</a>,
 which contains the proposal for baseline aid and special education, is 
sponsored by Sen. Rita Sanders of Bellevue. The baseline aid portion 
would cost $113 million a year, Pillen said. The special ed portion 
would cost $157 million each year.

That spending would be in addition to $1.1 billion the state’s taxpayers now spend on state aid.

Opponents of baseline aid have argued in previous years that many 
rural school districts educate fewer students with special needs, 
English language learners and students in poverty than larger peer 
districts. Many rural districts also set their property tax rates lower 
than bigger districts.

Pillen said the new funding package would hold harmless all K-12 
districts that receive equalization aid, including the Omaha Public 
Schools, Millard Public Schools and Lincoln Public Schools.

It would do so by spending more on special ed. Sanders said the state
 has fallen behind in its pledge to fund 80% of special ed costs with 
state and federal funds. Arc of Nebraska expressed support for the 
special ed funding.

“We are here today because the governor sat down and listened to all 
sides of the school funding discussion and is working toward a 
consensus,” Sanders said. “I look forward to the same process in the 
Legislature.”

Sen. Robert Clements of Elmwood is expected to introduce the third 
and final part of the package Wednesday. It would use $1 billion from 
this year’s unexpected state windfall from inflation and federal money 
for COVID-19 to fund a “Nebraska Education Future Fund.”

Clements’ bill would expand on an idea put forward in recent years by
 Sen. Lynne Walz of Fremont. Walz on Tuesday praised the idea of a 
set-aside education fund, although she said she needed more time to read
 the rest of the bills to see where the funding would come from and how 
the models show the effect on individual school districts.

“I think a trust fund for public education in Nebraska is a good idea
 because we do have down times, and if we don’t have some type of 
reserve that we can rely on in a down time, we’re just going to be going
 back to the property-tax payers,” Walz said Tuesday.

Clements said the goal is to set aside $1 billion for the new fund 
this year from state general funds. Pillen and Clements said they plan 
to build the fund to $2.5 billion by 2029-30, with at least $250 million
 a year in new spending to boost the fund.

Clements’ staff said the state investment officer would oversee 
investments by the education fund and it would be placed under the 
guidance of the Nebraska Investment Council. The Governor’s Office 
expects to be able to use the fund and its investment proceeds to cover 
the annual costs of foundation aid and special ed funding, even while 
the fund is being built up.

Sen. Mike Moser of Columbus, who represents Pillen’s home district, 
said the goal is to build the education fund to the point that the state
 can more easily absorb swings in the economy, including a predicted 
recession.

Political observers, including former state senators, have said the 
disagreements will come when individual senators considering the ed 
bills “get the sheets” — the printouts showing funding for individual 
districts and which gain or lose based on current funding.

Walz and Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Omaha said they expect disagreement 
on the spending cap bill. Nobody likes to be told what they can and 
cannot spend, Linehan said. But the proposals appear to have a better 
chance to pass this year, she said, because “they have a billion 
dollars.”

“The constant pushback was you can’t afford to do more because you’ll have to cut us,” Linehan said. “Now we have the money.”

It was not immediately clear whether the proposal for baseline aid 
might cost urban and suburban districts any equalization aid. Omaha 
Public Schools Superintendent Cheryl Logan declined to comment until she
 had time to review the bills.

Lincoln Superintendent Paul Gausman said Tuesday he agreed with the 
focus on special education, mentoring and teacher recruiting and 
retention. He said the district is still analyzing the proposals’ impact
 on his district.

Districts that receive equalization aid now, including Lexington, 
Grand Island, South Sioux City, Omaha and Lincoln, sued the state in the
 early 2000s asserting, among other things, that the state formula 
didn’t adequately address their students’ needs.

Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha has proposed a separate plan, Legislative 
Bill 475, that would scrap the school funding formula entirely and 
replace it with a commitment to fund 48% of general fund operating costs
 for schools and, among other changes, would provide more money for 
schools with more kids receiving free- and reduced-price lunch and kids 
in sparsely populated areas.

He said he had not had time to read the governor’s package but said 
he wanted a bill in place that would make sure the needs of urban 
students and the Omaha Public Schools are part of the broader 
school-funding debate this year.

