Senator Deb Fischer came to Alliance recently, making a stop at Box Butte General Hospital while traveling to several locations throughout the Panhandle.
Fischer began her trip in Valentine and made stops to meet with groups of people in Gordon, Chadron and Crawford before stopping by Alliance. She said the purpose of the trip was to meet with people and listen to their needs.
“It’s just really important to be out again in the state,” said Fischer. “With COVID, that kind of cut back on travel for everybody, so it’s nice to be back. When you have an opportunity to drive up and down Main Street, and drive around the community, you have a much better idea of what’s happening in the area and the changes in the community from the last time I was there. This is the best part of my job, to be able to travel the state and meet with people and hear what’s going on. That always gives us some good information to take back to Washington.”
Fischer explained that during the stops, she heard stories from people about what is impacting their communities. For example, when she stopped in Chadron, she heard how Chadron State College addressed the pandemic and the measures they took to continue providing education.
“It’s just interesting to be able to compare that to other institutions, other communities, and I think it reinforces that every community is different,” Fischer said. “What works in one place may not work in another.”
During her visit to Alliance, Fischer toured BBGH and spoke with staff members there. She said Alliance is fortunate to have such a facility available.
“I come to Alliance quite often,” Fischer said. “It’s always a wonderful community to visit, but I hadn’t been out to the hospital. So, to be able to come out today and have a tour of the hospital to see what a great facility that you have here, and to hear about the improvements that have been made, you have such a valuable staff, which I think is really impressive that you have so many medical professionals on staff. We don’t see that in a lot of rural communities, so that’s a big plus for the community of Alliance to have this facility, to have the staff that you have, and really to have the dedication from the people who work here.”
Fischer said that times are interesting in the Senate, noting that she has been working to pass the Cattle Transparency Bill she introduced. She said it came out of the ag committee with bipartisan support.
“It’s just going to be helpful for family farmers and ranchers who will have more information available to them about what the market really is in this region,” said Fischer. “There will be more transparency so they can make good decisions that hopefully is going to have a positive impact on every segment of the livestock industry. We want all those to be successful because it has the biggest economic impact on the state of Nebraska.”
Fischer explained that the bill would allow for a contract library to be created to keep information public. She said that Nebraska is fortunate to have a high percentage of cash sales, noting that some other states, such as Texas, have a small percentage of cash sales.