Latest News from the Governor's Office

CONTACT:

Laura Strimple, (402) 580-9495

Gov. Pillen Announces Routes to Expedite Husker Game Travel

LINCOLN, NE – Governor Jim Pillen has directed the Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) to modify routes that will allow for expedited travel into downtown Lincoln for Saturday’s Husker football game. Working in conjunction with the Nebraska State Patrol (NSP), NDOT is adjusting roadway access to help motorists contend with ongoing construction projects.

Recommended routes include:

From Omaha (northeast):

• I-80 to Exit 409 for Waverly/US-6 and follow US-6 west to Cornhusker Highway.
• I-80 to Exit 405 to 56th Street.
• I-80 to Exit 403 at 27th Street to Salt Creek Roadway.
• If you miss the recommended exits above, take I-80 to the I-180 Exit 401 to southbound I-180 into downtown Lincoln.

From US-34 West:

• NW 48th Street South to I-80 or US-6. From NW 48th Street, travel east on US-6 into downtown. From I-80 at NW 48th Street, travel East to Exit 399 to take Cornhusker Highway east, to I-180 south into downtown.
• W Fletcher Ave to NW 1st Street. Travel East on NW 1st that turns into Superior Street, to I-180 south into downtown Lincoln.
• Traffic that misses those recommended turns will be routed back to westbound I-80 at the 401 interchange to utilize Exit 399 or Exit 397.

While these modifications should help expedite travel, fans are still advised to give themselves ample time to make the drive into Lincoln.

NSP is reminding fans of the support it provides to help with traffic flow, including the use of trooper pilots, who can relay information to troopers on the ground. Fans can also hear live traffic reports from Trooper Brett before and after the game on Huskers Radio Network stations.

Increased traffic and pedestrian activity should be expected as kickoff approaches. Motorists should remain alert, follow posted signs and traffic control, watch for pedestrians and avoid distractions.

Drivers can use the Nebraska 511 app or check the Nebraska 511 website to view real-time traffic updates, active work zones, live traffic camera feeds, and road conditions across state highways.

CONTACT:  

Laura Strimple, (402) 580-9495

Husker Coach Fred Hoiberg Announced as Second Keynote for Governor’s Summit

Register for the 2026 Governor’s Summit.

LINCOLN, NE – Today, Governor Jim Pillen announced that Fred Hoiberg, head coach of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s men’s basketball team, will give a keynote address at the 2026 Governor’s Summit. Coach Hoiberg joins Ben Sasse as a headline speaker for the Summit, which will take place September 28-29 in Kearney. Coach Hoiberg is scheduled to speak on Tuesday afternoon, September 29th.

“Coach Hoiberg is a competitor, winner, and high-character leader,” said Gov. Pillen. "When taking the Huskers to the Sweet 16 last season, he rallied Big Red Nation behind the basketball team like never before. I look forward to hearing his leadership insights at the Summit!”

Fred Hoiberg enters his eighth season as Nebraska’s men’s basketball coach in 2026-27. Born in Lincoln, Hoiberg’s ties to Nebraska run deep. One of his grandfathers, Jerry Bush, coached the Huskers men’s basketball team from 1955 to 1963. His other grandfather, Otto Hoiberg, was a history professor at the University, while his father, Eric, received his doctorate degree from Nebraska.

In his tenure at Nebraska, Coach Hoiberg has steadily built the program and raised it to new heights. Over the last three seasons, he has guided NU to 72 wins–the most in a three-year span in program history. His teams have also made three straight postseason appearances, including the program’s first NCAA Sweet 16 appearance in 2026. For his efforts, he was honored as the men’s college basketball National Coach of the Year in 2026 by the Associated Press.

Prior to coaching at Nebraska, Hoiberg guided Iowa State to a 115-56 record during five years at the helm. He also has experience as a National Basketball Association (NBA) player, head coach, and front office executive. Hoiberg earned his degree in finance from Iowa State University in 1995. Fred and his wife, Carol, have four children: one daughter, Paige; and three sons, Jack and twins Sam and Charlie.

The 2026 Governor’s Summit begins Monday afternoon, Sept. 28, with a statewide 6 Regions, One Nebraska update. On Monday evening, the Nebraska Diplomats will host a reception and awards banquet.

Tuesday, Sept. 29, is the primary day of the Governor’s Summit. It features remarks from Gov. Pillen, a morning keynote from Ben Sasse, a full slate of breakout sessions, and an afternoon address from Coach Hoiberg. The second annual Governor’s Youth Summit is also taking place on Tuesday, concurrent with the main Summit.

Register for the Diplomats Banquet and Governor’s Summit.       Students sign up for the Youth Summit.

