Zach Wendling
LINCOLN — Gov. Jim Pillen promoted three state employees Thursday to oversee the Nebraska Department of Administrative Services and Department of Environment and Energy.
Pillen announced that Lee Will, current state budget administrator, will now oversee the Administrative Services Department. The department in part manages the budgets of various state agencies and oversees state employees. Effective Saturday, Will will also serve as chief operating officer for the department.
In Will’s place, Neil Sullivan will step up to fill the role as state budget administrator. Will’s salary will be $205,000. Sullivan’s will be $155,000, according to the Governor’s Office.
Pillen also announced Thursday that Kara Valentine will join his cabinet as the interim director of the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy, beginning Monday. Valentine has been a deputy director for the past eight years.
Will has been with Nebraska government since 2015 as a budget management analyst and deputy budget administrator. In 2020, he was appointed state budget administrator.
Pillen in a statement described Will as “an exemplary leader” for the state’s budget processes, “to the benefit of all Nebraskans,” and he said he is excited for what Will brings to his new role. Will has worked closely with Pillen on property tax relief proposals that took various forms over the year and helped to implement “efficiency savings” via an out-of-state analysis.
“Lee has worked closely with state agencies and our legislative partners to provide sound forecasting and budget advice,” Pillen said. “At DAS, he will be able to implement additional spending reductions through direct oversight of the state’s procurement, facilities and vehicle fleet operations.”
Pillen announced earlier this month that Director Jason Jackson, who has led the department since 2018, would step down from his post effective Friday. Jackson had also served as the state’s chief human resources officer since 2016.
Will is not formally titled the chief HR officer, a spokesperson said, but he will oversee the state’s personnel division.
Sullivan has been with Nebraska government since 2014 and has followed the same path as Will, working as a budget management analyst and then deputy state administrator in 2020. Sullivan previously was business manager at the Grand Island Veterans Home.
Valentine came to Nebraska from Missouri, where she was an environmental attorney with the Missouri Attorney General’s Office and general counsel for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
She replaces acting director Thad Fineran, who was recently promoted to the rank of brigadier general in the U.S. Army and is leaving Nebraska for an out-of-state post.