“I’m trying to simplify our funding formula where every student gets 
something,” Wayne said. “I knew the governor was doing something. I 
didn’t hear a lot of Omaha senators doing something.”

The Nebraska State Education Association was cautiously optimistic 
about the package. Tim Royers, president of the Millard Education 
Association, speaking on behalf of the state union, said teachers heard a
 lot they liked Tuesday, but have a few questions.

“The biggest thing that we heard that we’re really excited about is, 
the governor acknowledged something that we’ve been talking about for a 
really long time, that the state had to increase its investment in K-12 
education,” Royers said.

Nebraska ranks among the lowest states nationally in the percentage of school funding provided by the state.

It also helped to hear Pillen acknowledge the need to use some of the
 new funding to recruit and retain teachers, he said. And they are happy
 to see the state pressing to fund special education at a more 
responsible level.

Royers said the NSEA and his Millard union heard “no poison pills” so
 far in the proposals, including the spending cap, but will wait to see 
more details to make sure no students are negatively impacted by the 
changes.

“The philosophy behind the bills is such a change in tone from what 
we’ve heard historically from the Governor’s Office,” Royers said. 
“Historically, it’s been shared that the schools have a spending 
problem. We heard today that the state needs to invest more.”

Think tanks from both sides of the aisle appeared open to the 
proposals. Rebecca Firestone, executive director of the OpenSky 
Institute, which typically advocates for additional funding, said the 
group appreciates “the governor’s interest in increasing state aid to 
public education and investing more in our state’s children.”

She said her organization needs more information to understand 
whether the spending is sustainable and the impacts of the local 
spending cap.

The Platte Institute, a conservative think tank Gov. Pete Ricketts 
helped found but stepped away from in 2013, credited Pillen and the 
senators for proposing something “bold” on school spending and property 
tax relief.

The Platte Institute supports “creating a sustainable source of 
education funding that allows for a reduction of property taxes” and 
managing the growth of property taxes moving forward, said CEO Jim 
Vokal.

Pillen, asked how he can square $2.5 billion in additional spending with running as a fiscal conservative, said:

“There’s a big difference between spending and investing. These are 
investments into the future of our kids, and these are investments that 
will also allow us to have a great impact on cutting property taxes 
across the state.”

Pillen did not have an estimate of how much the bills might relieve the average Nebraskan’s property taxes.

