Russ Karpisek
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Russ Karpisek (born July 20, 1966) is a politician from the U.S. state of
Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...
. He served in the
Nebraska Legislature The Nebraska Legislature (also called the Unicameral) is the legislative branch, legislature of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The Legislature meets at the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln, Nebraska, Lincoln. With 49 members, known as "senators ...
from 2007 to 2015.


Early life and career

Karpisek was born on July 20, 1966, in
Friend, Nebraska Friend is a city in Saline County, Nebraska, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 954. History The city is named for Charles E. Friend, who homesteaded the land and initially named the community Friendville. He oper ...
, and graduated from Wilber-Clatonia High School in 1984. In 1989, he graduated from the
University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the M ...
, with a B.S. in business administration. After college, he returned to his hometown of Wilber, where he took over his grandmother's business, Karpisek's Meat Market. He served as mayor of Wilber from 1994 to 2006.''Nebraska Blue Book 2012–2013''
p. 309. Retrieved 2015-02-21.
"Karpisek brings hometown perspective to Legislature".
Retrieved 2015-02-21.
Archived 2015-02-21
a
Wayback Machine.
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Legislature


Elections

In 2006, Karpisek challenged incumbent Jeanne Combs for the 32nd District seat in the Nebraska legislature.Hicks, Nancy.
"Combs will withdraw bid for re-election".''Lincoln Journal Star''.
2006-05-22. Retrieved 2015-02-21.
The district, in the southeastern part of the state, then consisted of Fillmore, Jefferson, Saline, and
Thayer Thayer may refer to: Places ;United States * Thayer, Illinois * Thayer, Indiana * Thayer, Iowa * Thayer, Kansas * Thayer, Michigan * Thayer, Missouri * Thayer, Nebraska *Thayer, West Virginia * Thayer County, Nebraska * Thayer Street, Providence, ...
counties.Campbell, Harold.
"Wallman wins 30th District seat".''Beatrice Daily Sun''.
2006-11-08. Retrieved 2015-02-21.
In the nonpartisan primary, Combs, a Republican, won 50.1% of the vote;
Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...
Karpisek won 43.3%; and George Shada, an independent and a college student from Fairbury, won 6.6%."NE-State: Legislative Race Overview".Daily Kos.
2006-08-29. Retrieved 2015-02-21.
Shada was eliminated from the race; Combs and Karpisek, as the top two vote-getters, were to move on to the general election. Less than two weeks after the primary, Combs, a registered nurse, announced that she had been offered a significant advance in her career, with increased responsibilities that would preclude her serving as a legislator, and withdrew from the election. Combs's withdrawal would have left Karpisek's the only name on the ballot. However, Ron Schwab, a former city attorney and mayor of Fairbury, secured enough petition signatures to have his name listed as well. Schwab, a Republican and self-described "staunch fiscal conservative",Hicks, Nancy.
"Fairbury lawyer looks at Combs' legislative seat".''Lincoln Journal Star''.
2006-06-06. Retrieved 2015-02-21.
stated that he was concerned about high taxes, particularly property taxes, and government spending. Karpisek expressed support for increased state aid to schools to allow reduction of local property taxes. Karpisek won the general election, with 59% of the vote to Schwab's 41%. He won his home Saline County by a 3-1 margin, and Fillmore County by a 2-1 margin; Schwab won his home Jefferson County by a 2-1 margin and narrowly defeated Karpisek in Thayer County. In 2010, Karpisek filed for re-election, stating that he would continue to focus on rural economic development. He ran unopposed and was elected to a second term. In 2014, Nebraska's term-limits law prevented Karpisek's running for a third consecutive term. In the race to succeed him, he endorsed
Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...
veterinarian Phil Hardenburger, a Democrat and a self-described centrist, against Republican
Laura Ebke Laura Lynne Schwab Ebke (née Schwab; born June 4, 1962) is a politician from the state of Nebraska in the Midwestern United States. A resident of the city of Crete in the southeastern part of the state, she served a single term in the Nebraska ...
, a Crete community college instructor and the president of the Nebraska chapter of the
Republican Liberty Caucus The Republican Liberty Caucus (RLC) is a political action organization dedicated to promoting the ideals of Individual freedom, individual liberty, limited government and free market economics within the Republican Party (United States), Republi ...
, whom the ''
Omaha World-Herald The ''Omaha World-Herald'' is a daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, the primary newspaper of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area. It was locally owned from its founding in 1885 until 2020, when it was sold to the newspaper ...
'' described as "conservative".Hammel, Paul.
"32nd Legislative District candidates offer voters a distinct choice".''Omaha World-Herald''.
2014-10-06. Retrieved 2015-02-21.
Ebke won the general election with 50.7% of the vote to Hardenburger's 49.3%.


