Legislator highlights potential bills, resolutions

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 of any such property, and the full-cash value of such property cannot be adjusted in excess of 2% for any given year with certain exceptions for bonded indebtedness, natural disasters, individuals who are over the age of 55 or severely disabled, transfer of ownership, property damage, or contamination. LR12CA is currently being held by the Revenue Committee.

LB156, by Sen. Conrad, would amend both the Political Subdivisions Tort Claims Act and the State Tort Claims Act. Under recent precedent set by the Nebraska Supreme Court, cases arising from assault or battery limit any lawsuits from being filed against political subdivisions under the State Tort Claims Act and the Political Subdivisions Tort Claims Act. This bill would allow for tort claims lawsuits to be filed in narrow instances against public schools in cases involving the sexual assault of students. LB235 is currently being held by the Judiciary Committee.

LB235, by Sen. Conrad, relates to the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. This bill would dictate that an eviction trial shall be held not less than 10 days, but not more than 14 days after the issuance of a summons unless a judge should find that additional time is warranted pursuant to a court order. This bill would also allow an eviction order to be issued on a date less than ten days after issuance of the eviction if the tenant poses a true and imminent threat to other residents, the landlord, or the landlord’s employees or agents. LB235 is currently being held by the Judiciary Committee.

LB634, by Sen. Hansen, would create the Sunset Review Committee in order to establish a process that reviews the entities created by the legislature, such as boards, councils, committees, task forces, commissions, funds, and programs. Nebraska has over 200 boards, commissions, task forces, and councils, along with over 150 programs and nearly 600 funds. Altogether, that is almost 1,000 entities that could be reviewed by this proposed legislative committee. The Sunset Review Committee would review approximately 200 of these entities each year and make recommendations to the full legislature with suggested changes and a proposal for either the continuation or termination of the entity. LB634 is currently being held by the Executive Board.