Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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This past week, the Agriculture Committee held a public hearing for LR280 introduced by the Agriculture Committee. The hearing was held at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. LR280 was introduced to examine a number of questions surrounding the Brand Law, including issues surrounding the continued value and utility of mandatory brand inspection. In recent years, the Legislature has considered legislation that would fundamentally change how brand inspection is implemented, including...
This past week marked the transition from summer to fall, and as such, harvest season is almost here. Please be careful on the roads since more tractors, combines, and semi-trucks will be on the roads in the coming weeks. Activity at the Capitol is also picking up. Many committees hold public hearings related to study resolutions in the fall. The Agriculture Committee, of which I am the chairman, will be holding two interim public hearings this year. The first hearing will be on Tuesday, Oct. 7...
This past week, the Natural Resources Committee held an interim hearing to review current laws that relate to the approval process, personnel involved, and costs associated with controlled burn permits. Controlled burns are planned fires intentionally set to manage ecosystems or prevent future larger, uncontrolled wildfires. These planned burns help reduce hazardous fuels like dead vegetation, promote the growth of native species, and help control problematic species like the eastern redcedar tr...
Even though the Legislature stands adjourned for the year, senators and committees are already laying the groundwork for the next legislative session. One way this groundwork is laid is by the holding of interim study hearings by the various legislative committees. Interim study resolutions are typically introduced by senators or committees in the regular session in order to examine public policy issues in-depth during the time the Legislature is adjourned. This past week, the Natural Resources...
This past week, more than 100 new laws took effect. Under Article III, Section 27 of the Nebraska Constitution, no law shall take effect until three calendar months after the adjournment of the legislative session at which it passed, though the Legislature can move up the effective date of a law by a two-thirds of all the members elected. Since this year’s legislative session adjourned on June 3, this means over 100 new laws took effect on Wednesday, Sept. 3, in accordance with our state’s con...
A couple of months ago, I outlined two initiative petitions that have been filed with the Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office and are currently in circulation for the 2026 General Election. Since then, two additional initiative petitions have been submitted to the Secretary of State: (1) the Cap Annual Property Valuation Assessments Constitutional Amendment and (2) the Reduce Taxable Property Valuation Initiative. The Cap Annual Property Valuation Assessments Constitutional Amendment p...
For the past few weeks, I have continued a series where I highlight several of the priority bills and resolutions that are pending and could be scheduled early next session. This week’s newsletter will provide an overview of several more carryover priority bills and resolutions which could be potentially debated sometime early next year. LB632, by Sen. Hansen, would require healthcare facilities to dispose of fetal tissue following an elective abortion via cremation, interment by burial, or a...
I will continue a series where I highlight several of the priority bills and resolutions that are pending and could be scheduled early next session. This week’s newsletter will provide an overview of several carryover priority bills and resolutions whose fate, at least to me, is more uncertain going into next year. LB13, by Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh, would require that Nebraska file a state plan amendment for the Child Care Subsidy program to pay providers based on a child’s enrollment or aut...
This week’s newsletter will provide an overview of several bills and resolutions that are still held in their respective legislative committees but could conceivably be advanced to the floor subject to the outcome of any negotiations that happen during the interim. LR12CA, by Sen. Kauth, is a proposed constitutional amendment that seeks to cap property tax valuations. As introduced, LR12CA would dictate that the maximum amount of any property tax cannot not exceed 1.5% of the full-cash value o... Full story
Last week, I started a series where I would highlight several of the priority bills and resolutions that are pending and could be scheduled early in the next session. This week’s newsletter will provide an overview of several more of these bills and resolutions. LB455 by Senator Hallstrom would modify existing laws relating to worker’s compensation. Under current law, if an employee is injured on the job, employers are required to file a report of first injury with the Nebraska Workers’ Compe...
Today, agriculture, food, and related trades employ more than one in 10 American workers and contribute over $1.5 trillion to our annual Gross Domestic Product. In Nebraska, one in four jobs are related to agriculture. According to the latest data from the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, our state is ranked first in total beef exports, second in ethanol production, and fifth in overall agricultural exports among the 50 states. We live in a time when agriculture security is emerging as a key...
July 4th is Independence Day in America. This day commemorates the ratification of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. I hope that you are able to enjoy time with your friends and family. As we take the day to celebrate our country’s independence, we should remember the many brave men and women who have fought and sacrificed so that we may enjoy the gift of freedom. I also want to make known that July 1, was the implementation date for one final p...
The Legislature has officially entered an interim period between the first and second regular sessions of the 109th Legislature. The interim provides time for senators and their staff to begin preparing for the next regular session, which is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. Yet, Senators also remain busy with interim studies to research topics of interest in hopes of bringing stakeholders to the table. This year, I introduced three interim studies: LR178, LR179, and LR180. LR178...