“It won’t be enough,” Pillen said. “But it’s a heck of a good start.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1674046041594.png" alt="Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen introduces a series of education funding bills on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023, at the Capitol in Lincoln. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)" />
 <figcaption>Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen introduces a series of education funding bills on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023, at the Capitol in Lincoln. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
 </figure>By AARON SANDERFORD <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/01/17/nebraska-gov-pillen-wants-2-5-billion-in-new-funding-for-schools-property-tax-relief/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — Every school district in Nebraska would receive at least 
$1,500 per student in state aid for K-12 education, and the state would 
pick up more of the tab for special education, under a set of three 
school funding proposals that Gov. Jim Pillen unveiled Tuesday.“All of us in Nebraska agree on two really simple things: that we 
never, ever quit on our kids … and we all agree that property taxes have
 gotten so out of whack in Nebraska that you don’t even need to own 
property to be affected,” Pillen said.o ensure that property-tax payers feel relief from the proposals’ 
projected $2.5 billion in new state spending by 2029-30, the package 
includes a “soft cap” on increased school spending, as proposed in <a target="_blank" href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/108/PDF/Intro/LB589.pdf">Legislative Bill 589</a>, sponsored by State Sen. Tom Briese of Albion.The cap would allow spending increases of no more than 3% of a school
 district’s annual revenue growth. It would allow for additional 
spending to keep up with student population growth and increases in 
students in poverty and those learning English.Districts would need the approval of a supermajority of their board or 60% of district voters to override the cap.“It’s simply an effort to protect the property-tax payers and try to 
ensure that these dollars yield property tax relief over time,” Briese 
said in an interview after the announcement.<h2>Baseline aid and special ed</h2>Pillen’s push for a baseline amount of state aid for every student 
has been a goal for rural senators for decades. There is no minimum 
today. While campaigning, Pillen argued it was unfair that 158 of 
Nebraska’s 244 school districts receive no equalization aid under the 
current state aid formula.Senators said the $1,500 in per student in baseline aid could reduce 
how much equalization aid larger districts are already receiving &nbsp;by up 
to the same amount, but the detailed analysis may have to wait for the 
committee hearing.<a target="_blank" href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/108/PDF/Intro/LB583.pdf">Legislative Bill 583</a>,
 which contains the proposal for baseline aid and special education, is 
sponsored by Sen. Rita Sanders of Bellevue. The baseline aid portion 
would cost $113 million a year, Pillen said. The special ed portion 
would cost $157 million each year.That spending would be in addition to $1.1 billion the state’s taxpayers now spend on state aid.Opponents of baseline aid have argued in previous years that many 
rural school districts educate fewer students with special needs, 
English language learners and students in poverty than larger peer 
districts. Many rural districts also set their property tax rates lower 
than bigger districts.Pillen said the new funding package would hold harmless all K-12 
districts that receive equalization aid, including the Omaha Public 
Schools, Millard Public Schools and Lincoln Public Schools.It would do so by spending more on special ed. Sanders said the state
 has fallen behind in its pledge to fund 80% of special ed costs with 
state and federal funds. Arc of Nebraska expressed support for the 
special ed funding.“We are here today because the governor sat down and listened to all 
sides of the school funding discussion and is working toward a 
consensus,” Sanders said. “I look forward to the same process in the 
Legislature.”<h2>‘Education Future Fund’</h2>Sen. Robert Clements of Elmwood is expected to introduce the third 
and final part of the package Wednesday. It would use $1 billion from 
this year’s unexpected state windfall from inflation and federal money 
for COVID-19 to fund a “Nebraska Education Future Fund.”Clements’ bill would expand on an idea put forward in recent years by
 Sen. Lynne Walz of Fremont. Walz on Tuesday praised the idea of a 
set-aside education fund, although she said she needed more time to read
 the rest of the bills to see where the funding would come from and how 
the models show the effect on individual school districts.“I think a trust fund for public education in Nebraska is a good idea
 because we do have down times, and if we don’t have some type of 
reserve that we can rely on in a down time, we’re just going to be going
 back to the property-tax payers,” Walz said Tuesday.Clements said the goal is to set aside $1 billion for the new fund 
this year from state general funds. Pillen and Clements said they plan 
to build the fund to $2.5 billion by 2029-30, with at least $250 million
 a year in new spending to boost the fund.Clements’ staff said the state investment officer would oversee 
investments by the education fund and it would be placed under the 
