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LINCOLN — Nebraska lawmakers confirmed Maureen Larsen’s appointment as director of the state Department of Economic Development despite some reservations from the committee that interviewed her.
The Legislature approved Larsen’s confirmation Monday in a 32-1 vote. Gov. Jim Pillen appointed Larsen as interim director in July, replacing former director K.C. Belitz, and announced she would become the permanent director in November.
The Legislature’s Banking, Commerce and Insurance Committee held a public hearing on Larsen’s appointment in January, and though no one testified in opposition, committee members couldn’t find consensus on whether to recommend or oppose her confirmation.
Ultimately, the committee advanced her appointment with “no recommendation” — a rare occurrence according to Speaker John Arch of La Vista. Without a favorable or unfavorable recommendation, Arch said Larsen’s appointment required at least 25 votes of the full Legislature to be approved. If there weren’t 25 votes, her appointment would have been rejected.
Committee chair State Sen. Mike Jacobson of North Platte said he was supportive of Larsen’s appointment but noted some committee members had concerns about her lack of experience in economic development.
Prior to her appointment, Larsen served as Pillen’s general counsel and deputy director of his Policy Research Office.
Jacobson said he believes Larsen is qualified to hold the role, and is confident she will serve well. State Sen. Brian Hardin of Gering, a committee member, also supported her confirmation, arguing that lawmakers should allow the governor to appoint who he thinks will be the best fit for such positions.
“I think it’s best to let people choose their own teams,” Hardin said.
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Despite mixed feelings from the committee, no committee members that had reservations about Larsen spoke during Monday’s debate. All speakers — save for one — spoke in support of Larsen’s appointment.
State Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston said he was surprised by the “love fest” that made up Monday’s debate, although he acknowledged he was a committee member who had concerns about Larsen’s lack of experience.
Riepe’s reasoning for not speaking up: “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”
State Sen. Stanley Clouse of Kearney was the sole no vote on Larsen’s confirmation. He said his opposition stemmed from several calls and meetings he’s taken with people concerned that Larsen’s appointment has created a “toxic environment” within DED, and claimed that since she assumed the role the department has lost roughly 40 employees.
State Sen. Brad von Gillern of the Elkhorn area, another committee member, said Larsen has told him that all of the departures from DED have been voluntary.
“There’s not near as much drama around that as people want to imagine,” von Gillern said.
In the final months of 2025, the size of DED’s staff shrunk by at least 22 full-time employees. Though DED officials said those departures were largely voluntary, some state employees have expressed fear that Larsen was appointed as part of a “hatchet job,” a term often used for someone hired to cut staff, due to a lack of outreach she did with the rest of the department.
Former DED Deputy Director of Operations Joe Lauber, whose position was eliminated in August, said prior to his termination then-interim director Larsen shared that it was the governor’s goal to reduce the size of DED through attrition.
Agencies often do this by not filling positions people vacated through retirements and having or encouraging people to leave on their own. Lauber said the state implemented strategies such as Pillen’s return-to-work order and enforcing a strict 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. work schedule in hopes of getting people to consider whether they wanted to keep working for the department.
DED spokesman Justin Pinkerman said the lower staffing numbers are partly because of “dramatic growth” the department experienced during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. From June 30, 2020 to June 30, 2025, Pinkerman said DED grew from 63 full-time employees to roughly 114.
“As DED winds down pandemic-era economic recovery programs and identifies greater operational efficiencies, not all positions that come open are being filled,” Pinkerman said in an email.
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