Your Weeks 13 and 14 Legislative Update

Hello fellow Nebraskans,

The past two weeks at the legislature have been filled with long hours of debate, including late nights that seem to drag on. Nevertheless  there are only 2 more weeks at the legislature, making these days at the capitol very precious. We have so many bills to debate and so little time. Today though, I will let you all know what has occurred over the past two weeks beginning with the week of March 25-28.

Week 13

On the 25th of March, the legislature debated on the confirmation report for the new DHHS Director, Steven Corsi. Due to his track record on social media, his time working for the State of Missouri and his time with Epiphany Associates. many concerns were brought up during the confirmation debate. Epiphany is currently in contract with the State of Nebraska to reduce state spending. While he was approved to take on the position of DHHS Director, senators must continue to be watchdogs and look out for misconduct by any person that is in a position of immense power such as Mr. Corsi. I wish his well and hope for him to help stabilize DHHS and make the agency better equipped to handle its responsibilities.

Later in the day, LB1288 was debated during select file. This bill introduced by Senator Raybould,  amends the Nebraska Mental Health Commitment Act to include recognition of tribal mental health and dangerous sex offender commitment orders, allow for transportation of persons civilly committed under tribal law, and provide for reimbursement. Debate for this bill went late in to the night as many senators were opposed to the bill due to the belief that the transportation costs would be too costly for the state. Simply, tribes are asking for this help from the state because they don’t have the tools needed to adequately handle this issue. The bill was able to pass onto Final Reading but not after I tried to amend my bill, LB911 which would require DHHS to keep records of each Indian Childe Welfare Act case and allow for data analysis. DHHS would also report the data annually to the Nebraska Commission of Indian Affairs. My bill failed to receive the 25 votes needed to be amended on to the bill which is incredibly unfortunate.

On the 26th of March, I was able to amend my bill, LB822 to Senator Fredrickson’s bill LB932. LB822 has the State of Nebraska join the Interstate Compact for Social Workers. When a certain number of states join the compact, it is enacted and allows licensed social workers to work in member states. Interstate compacts are so important for military spouses as they are often stationed in a different state or nation every few years.

The next day, March 27th, I held extended debate for Senator Murman’s bill LB1092. This bill would require the scanning of ID in order for folks older than 18 to use pornography websites. My concerns for the bill stemmed from the aspect of data collection and how this scanning system will leave adults unprotected while protecting children from accessing online pornography. I believe, in order for a bill like this to work, there already needs to be a data broker registry in place for the state. A registry, allows Individuals to contact data brokerage companies to learn where their data and information is sold and what personal data is sold. I’m not against having protections in place to protect children from online pornography, but we shouldn’t sacrifice the wellbeing of one group for the betterment of another.

On the 28th, my bill, LB834 passed Final Reading and was signed by the governor. I’m so happy that dental students will have an expedited process to receive their temporary licensure. Having simple legislation like this passed is needed to help make the lives of young people easier. We want to retain talent as much as possible in the state and this is a small piece to the puzzle.

Week 14

On Monday, the 2nd of April, the Revenue committee’s priority bill LB388 came up for debate on General File. This legislation is a tax package, centered around alleviating property taxes through raising the sales tax by 1 cent. This bill met a large amount of opposition due to this shift in tax dollars. It’s not a bill that lowers the tax burden for working families and simply, this isn’t the permanent solution to solving the issues we have in the state when it comes to property taxes. Numerous times on the microphone, I discussed how unfunded mandates perpetuate the need for localities to increase property taxes in order to make up for the programs mandated by the state. Finding new revenue streams as well such as medical marijuana would bring a new, sustainable source for revenue or having a luxury tax for luxury items. The bill was voted through to the next round of debate with an amendment that eliminated the sales tax increase.

On Thursday, the 4th of April, LB686 came up for debate. Senator Walz’ bill proposes to create a Cash Balance Retirement Plan for firefighters in First Class Cities. Currently, firefighters in first class cities don’t have a stable retirement plan. making retirement incredibly difficult to achieve after so many years sacrificing their well-being to protect the people of their towns. The bill was able to obtain 25 votes to move on to the next round of debate after many hours of debate. Numerous amendments were offered, but ultimately the decision was made to have a compromise amendment added to the bill on Select File. Nevertheless, this has been an issue discussed for multiple decades by firefighters from First Class Cities. I’m very happy to see some movement on this issue as we need to make sure these firefighters are able to live lives of decency after their many years of inhaling harmful and cancerous substances.

