Crude petroleum accounts for more than half of the value of the state’s mineral extraction. Nebraska also produces some natural gas, as well as significant amounts of cement, lime, sand, gravel, crushed stone, and clay. Additional quantities of natural gas, however, are imported to serve the commercial, industrial, and residential needs of the state. All electrical utilities are publicly owned, and consumer rates are among the lowest in the country.

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About two-thirds of Nebraska’s electricity is generated by coal-fired power plants. Slightly less than one-third is produced by nuclear power plants, and a slim percentage comes from hydroelectric plants on the Missouri and Platte rivers and at Kingsley Dam on Lake McConaughy in western Nebraska. Nebraska ranks as one of the top states in the production of corn-based ethanol and has more than 20 ethanol plants across the state. The state has experimented with biomass to produce electricity, but the lower costs of producing electricity at its coal-fired and nuclear plants have impeded these initiatives. Significant progress in the use of wind energy had been stalled until the early 21st century because the windiest areas are in the north-central and southern panhandle regions, where there are fewer transmission lines to carry electricity generated by wind turbines. The Elkhorn Ridge wind farm, near the town of Bloomfield in northeastern Nebraska, is the largest wind-energy project in the state.

Manufacturing

Although employment opportunities in rural Nebraska diminished in the last part of the 20th century (as it had in rural areas of other states), there has been an increase in the number of work opportunities in manufacturing, notably in the Platte valley, with its excellent highway transportation, as well as in the state’s major cities. Food processing is the most important industrial activity of the state. Other leading industrial activities include the manufacture of machinery and chemicals and allied products, printing and publishing, and the production of primary and fabricated metals and electrical, electronic, and transportation equipment.

Services and labour

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Nebraska, and Omaha in particular, is known as a major centre of the American insurance industry. Tourism is also essential to the livelihood of the state and ranks third behind agriculture and manufacturing in economic significance. Many of Nebraska’s roads follow parts of the historic Oregon Trail, over which countless pioneers’ wagons passed. The best-known landmark on the trail and one of Nebraska’s principal tourist sites is Chimney Rock, a 325-foot (100-metre) promontory that is thought to be about 28 million years old. Another important tourist destination is Scott’s Bluff National Monument, the focus of which is the land formation that rises some 800 feet (240 metres) above the North Platte River. A rather unconventional attraction is Carhenge, a re-creation of England’s Stonehenge but made out of cars, which lies on the western Nebraska plains near the town of Alliance.

The state generally has been conservative in labour matters and ranks low nationally in the percentage of unionized nonagricultural workers. Nebraska has a right-to-work law that forbids compulsory union membership.

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Transportation

Nebraska is located on some of the most important arteries linking east and west. Within the state, traffic in the east tends to flow toward Omaha, Lincoln, and Sioux City, Iowa, as well as toward the cities in the Platte valley. Much of western Iowa lies within the trading area of metropolitan Omaha.

Several railroads also operate in the state, and both Omaha and Lincoln are served by major rail lines. Omaha is an important port for commercial barge traffic on the Missouri. Air carriers serving Nebraska include both major national lines and those that provide feeder service to the smaller communities of the state. Eppley Airfield in Omaha is one of the country’s largest airports and the largest in Nebraska. It offers nonstop flights to many domestic cities.

Constitutional framework

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Nebraska functions under a frequently amended constitution dating from 1875. Nebraska’s legislature is unique in two ways: it is the only unicameral legislature in the country, and it is not based on party affiliation. Since 1937, following a referendum passed by voters in 1934, it has been a nonpartisan single-house system known as the Nebraska Unicameral. The 49 members, known as senators, are popularly elected to four-year terms following primary and runoff elections in their districts, which are proportioned equally by population. The legislature meets for sessions of 90 legislative days in odd-numbered years and 60 days in even-numbered years. The nonpartisan feature of the legislature has many critics, who charge that the lack of political parties in the legislature results in a lack of leadership in that body. Indeed, nonpartisanship may have enhanced the importance of lobbyists in the legislative process.

Nebraska’s chief executive officer is the governor, who—along with the lieutenant governor, secretary of state, auditor of public accounts, treasurer, and attorney general—is elected to a four-year term on a partisan ballot. The governor and treasurer are limited to two consecutive terms; there are no term limits for the other executive officers. The governor is responsible for the operation of some administrative departments and is an ex officio member of various boards and commissions. The governor must present a detailed budget to the state legislature, which needs an affirmative three-fifths vote to appropriate more funds than recommended by the governor or to override a gubernatorial veto. Other elected state officers also run on partisan ballots.

Nebraska’s court system, reorganized in 1972, comprises the Supreme Court, with seven justices, and district courts. In addition, there are conciliation courts, county courts, municipal courts in Omaha and Lincoln, and juvenile courts, as well as a Workers’ Compensation Court. Nebraska has adopted the merit system for selecting judges. Judicial nominating commissions, chosen by the governor and the Nebraska State Bar Association, compose lists of nominees to fill vacancies on the bench. The governor then appoints one of the nominees to fill a particular position. After three years, judges run for retention on a nonpartisan ballot in a general election, and they must run in similar elections every six years thereafter.

County government is vested in boards of supervisors or commissioners of three to seven members, who, like other county officials, are elected on partisan ballots. The city manager and mayor-council forms of government are used in Nebraska’s cities, and governmental authority in villages is vested in elective boards of trustees.

Nebraska Territory was the creation of a Democratic administration in Washington, D.C., and Democrats dominated Nebraskan politics until 1860. The following 30 years were marked by Republican preeminence in the state, but the political ferment during and after the 1890s brought not just an end to one-party rule but the ascent of the state’s most famous politician, populist Democrat William Jennings Bryan, who ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. presidency three times (1896, 1900, and 1908). Another of the state’s most influential politicians was Sen. George W. Norris, a Republican reformer who played a key role in the establishment of the Tennessee Valley Authority. Although a slight majority of Nebraska’s voters are registered Republicans, Democrats have often been elected to the governorship and to serve in Congress. Since the mid-19th century, Nebraska has been a stronghold for the Republican Party in presidential elections.

Health and welfare

Nebraska’s programs of public assistance include medical aid and financial assistance for dependent children, the elderly, and people with disabilities. Federal funding provides more than half of Nebraska’s public assistance expenditures. In 1996 the public assistance agencies of the state were reorganized into three separate Health and Human Services agencies.

The state maintains a system of mental hospitals and other specialized health, correctional, and care facilities. Omaha ranks as a medical centre of national significance. Boys Town, a village for homeless children, is 10 miles (16 km) west of Omaha.

Education

Since the 1960s, state aid to local governments for education has increased greatly, and the number of school districts has been cut drastically in order to make more efficient use of educational facilities and programs.

There are more than 30 institutions of higher education in Nebraska; about one-half are private schools, and the rest are state-operated four-year colleges and publicly supported technical community (junior) colleges. The University of Nebraska (established in 1869) is the largest educational institution in the state and is composed of four campuses—the original and main campus in Lincoln, campuses in Kearney and Omaha, and the medical school, with facilities in Omaha and Lincoln. The University of Nebraska and Creighton University, a private Catholic institution in Omaha, both have schools of medicine, law, and dentistry. Other prominent private institutions include Hastings College (in Hastings), Concordia University (in Seward), and Nebraska Wesleyan University (in Lincoln); there are also state colleges in Chadron, Peru, and Wayne.