Legislative career

Karpisek served as chairperson of the Legislature's General Affairs Committee. At various times, his other committee assignments included the Executive Board; the Committee on Committees; and the Agriculture, the Government, Military, and Veterans Affairs, the Nebraska Retirement Systems, and the Urban Affairs Committees. In every session of the Nebraska legislature, each senator is allowed to designate one priority bill, which will be considered before other bills in debate. In 2007, Karpisek prioritized LB232, a bill introduced by Annette Dubas that modified the 2005 Building Entrepreneurial Communities Act, which awarded grants to economically depressed rural communities to promote development and entrepreneurship. LB232 reduced the matching-funds requirement for communities meeting certain standards. The bill passed 40–0 and was signed by governor
Dave Heineman David Eugene Heineman (born May 12, 1948) is an American politician who served as the 39th governor of Nebraska from 2005 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 39th treasurer of Nebraska from 1995 to 2001 and 37th lieutenant gove ...
. In 2008, Karpisek introduced and prioritized LB844, which increased penalties for possession of
marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...
. At the time, possession of quantities less than was decriminalized, with a maximum penalty of $100; the bill reclassified simple possession from an infraction to a Class III misdemeanor, increased the penalty for a first offense to $300, and allowed sentences of up to 90 days in jail. Karpisek argued that the penalties for possession of marijuana should at least equal those for possession of alcohol by a minor. The bill passed the Legislature 40–2, and was signed into law by governor Heineman. In 2012, Karpisek introduced and prioritized LB1067, which would allow communities to increase the frequency of
keno Keno is a lottery-like gambling game often played at modern casinos, and also offered as a game in some lotteries. Players wager by choosing numbers ranging from 1 through (usually) 80. After all players make their wagers, 20 numbers (some va ...
games. Under current state law, at least five minutes had to elapse between games. Karpisek's bill would allow communities to choose a new interval, provided that it was greater than one minute. The bill was amended in committee to change the minimum interval to three minutes. In this form, it was supported by the city of Omaha and the League of Nebraska Municipalities, as a means of raising additional revenue; it was opposed by anti-gambling groups. The measure failed to secure the necessary majority in the General Affairs Committee. In 2013, Karpisek, a divorced father of two, prioritized LB22, introduced by Kearney senator Galen Hadley, which would require divorce courts to devise custody plans in which both parents shared decision-making authority, and which maximized parenting time for both. The bill failed to clear the Judiciary Committee in 2013, which proponents attributed in part to delaying tactics by
Ernie Chambers Ernest William Chambers (born July 10, 1937) is an American politician and civil rights activist who represented North Omaha, Nebraska, North Omaha's 11th District in the Nebraska Legislature, Nebraska State Legislature from 1971 to 2009 and ag ...
; it was carried over into the 2014 session, but again was not moved out of the committee."LB22 - Change Parenting Act provisions relating to parenting plans" (bill history: LB22, 103rd Legislature).Nebraska Legislature
Retrieved 2015-02-21.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karpisek, Russ 1966 births Living people People from Wilber, Nebraska University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumni Democratic Party Nebraska state senators People from Friend, Nebraska 21st-century members of the Nebraska Legislature