Sen. Pete Ricketts hears from Broken Bow officials on agricultural trade, public power

Nebraska’s federal delegation has been busy throughout the August recess sharing the benefits of the "Big Beautiful Bill" in their home state.

Sen. Pete Ricketts kept the trend going on Wednesday at a roundtable with farmers, ranchers and local officials in Broken Bow.

Ricketts said he covered a variety of topics including biofuel expansion, firefighting coordination and mental health needs at the meeting, which was closed to the media.

The senator said no one directly mentioned tariffs in the discussion, but he highlighted the Trump administration’s commitment to finding new trading partners, including the United Kingdom and India.

He also said he heard from public power officials about the importance of legislation to ensure they are treated the same as their private sector counterparts.

“Nebraska is unique in that we're almost 100% public power, and so we want to make sure that we're getting the same benefits that other power companies are getting for making these investments in building out power capacity,” he said.

The senator also addressed the news of the McCook Work Ethic Camp’s conversion to a federal immigration detainment facility.

“I think this is a pretty good deal for Nebraska,” he said. “It's going to mean continued investment in Nebraska, continued jobs, and I think it's a facility that will suit well for the job that we have to do to address all the people who came to our country illegally.”

Ricketts held similar events in North Platte and Columbus this week.