Coach Fred Hoiberg

CONTACT:

Laura Strimple, (402) 580-9495

Governor, Secretary of State and Election Officials Host News Conference on Ballot Petition Process

LINCOLN, NE – Today, Governor Jim Pillen, Secretary of State Bob Evnen, and county election officials stood side-by-side to address recent investigations into ballot petition efforts. In addition to discussing how fraudulent signatures were uncovered, they also discussed potential measures for ensuring that signature gathering is made more secure going forward.

“I want to thank everyone for all the incredible work done by our local county election commissioners across Nebraska. It’s a heavy lift and a lot of responsibility to make sure that all of that is reviewed and all the numbers run,” said Gov. Pillen. “At the end of the day, election integrity is about protecting the voice of every legal Nebraska voter and making sure every Nebraskan knows that when they get out and vote, their voice is heard and they have 100% confidence in it.”

Nebraska currently utilizes a multi-layer process designed to detect and eliminate fraudulent signatures long before any ballot initiative reaches certification. Local election staff perform rigorous line-by-line references, matching petition signatures directly against the state’s centralized voter registration database to verify active voter status, residential addresses, and dates of birth. Through this systematic verification process, election officials are consistently able to flag irregularities.

“We owe a great debt of gratitude to our county election officials,” said Sec. Evnen. “They are the ones who performed the signature verification process, and they are the ones who detected the fraudulent signatures among the submitted petitions. Their work ensured that only valid signatures were accepted and only petitions which had sufficient valid signatures were certified.”

Over 767,000 signatures, across 17 submitted petitions, were reviewed by county and state election officials this year.

Upon receiving petitions, the Secretary of State’s office assigns each page a unique identification number. Over 85,000 petition pages were paginated this year, before routing them to local counties. By law, county officials have only 40 calendar days to complete signature verification, continuing until they reach 110% of the required threshold for each petition. Whenever fraud is suspected, county election officials notify the Secretary of State’s office and are encouraged to contact law enforcement.

The news conference highlighted the significant administrative strain that high volumes of questionable entries place on local election offices during tight statutory review windows.

“Douglas County processed nearly 349,000 total petition signature lines and found suspected fraud in the same petitions as other counties, using the same prescribed steps and verification processes,” noted Douglas County Election Commissioner Danielle Jensen. “Because of the high volume of pages with suspected fraud, three weeks of employee overtime was required to complete the petitions on schedule, which resulted in a waste of taxpayer dollars.”

Despite these operational pressures, election leadership reaffirmed that the verification safeguards worked exactly as intended by identifying the fraudulent signatures before they could ever reach the ballot.

“The bottom line here is that the Nebraska system works,” said Hall County Election Commissioner Tracy Overstreet. “It was and is successful in identifying fraudulent signatures, which then are not counted toward the thresholds needed to put measures on the ballot.”

While Nebraska’s backend verification successfully caught the largest attempted electoral fraud in state history, Gov. Pillen emphasized that catching bad actors at the finish line is not enough. To protect taxpayers and prevent election staff from being overwhelmed, proactive reforms must be implemented to stop fraud on the front end before bad signatures make it onto a petition page.

“As election officials, our role is to give purpose to the efforts of those Nebraskans that have signed a petition. We must also safeguard the petition process so that all Nebraskans have confidence in them,” said Todd Wiltgen, Lancaster County election commissioner.

During the news conference, Gov. Pillen emphasized his stance against out-of-state special interests and their ability to purchase access to the Nebraska ballot through pay-per-signature financial incentives. To nullify that impact, Gov. Pillen said it was important to remove aggressive quotas, thereby reducing the flood of invalid or fraudulent entries that tend to swamp local election offices during tight statutory review windows.

In addition, he stood in support of moving from a piece-rate system to an hourly compensation system. The goal of this transition is to remove direct financial incentives for meeting rapid daily requirements, and instead encourage thorough, accurate, and lawful conversations with everyday Nebraskans rather than high-speed quota chasing.

“Enforcing line-by-line verification, removing financial incentives, and supporting our dedicated county officials will continue to ensure that our ballots remain secure, transparent, and driven strictly by Nebraskans,” said Gov. Pillen.

Gov. Pillen speaks on integrity in the ballot petition process, thanking county election officials for discovering fraudulent signature pages

Sec. Evnen recognizes county election workers for their role in verifying signatures and detecting the fraudulent petition pages

CONTACT:

Laura Strimple, (402) 580-9495

Carla Felix, DWEE, (402) 471-4223

Gov. Pillen Highlights Plainview’s Effort to Improve Drinking Water Infrastructure

PLAINVIEW, NE — Plainview is the second community in Nebraska to be recognized by Governor Jim Pillen for its efforts in improving water infrastructure for residents.  He was joined by Nebraska Department of Water, Energy, and Environment (DWEE) Director Jesse Bradley at a news conference highlighting the use of state funding resources to support critical drinking water and wastewater infrastructure improvements across the state.

