As expected, State Senator Greg Adams of York was elected Wednesday as the new Speaker of the Nebraska Legislature. The only announced candidate, he succeeds Mike Flood of Norfolk…who left the legislature under term limits after serving as speaker the past 6 session.

Adams told his colleagues he has no political agenda other than to help his colleagues be “the best senators they can be”

A retired high school teacher and former mayor of York, Adams has been chairman of the Education Committee the past 2 years…helping broker deals on the state’s K-12 school funding formula and working closely with the state’s colleges.

Ogallala senator Ken Schilz was voted the new Agriculture Committee Chair, while Heath Mello of Omaha is the new chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee…succeeding the term-limited Lavon Heideman.

Senator John Harms of Scottsbluff was encouraged by many of colleagues to put his hat into the contest for the Appropriations chairmanship, but says he turned them down because he was concerned about the stress of the job and the chance it might aggravate some existing health concerns.