During the 2018 NPPA Legislative Day, two association leaders testified in support of bills that would increase per diems for members of the Nebraska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (NOGCC). LB713, introduced by Natural Resources Committee Chair Dan Hughes, would raise the NOGCC per diem from $50 to $500 and increase the annual maximum receivable amount from $2,000 to $6,000. Senator Steve Erdman's LB761 would raise the per diem to $300 and increase the annual maximum receivable amount to $12,000.

 

In testimony to the Natural Resources Committee, NPPA President Dana Wreath and Secretary Jodi Keeler voiced members' support for both bills, which would provide a fair compensation increase critical to the high quality of service NOGCC commissioners provide. Wreath said, "I don’t think we want to disincentivize people, or, perhaps even worse, have a situation where the only people who want to be on the commission have some particular ideological axe to grind." NPPA believes that an increase in per diem compensation, after decades without appropriate increases, is well deserved by Nebraska's skilled NOGCC commissioners.