This week, I would like to outline my legislative accomplishments for this year. Bills passed this session include 13 of the 15 bills that I introduced in January. My legislation that made it across to the governor’s desk includes: LB7, which updates legislation I passed last year, LB1301, the Foreign-owned Real Estate National Security Act. LB7 clarifies that (1) Native American tribes are not foreign governments and are not barred from purchasing and owning real property in the state, (2) upda...
The 109th Legislature’s first session has adjourned sine die. As of the day of adjournment, the Legislature had passed 175 bills, excluding “A” bills, and one proposed constitutional amendment. Without going into my legislative accomplishments (that I will address in next week’s newsletter), I’d like to deviate from my normal newsletters and just provide my own personal assessment of how the Legislature did this session. In my mind, there were three major successes and one disappoin...
This past week marked the final full week of the 109th Legislature’s first session. Since the beginning of April, senators have been spending four days a week in session and also having debate go into the evening three days a week. Late-night debate can take its toll on senators who spend many hours trying to pass legislation or stop bills from reaching the governor’s desk. One such example occurred during Select File debate on LB306, a bill which would create the School Financing Review Commiss...
This past week, the Legislature considered a measure to increase property tax relief. LB170 by Senator Brandt would raise revenue through (1) the removal of sales tax exemptions on eighteen luxury goods and services like limousine rentals, (2) increasing the excise tax on cigarettes, and (3) creating new taxes on cigars and vapes. The purpose of this bill was to raise revenue which would then be allocated to help offset school district property taxes paid. During debate, however, it soon became...
The Legislature passed the budget bills this past week containing its recommendations for the fiscal year 2025-2026 & fiscal year 2026-2027 biennial budget. Now, it will be up to the governor whether he signs the legislation as is or uses his line-item veto authority. When the Legislature convened in January, senators initially faced an estimated $432 million shortfall for the next two years, a number that soon grew. A large part of the increased deficit, but not all, came because the state’s ec...
The Legislature gave first-round approval this past week to a $10.8 billion biennial budget for fiscal years 2025-2026 and 2026-2027. It consisted of five bills advanced to the floor by the Appropriations Committee. Going into debate, senators faced a nearly $262 million projected budget deficit over the next two years due to federal rate changes for Medicaid and a late report by the Economic Forecasting Advisory Board. In developing the budget proposal, the Appropriations Committee had used Feb...
The question of whether Delta-8 and similar hemp-derived products are to remain legal in Nebraska was the topic of debate this past week. The federal 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp production with 0.3% or less Delta-9 THC, but other compounds like Delta-8 THC and Delta-10 THC were not limited. The result has been the rapid rise of vape and smoke shops offering for sale Delta-8, Delta-10, and similar hemp-derived products across the state. While some establishments comply with the federal law, oth...
This past week, the Legislature made some progress in breaking through the logjam of bills currently sitting on the agenda. Senators are trying to find ways to move their bills since time for debate on non-budget bills is growing short. The budget is scheduled to be advanced to the full Legislature on April 29, and Speaker Arch announced that debate on budget bills will begin on May 6. One measure advanced to Final Reading this past week was Sen. Hallstrom’s LB80. This bill builds upon legislati...
Now that the Legislature is over two thirds of the way through this year’s 90-day regular long session, progress on the floor is beginning to slow down. More bills are being filibustered, delaying debate on other bills further down on the agenda. One measure considered was LB632 by Sen. Hansen. LB632 would require health-care facilities to dispose of fetal tissue following an elective abortion via cremation, interment by burial, or as directed by the Board of Health. Approximately 15 states c...
The Legislature is now two-thirds of the way through this year’s 90-day legislative session. One prominent topic of discussion this week was winner-take-all. Earlier this year, Sen. Lippincott introduced LB3 to reinstate the winner-take-all system for electing a presidential candidate. This system would award all of Nebraska’s votes to the candidate who received the highest number of votes throughout the state. Today, only two states, Maine and Nebraska, allocate votes for a presidential can...
This past week, my bill LB246 was debated on General File. Under LB246, the commercial sale and distribution of cultured protein products would be banned in Nebraska. Such products, also known as lab-grown meat or synthetic meat, are made by combining animal stem cells and other ingredients in bioreactors. However, LB246 would not impact the sale and distribution of plant-based protein alternative products. My intent with this bill is to address public safety concerns and help preserve Nebraska...
March 28th marked the 52nd day of this 90-day legislative session and the final day of daily committee hearings. Full day debate will begin March 31. Senators are now focused on the budget as well as bills that have been designated as a priority either by a senator, a committee or the Speaker of the Legislature. One of the final bills heard by the Judiciary Committee this year was my bill LB395. LB395 was brought on behalf of the Nebraska Supreme Court’s Administrative Office of the Courts a...
