By:Aaron Sanderford
Nebraska Examiner
LINCOLN — Gov. Jim Pillen on Friday rejected proposed regulatory changes he said had been pushed by a former director of the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission who faces federal charges alleging public corruption involving two Lincoln strip clubs.
Pillen, in posts Friday morning on social media sites Facebook and X, said he would not allow a man accused of taking “bribes and sexual favors” to lift the ban on customers touching the employees at such establishments that also serve liquor.
The language the governor targeted would have removed labeling any contact like kissing or touching of the breast, buttock or genital areas as a “disturbance” that requires automatic reporting. He also rejected the other changes proposed under the former director’s watch for this year. The regulatory process started last November and was sent to Pillen in February.
“My team caught it, stopped it from proceeding, and today I am formally rejecting this immoral, inappropriate and profoundly misguided policy change, as well as terminating all pending rule changes out of the Liquor Control Commission,” he wrote.
That’s why Pillen’s Friday post alarmed some who prefer to keep the Liquor Commission, a governor-appointed board whose members serve six-year terms and must be confirmed by the Legislature. It also raised hackles among advocates for medical cannabis.
They care because members of the Liquor Commission also serve on the voter-created Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission, so some worried that efforts to redesign the Liquor Commission might give the governor more control over cannabis, too.
Pillen spokeswoman Laura Strimple on Friday afternoon said the governor was not attempting to change the governance of either board. She said he was simply rejecting any potential rule or regulation changes proposed by the indicted former director.
“The governor’s action today does not affect any Cannabis Commission rules,” she said, adding. “We support the Liquor Control Commission remaining an independent agency.”
Hobert “Hobie” Rupe has pleaded not guilty to seven felony charges, including three counts of honest services fraud — a charge that a public official or employee deprived the people of their honest work or services.
The Liquor Commission suspended him in May. It replaced him starting next week with Micah Chaffee, an attorney who worked with the Legislature’s General Affairs Committee and State Sen. Rick Holdcroft of Bellevue, the committee chair.
The interim director told the Omaha World-Herald on Friday that the commission fully supports Pillen’s decision to reject the touching language change. Bruce Bailey, the Liquor Commission’s chair, did not immediately return a call Friday seeking comment.
Nebraska Examiner Reporter Zach Wendling contributed to this report.