Merv Riepe

In its 2016 session, the Nebraska legislature passed three bills that Ricketts then vetoed. LB580 would have created an independent commission of citizens to draw new district maps following censuses; supporters described it as an attempt to de-politicize the redistricting process, while Ricketts maintained that the bill delegated the legislature's constitutional duty of redistricting to "an unelected and unaccountable board". Riepe was listed as "present and not voting" in the bill's 29–15–5 passage. Sponsor John Murante opted not to seek an override of the governor's veto.

In the 2015 session of the Legislature, Riepe was named to the Agriculture Committee; the General Affairs Committee; and the Health and Human Services Committee.

Among the "most significant" actions taken by the Legislature in its 2015 session were three bills that passed over vetoes by governor Pete Ricketts. LB268 repealed the state's death penalty; LB623 reversed the state's previous policy of denying driver's licenses to people who were living illegally in the United States after being brought to the country as children, and who had been granted exemption from deportation under the Barack Obama administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program; and LB610 increased the tax on gasoline to pay for repairs to roads and bridges. Riepe voted against the death-penalty repeal, and to sustain Ricketts's veto of the measure; he voted against the passage of LB623, then to sustain the gubernatorial veto; and he abstained in the vote on the gas-tax increase, then voted to sustain the veto.

As the top two vote-getters, Riepe and Hosch moved on to the general election. Each questioned whether the other would place the state's interests ahead of his industry's. Riepe suggested that Hosch might push a measure to allow betting on historical videotaped races at Nebraska's racetracks; the Legislature had voted to place such a measure on the 2014 ballot, but the Nebraska Supreme Court had found that aspects of the ballot measure violated provisions of Nebraska's constitution relating to referendums, and had ordered its removal. According to Riepe, the passage of such a measure would lead to decreased keno revenues for Ralston. Hosch, meanwhile, suggested that Riepe might be inclined to represent the interests of the health-care industry rather than those of the Nebraska taxpayer, should the two come into conflict.

In November 2013, Riepe announced that he would run for the District 12 seat in the Nebraska Legislature. The district, located in southern Douglas County, included the city of Ralston and much of its school district, as well as parts of Omaha's Millard neighborhood. Under Nebraska's term-limits law, incumbent Steve Lathrop was ineligible to run in the 2014 election.

Three candidates entered the race. Riepe, a Republican, stated that he was particularly concerned about health-care issues, and opposed to the proposed expansion of Medicaid in Nebraska under the provisions of the 2010 Affordable Care Act. Greg Hosch, a Democrat, was the general manager of Horsemen's Park, an Omaha horse-racing track. He had never sought office before, but had lobbied for the racing industry's interests at the Legislature. He stated that he had no fixed agenda, but would work for economic development in the district. Joseph Hering, who described himself as a moderate Republican and a fiscal conservative, was an inventory control specialist for the city of Omaha; he had not previously run for office, but had served an internship in the Legislature in 1992 and 1993. He stated that his priorities included the passage of a voter-identification law.

Riepe made two unsuccessful attempts to win a seat on the Ralston Public Schools Board of Education. In an election during the 1990s, he ran as an announced candidate; in 2010, he ran as a write-in.

In 1974, Riepe married Janet Lee Anderson, a teacher at Benson High School in Omaha. The couple produced one son. Janet Riepe was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1978, and died of pneumonia arising therefrom in March 1996. In November 1996, Riepe married Jody Gillispie.

After leaving the Navy, Riepe worked in the field of health-care management. In 1964, he was named director of the Respiratory Therapy Department at Bergan Mercy Medical Center in Omaha. He eventually served, at various times, as chief operating officer and interim CEO of Bergan Mercy; as president of Mercy Hospital in Council Bluffs, Iowa; and as president of Children's Physicians, a joint venture of Omaha's Children's Hospital & Medical Center and Creighton University. After retiring from Children's Health Network in 2008, he worked as a health-care consultant.

Mervin Merle Riepe (born July 16, 1942) is an American politician from the state of Nebraska. In 2014, he was elected to the Nebraska Legislature, representing a district in the Omaha metropolitan area. In 2018, he lost re-election to Democrat Steve Lathrop, but in 2022 after Lathrop decided not to seek re-election, Riepe was again elected to the Nebraska Legislature.

Riepe was born July 16, 1942, in rural Griswold, Iowa. He graduated from Griswold High School in 1960, then served as a hospital corpsman in the U.S. Navy from 1960 to 1963. In 1968, he received a B.S. in finance from the University of Nebraska at Omaha; in 1970, an M.A. in health policy and management from the University of Iowa.