Plainview is partnering with DWEE to finalize financial assistance for a new wellfield project through Nebraska’s State Revolving Fund (SRF) program. Plainview’s existing water supply wells have elevated nitrate levels. The new wellfield will provide a safe and reliable source of drinking water for Plainview’s residents.

“Nebraska’s State Revolving Fund is a powerful example of state and local government working together to solve real problems,” said Gov. Pillen. “This is an important investment in the future of Plainview and the health and safety of its residents – and we’re able to do it in a way that is responsible and affordable for the city.”

The State’s Clean Water and Drinking Water SRF programs provide low-interest loans and loan forgiveness to communities for wastewater and drinking water infrastructure projects, respectively. Plainview’s project is expected to cost $8 million. Through the SRF program, Plainview will receive 42% loan forgiveness, with the remaining financed at a 2% interest rate. This is expected to save Plainview residents over $10 million in repayments over the life of the financing. 

Plainview Mayor Bob Smith said the SRF program has kept communities moving forward and has helped provide Nebraskans great places to live.

“The City of Plainview has been dealing with nitrate in our drinking water for many years. The solution to fix this problem, likewise, has been many years in the making,” Smith said. “We’re grateful for the use of the SRF funds to finance our project. It lessens the financial burden on our city as we bring safe drinking water to our citizens and plan for our future.”

DWEE Director Jesse Bradley highlighted Plainview’s historical commitment to improving its wastewater and drinking water infrastructure. The city had previously received $1 million in SRF assistance to construct wastewater lagoons and other critical infrastructure needs.

“These projects are investments in reliable drinking water, wastewater treatment, and the protection of Nebraska’s water resources,” noted Bradley. “While this benefits the state as a whole, these infrastructure improvements also support the community’s long-term stability and growth.”

Since their inception, Nebraska’s SRF programs have provided more than $1.75 billion in assistance across 713 loans to 326 communities. DWEE expects to fund roughly 40 new projects over the next two years, totaling approximately $220 million. These programs operate as a revolving fund, so repaid dollars continuously cycle back into the program to benefit additional communities.

“The state’s involvement in infrastructure development is critical to helping our communities grow. This issue is important and I commend the leadership in this room for tackling it head on” added Gov. Pillen

Last month, Gov. Pillen and Dir. Bradley met with city officials in Ogallala to announce SRF funding assistance for upgrades to its wastewater treatment facility. Information about the funding for that project.

Gov. Pillen highlights Plainview’s effort to improve drinking water infrastructure

DWEE Dir. Bradley speaks about SRF program at Plainview news conference 

CONTACT:

Laura Strimple, (402) 580-9495

Gov. Pillen Announces and Encourages Use of AI Chatbot on State Website, Nebraska.gov

LINCOLN, NE – Governor Jim Pillen has announced the addition of a new feature on the state’s primary website – a resident-assistance chatbot. The Nebraska Navigator as it is known, went live on Sept. 1. Installation on the newly designed website marks the second phase of the AI chatbot project, which began as a pilot involving the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).

“Results from the DMV pilot project were very impressive and now we’re ready to expand its use to even more people,” said Gov. Pillen. “This project aligns with my administration’s goals of providing improved service delivery to citizens, streamlining state resources and meeting the needs of people through the newest forms of technology.”

The first phase of the project started in December 2025, with Ask the DMV. Previously, visitors to the DMV’s website would have to navigate the site on their own to find the information they were seeking. Using artificial intelligence, Ask the DMV was able to direct users to answers much more quickly and efficiently.

In addition, the chatbot was available 24/7 and able to assist users in a variety of languages. Results from the initial pilot demonstrated strong public interest and measurable benefits:

• A 20% reduction in call volume
• More than 188,000 questions received
• 19% of interactions occurring between midnight and 6 a.m., well outside regular business hours
• Service provided in 50 languages
• An increase in online transactions and a corresponding decrease in in-person transactions month over month

The Nebraska State Records Board is funding the statewide AI chatbot using transactional funds generated when residents pay for online government services through Tyler Technologies Nebraska. Upon reviewing the results of the DMV pilot project, the Records Board moved quickly to support a statewide model.

Testing has been a significant part of the pre-launch process.  State teams evaluated the program using more than 5,000 questions. It went live with a 95% success rate. Public beta testing will help refine the system.

That phase is expected to continue into October. During that time, visitors to Nebraska.gov are encouraged to try out the Nebraska Navigator and provide feedback about their experience.  The results will help inform when the program is able to be implemented at an agency level. 

Additional information about the DMV pilot project