Senator DiAnna Schimek has been a supporter of the ServeNebraska Volunteer Service Commission since her time as a Nebraska legislator in the nineties. During her time in office, she helped the commission by championing a several pieces of legislation meant to safeguard and improve AmeriCorps’ presence in our state.
In 1997, the Senator assisted the Commission in passing a legislative bill to designate AmeriCorps service as exempt from Nebraska’s Employment Security Laws, aligning our state law with Federal AmeriCorps Regulations.
Later on, Senator Schimek sponsored legislation to codify ServeNebraska, then called the Nebraska Volunteer Service Commission into statute. This legislation was intended to safeguard AmeriCorps programming in Nebraska for the future and ensure that AmeriCorps funding could continue to be maximized in our state. Despite her ardent support championing the bill, the legislation ultimately failed to pass. However, her efforts to educate stakeholders both in and out of the legislature, built support for the Commission which helped them garner future state funding and partnerships with both state and community organizations.
“I think that the AmeriCorps, those 150 volunteers that come into the state, are a real bargain in anybody’s terms. These are young people willing to give service anywhere from nine to 12 months,” Senator Schimek argued during debate on the bill to codify the Commission in 1999. “It has been a very excellent program in that regard in helping young people make good use of their time. I could elaborate on and on because this is, I mean, I think it’s an incredibly successful program. It has been of service to communities across the state.”
Earlier this year, the ServeNebraska Commission elected to award Senator DiAnna Schimek with the Jamesena Moore “Making a Difference” Service Award at the 2024 Step Forward Awards for her long-standing support of the organization. The award was presented by Governor Jim Pillen, ServeNebraska’s current chair, and ServeNebraska’s founding chair, Jamesena Moore.
