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Sen. Jana Hughes visits York County, flags vaping rules, prescription‑reuse model and infrastructure grants
Summary
State Sen. Jana Hughes discussed property‑tax appraisal review, possible inheritance‑tax changes, water infrastructure grant opportunities, pilot programs to reuse unexpired prescription inventory and new vaping device rules during a visit to the county board.
State Sen. Jana Hughes met with the York County Board of Commissioners and used the visit to brief commissioners on several statewide issues and priorities, including property‑tax appraisal work, proposals affecting inheritance tax, wastewater and drinking‑water grant programs, and two items she described as personal priorities: restricting retail vape devices to those that are FDA‑approved and exploring a SafeNetRx model to redistribute unexpired prescription medication to uninsured or underinsured residents.
Hughes, introduced for the record as Jana Hughes of Seward, said an appraisal task force is reviewing property‑tax appraisal practices and that she is monitoring possible tweaks that could affect farm ground and other valuations. She also raised the fiscal uncertainty if an inheritance‑tax repeal were to advance: "If that goes into play, where does those funds come from if that does go away?" she asked, noting a potential statewide shortfall.
On vaping, Hughes said she has a bill drafted to limit the sale of vape devices in Nebraska to those that are FDA‑approved; she said only about two dozen devices are FDA‑approved now and that many disposable devices resemble highlighters and are marketed to youth. "My bill would only allow ... vape devices that are FDA approved to be sold," Hughes said.
Hughes described a program she viewed in Iowa called SafeNetRx, which collects unused, unopened prescription drugs from institutions, re‑classifies and redistributes them to pharmacies for use by uninsured or underinsured people. She said the model could reduce waste and increase access without necessarily requiring new legislation.
The senator also discussed state support opportunities for wastewater and drinking‑water projects and acknowledged county concerns about inmate custody costs and delayed public defender billing that can disrupt county budgets. She encouraged local officials to contact her with issues and offered to participate in local events and briefings.
The commissioners thanked Hughes for the update and noted areas where county and state funding interact, including mandates that affect local budgets.