guidance of the Nebraska Investment Council. The Governor’s Office 
expects to be able to use the fund and its investment proceeds to cover 
the annual costs of foundation aid and special ed funding, even while 
the fund is being built up.Sen. Mike Moser of Columbus, who represents Pillen’s home district, 
said the goal is to build the education fund to the point that the state
 can more easily absorb swings in the economy, including a predicted 
recession.<h2>Pitfalls ahead</h2>Political observers, including former state senators, have said the 
disagreements will come when individual senators considering the ed 
bills “get the sheets” — the printouts showing funding for individual 
districts and which gain or lose based on current funding.Walz and Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Omaha said they expect disagreement 
on the spending cap bill. Nobody likes to be told what they can and 
cannot spend, Linehan said. But the proposals appear to have a better 
chance to pass this year, she said, because “they have a billion 
dollars.”“The constant pushback was you can’t afford to do more because you’ll have to cut us,” Linehan said. “Now we have the money.”It was not immediately clear whether the proposal for baseline aid 
might cost urban and suburban districts any equalization aid. Omaha 
Public Schools Superintendent Cheryl Logan declined to comment until she
 had time to review the bills.Lincoln Superintendent Paul Gausman said Tuesday he agreed with the 
focus on special education, mentoring and teacher recruiting and 
retention. He said the district is still analyzing the proposals’ impact
 on his district.Districts that receive equalization aid now, including Lexington, 
Grand Island, South Sioux City, Omaha and Lincoln, sued the state in the
 early 2000s asserting, among other things, that the state formula 
didn’t adequately address their students’ needs.Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha has proposed a separate plan, Legislative 
Bill 475, that would scrap the school funding formula entirely and 
replace it with a commitment to fund 48% of general fund operating costs
 for schools and, among other changes, would provide more money for 
schools with more kids receiving free- and reduced-price lunch and kids 
in sparsely populated areas.He said he had not had time to read the governor’s package but said 
he wanted a bill in place that would make sure the needs of urban 
students and the Omaha Public Schools are part of the broader 
school-funding debate this year.“I’m trying to simplify our funding formula where every student gets 
something,” Wayne said. “I knew the governor was doing something. I 
didn’t hear a lot of Omaha senators doing something.”<h2>‘A change in tone’</h2>The Nebraska State Education Association was cautiously optimistic 
about the package. Tim Royers, president of the Millard Education 
Association, speaking on behalf of the state union, said teachers heard a
 lot they liked Tuesday, but have a few questions.“The biggest thing that we heard that we’re really excited about is, 
the governor acknowledged something that we’ve been talking about for a 
really long time, that the state had to increase its investment in K-12 
education,” Royers said.Nebraska ranks among the lowest states nationally in the percentage of school funding provided by the state.It also helped to hear Pillen acknowledge the need to use some of the
 new funding to recruit and retain teachers, he said. And they are happy
 to see the state pressing to fund special education at a more 
responsible level.Royers said the NSEA and his Millard union heard “no poison pills” so
 far in the proposals, including the spending cap, but will wait to see 
more details to make sure no students are negatively impacted by the 
changes.“The philosophy behind the bills is such a change in tone from what 
we’ve heard historically from the Governor’s Office,” Royers said. 
“Historically, it’s been shared that the schools have a spending 
problem. We heard today that the state needs to invest more.”<h2>Rare agreement</h2>Think tanks from both sides of the aisle appeared open to the 
proposals. Rebecca Firestone, executive director of the OpenSky 
Institute, which typically advocates for additional funding, said the 
group appreciates “the governor’s interest in increasing state aid to 
public education and investing more in our state’s children.”She said her organization needs more information to understand 
whether the spending is sustainable and the impacts of the local 
spending cap.The Platte Institute, a conservative think tank Gov. Pete Ricketts 
helped found but stepped away from in 2013, credited Pillen and the 
senators for proposing something “bold” on school spending and property 
tax relief.The Platte Institute supports “creating a sustainable source of 
education funding that allows for a reduction of property taxes” and 
managing the growth of property taxes moving forward, said CEO Jim 
Vokal.Pillen, asked how he can square $2.5 billion in additional spending with running as a fiscal conservative, said:“There’s a big difference between spending and investing. These are 
investments into the future of our kids, and these are investments that 
will also allow us to have a great impact on cutting property taxes 
across the state.”Pillen did not have an estimate of how much the bills might relieve the average Nebraskan’s property taxes.“It won’t be enough,” Pillen said. “But it’s a heck of a good start.”

