Carol Blood

Carol Blood (born March 5, 1961) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Nebraska. In 2016, she was elected to the unicameral Nebraska Legislature, representing District 3 in Sarpy County. She defeated Republican incumbent Tommy Garrett. Blood is a member of the Democratic Party. The legislature is nonpartisan.

Carol Blood
Member of the Nebraska Legislature
from the 3rd district
Assumed office
2017
Preceded byTommy Garrett
Personal details
Born (1961-03-05) March 5, 1961
McCook, Nebraska, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
ResidenceBellevue, Nebraska
OccupationConsultant

Early life and career

Blood was born in McCook, Nebraska. She attended Adams Central High School in nearby Hastings, Nebraska. In 2008, Blood was elected to the Bellevue, Nebraska, City Council as the at-large representative. She was re-elected to the city council in 2012. She previously served as executive director of the La Vista Chamber of Commerce. Blood has been a member of the Bellevue Public Safety Foundation Board since 2005, serving as chair for seven years. The organization supports police and fire department activities in Bellevue. Blood currently lives in Bellevue with her husband, Joe. They have three children and nine grandchildren.[1]

Political career

2014 election

In 2014, Blood was defeated by Tommy Garrett in a race to fill the two years remaining of a four-year legislative term vacated by state senator Scott Price, who resigned in November 2013.[2]

Garrett had been appointed to the seat by Governor Dave Heineman. In Nebraska, an appointed state legislator must run in the next election to keep their seats.[3]

Blood and Garrett, who both ran uncontested in the nonpartisan primary, moved onto the general election. In the primary, Blood received 1,706 votes, or 49.4%, of the 3,453 votes cast. Garrett received 1,747, or 50.6%. In the general election, Blood received 4,179, or 46.3%, of 9,024 votes cast. Garrett received, 4,845 votes, or 53.7%.[4][5]

2016 election

In 2016, Blood defeated Republican incumbent Tommy Garrett with 7,959, or 51.4%, of the 15,488 votes cast. Garrett received 7,476 votes, or 48.3%.[6] Blood's campaign focused on "common sense tax relief" and eliminating taxes on social security and military retirement once Nebraska lawmakers address a $1 billion budget shortfall.[1][7]

Blood said her history of "evidence-based budgeting" will help with tax reform. She also has said education and public safety are among her top priorities.[8]

Legislative tenure

2017 session

Blood serves on the Agriculture, General Affairs, and Government, Military, and Veterans Affairs committees.[9]

She also introduced LB85, which called to make people ineligible to run for elected office if they held any outstanding penalties from the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission. The bill, which passed on a vote of 48-0-1, also prohibits anyone from being appointed to an elective office until any civil penalties and interest are paid.[10]

Blood said LB88 was a priority to make Nebraska a more “military-friendly state,” which directly affects her district—home to many people, who work at Offutt Air Force Base. Ultimately, LB88, or the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact and the Nurse Licensure Compact, passed on a vote of 49-0-0.[11]

2018 session

During the 2018 session, Blood met directly with the Nebraska Supreme Court and negotiated reduced fees for military spouses seeking to join the Nebraska State Bar Association.[12][13]

The senator's LB81, introduced to increase the handgun permit fee from $5 to $25, failed to pass on a 16-26 vote. Blood needed 25 votes for the bill to pass. In Nebraska, the gun permit fee has remained $5 since it was introduced in 1991. Blood said the proposed increased cost would have helped mitigate increased labor costs to process the permits. The senator said Nebraska's amount of gun permit applications have quadrupled in the last decade.[14]

Blood's LB692, which called to require the state department of corrections to conduct a regular staffing analysis report, became a part of the Judiciary Committee's LB841, which passed on a 42-1-6 vote.[15][16]

Teletype machines for blind, deaf veterans

In May 2018, Blood brought to light that the veterans affairs hospital in Omaha, Nebraska, did not have teletype machines capable of receiving text-based calls from deaf, hearing-impaired, or blind veterans. The machines are used to accommodate the basic needs of those veterans including filling prescriptions, scheduling appointments, and contacting the nurses hotline. The lack of these devices causes many veterans to arrange alternate transportation for VA services.

Blood learned of the issue when she talked to Shawn Wilbur, head of the Nebraska chapter of the Blinded Veterans Association. Blood then brought the issue to B. Don Burman, director of the VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System, VA officials at The Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and President Donald Trump.

In response to Blood's concerns, the VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System ordered the machines to be used at the VA hospital in Omaha.[17]

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References
  1. "Carol Blood Legislature". Carol Blood Legislature. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  2. Scott, Stewart. "Garrett named to represent District 3". Bellevue Leader. December 11, 2013. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  3. Stoddard, Martha, and Joe Duggan. "After previous appointee resigns, Heineman picks Garrett for Nebraska Legislature". Omaha World-Herald. December 11, 2013. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  4. "Official Report of the Board of State Canvassers of the State of Nebraska: Primary Election, May 13, 2014", p. 34. Nebraska Secretary of State. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  5. "Official Report of the Board of State Canvassers of the State of Nebraska: General Election, November 4, 2014" Archived January 8, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, p. 19. Nebraska Secretary of State. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  6. "General Election". Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  7. Stoddard, Martha, and Emily Nohr. "Nebraska lawmakers facing nearly $1 billion budget shortfall next year". Omaha World-Herald'. October 29, 2016. Retrieved December 27, 2016.
  8. "Carol Blood Candidate Profile". KETV. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  9. "Nebraska Legislature Standing Committees". Retrieved January 4, 2017.
  10. Nitcher, Emily. "Bill would force candidates to pay fines for campaign finance or ethics violations before running for office again". Omaha World-Herald'. January 19, 2017. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
  11. Stoddard, Martha. "Nebraska Legislature advances bill to give qualified military spouses temporary health care licenses". Omaha World-Herald”. March 24, 2017. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
  12. “Nebraska Supreme Court Rule Allows Reduced Fee for Military Spouses Seeking to Join Nebraska Bar”. “State of Nebraska Judicial Branch”. March 23, 2018. Retrieved May 11, 2018
  13. “Nebraska Amends Licensing Rules in Support of Military Spouse Attorneys”. “Military Spouse J.D. Network”. March 14, 2018. Retrieved May 11, 2018
  14. Young, JoAnne. “Bill to increase handgun permit fee killed by Legislature”. “Lincoln Journal Star”. January 9, 2018. Retrieved December 22, 2019
  15. Young, Joanne. “Major prison reform package advances”. “Lincoln Journal Star”. February 28, 2018. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  16. “Nebraska Legislature”. Retrieved May 9, 2018
  17. Liewer, Steve. “Omaha VA adding teletype machines to talk with blind, deaf veterans”. “Omaha World-Herald”. July 15, 2018. Retrieved August 4, 2018
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