Pillen wants $2.5B in new funding for schools, tax relief

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House brushed aside criticism Tuesday of its fragmented disclosures about the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-united-states-government-district-of-columbia-0574fd762159e8cb5f31c85205df3dc0">discovery of classified documents and official records</a>&nbsp;at President Joe Biden's home and former office, saying it may withhold information to protect the Justice Department's investigation.

Ian Sams, a spokesperson for the White House counsel’s office, told reporters that the White House was releasing information as it deemed it “appropriate." Responding to criticism of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iran-biden-politics-united-states-government-us-department-of-justice-b63ffc9b1042b4287a22e88672f4ef77">the piecemeal disclosures</a>, Sams said the White House was trying to be mindful of the “risk” in sharing information “that's not complete.”

“We’re endeavoring to be as transparent and informative to you all in the media, to the public as we can consistent with respecting the integrity of an ongoing Justice Department investigation,” he said.

The discovery of the documents in Biden's possession complicates a federal probe into former&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/mar-a-lago">President Donald Trump</a>, who the Justice Department says took hundreds of records marked classified with him upon leaving the White House in early 2021 and resisted months of requests to return them to the government.

While the two cases are different — Biden for example, willingly turned over the documents once found — it still has become a political headache for a president who promised a clean break from the operations of the Trump administration.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-united-states-government-district-of-columbia-0574fd762159e8cb5f31c85205df3dc0">On Saturday, the White House disclosed</a>&nbsp;that Biden attorneys found classified documents and official records on four separate occasions — on Nov. 2 at the offices of the Penn Biden Center in Washington, on Dec. 20 in the garage of the president's&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-politics-united-states-government-us-democratic-party-donald-trump-d758b30c5c88aaf0014c2baf3d46a882">Wilmington, Delaware home</a>, and on Nov. 11 and 12 in the president's home library.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had said before the additional discovery that Americans could assume the investigation had completed. On Tuesday, she referred questions to the Justice Department or White House counsel's office on whether more documents existed and whether they would be disclosed if discovered.

“The president and his team rightfully took action," she said of the turning over the documents after they were discovered.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673546739694.png" alt="Biden backing his Corvette into the garage next to stacks of boxes where classified documents were found-image from a 2020 Biden for President campaign ad" />
 <figcaption>Biden backing his Corvette into the garage next to stacks of boxes where classified documents were found-image from a 2020 Biden for President campaign ad</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House brushed aside criticism Tuesday of its fragmented disclosures about the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-united-states-government-district-of-columbia-0574fd762159e8cb5f31c85205df3dc0">discovery of classified documents and official records</a>&nbsp;at President Joe Biden's home and former office, saying it may withhold information to protect the Justice Department's investigation.Ian Sams, a spokesperson for the White House counsel’s office, told reporters that the White House was releasing information as it deemed it “appropriate." Responding to criticism of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iran-biden-politics-united-states-government-us-department-of-justice-b63ffc9b1042b4287a22e88672f4ef77">the piecemeal disclosures</a>, Sams said the White House was trying to be mindful of the “risk” in sharing information “that's not complete.”“We’re endeavoring to be as transparent and informative to you all in the media, to the public as we can consistent with respecting the integrity of an ongoing Justice Department investigation,” he said.The discovery of the documents in Biden's possession complicates a federal probe into former&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/mar-a-lago">President Donald Trump</a>, who the Justice Department says took hundreds of records marked classified with him upon leaving the White House in early 2021 and resisted months of requests to return them to the government.While the two cases are different — Biden for example, willingly turned over the documents once found — it still has become a political headache for a president who promised a clean break from the operations of the Trump administration.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-united-states-government-district-of-columbia-0574fd762159e8cb5f31c85205df3dc0">On Saturday, the White House disclosed</a>&nbsp;that Biden attorneys found classified documents and official records on four separate occasions — on Nov. 2 at the offices of the Penn Biden Center in Washington, on Dec. 20 in the garage of the president's&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-politics-united-states-government-us-democratic-party-donald-trump-d758b30c5c88aaf0014c2baf3d46a882">Wilmington, Delaware home</a>, and on Nov. 11 and 12 in the president's home library.White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had said before the additional discovery that Americans could assume the investigation had completed. On Tuesday, she referred questions to the Justice Department or White House counsel's office on whether more documents existed and whether they would be disclosed if discovered.“The president and his team rightfully took action," she said of the turning over the documents after they were discovered.After the initial disclosure, the president said he was “briefed about this discovery and surprised to learn that there are any government records that were taken there to that office.”He said that he takes the handling of classified documents very seriously. Biden has not commented publicly on the further existence of documents. Jean-Pierre said that president was focused on his job.“He wants to make sure that he’s continuing to deliver for the American people,” she said.Attorney General Merrick Garland last week appointed Robert Hur, a former Maryland U.S. attorney, to serve as special counsel to oversee the Justice Department's inquiry into the documents.Among the questions still unanswered by the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-politics-united-states-government-district-of-columbia-donald-trump-036e528fc399477a603ed402c6e83cfb">White House or Biden’s private attorneys</a>: Exactly how many documents were found; whether there may be other documents out there, what was contained in them and why the public wasn’t notified until months after they were discovered.Sams referred those questions to the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/classified-documents-biden-home-wilmington-33479d12c7cf0a822adb2f44c32b88fd">Justice Department</a>, insisting that neither the White House nor Biden's personal attorneys are aware of the contents.