On Friday, the 5th of April, the legislature debated LB575. The bill outlaws trans students from participating in athletics. The bill had too many questions attached to it such as, what’s the enforcement mechanism? Is this an issue in the state currently? Questions like these weren’t answered adequately. Not enough votes were available to cease debate on the bill, effectively killing the bill.

Your Weeks 11 and 12 Legislative Update

Hello friends,

The past two weeks at the legislature have been quite eventful with the issues discussed on the floor.

Week 11:

On Tuesday the 12th, the first item on the agenda was the veto override of LB307. LB307, introduced by Senator Hunt, allows municipalities and counties (local governments) to vote for a syringe exchange program. In Nebraska, we have seen a spike in HIV and other diseases due to not having a syringe program available. This bill was incredibly well researched and had broad bipartisan support throughout all 3 rounds of debate. Governor Pillen vetoed the bill, citing issues he had with the legislation that truly aren’t based off of the data that has shown the success of syringe service programs in other states. 44 other states have a syringe exchange program. Multiple senators switched their votes from support to opposition due to requests by the governor and opposition from people in their districts. I want to applaud Senator Hunt and her staff for their efforts on this legislation.

On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, the legislature debated LB1412 and LB1413. Both of these bills are the mid-biennium budget adjustments recommended by the governor’s office. Many of the adjustments were to take funding out of different cash funds in order to administer property tax relief. This type of relief isn’t going to solve the long term issues with property taxes in Nebraska. Unfunded mandates in political subdivisions across the state are a leading cause behind property tax levies being raised. While both bills passed, I will always continue to raise issues and look to have true property tax reform.

On Friday the 15th, my bills, LB823 and LB1373 were both amended onto LB1215. LB823 has Nebraska join the Physician Associates Licensure Compact, which removes hurdles to licensure for PA’s in other states that are a part of the compact. LB1373 would have Nebraska join the Dietitians Interstate Compact as well. Both of these bills are beneficial, especially for military families as they often are moved every 2 to 3 years to different states. My office is continuing to find ways to have my legislation amended on to other bills in order to make my bills law.

Week 12:

On Monday of week 12, the legislature discussed multiple bills throughout the day, beginning with LB137. Senator Bosn’s bill enhances criminal penalties against drug dealers if the drug they sold leads to injury or death. This bill was filibustered throughout the morning hours. The bill was passed over for the afternoon debate to allow discussions on other legislation. One of my bills, LB834 successfully passed on to Final Reading. LB834 expedites the temporary licensure process for postgraduate dental students to be able to practice at their approved residency site. The bill will help to prevent postgraduate students leaving for out of state schools and leaving Nebraska’s workforce. The bill passed without opposition.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, LB441 continued to have debates until Wednesday morning. The bill failed to obtain the votes needed to end debate, basically guaranteeing that the bill is dead. Legislation similar to this has passed in other states and has proven to be incredibly harmful for educational institutions to teach, Teachers and librarians shouldn’t have to worry about being prosecuted while teaching.

On Wednesday the 20th, I began a filibuster against Sen. Holdcroft’s bill LB876. This legislation expands the Safehaven law to allow babies to be dropped of at fire stations and other specific locations where first responders are located instead of just hospitals while expanding services to protect mothers and children. The main contention I had with the legislation was allowing “baby boxes” to be placed at these sites. These baby boxes haven’t been given approval by governmental agencies for safety inspections. There are numerous legal issues as well. These boxes violate the Indian Child Welfare Act, and make it easier for crimes like rape, domestic violence and incest to be perpetrated. The boxes are costly as well for localities, costing 15,000 dollars per box and includes a 500 dollar yearly fee for using the box. Working with Senator Holdcroft, the bill will be amended and eliminate the baby box language from the bill.

On Wednesday night, the legislature passed  LB20, introduced by Senator Wayne from General File to Select File. This legislation restores voting rights for felons after the completion of a sentence or probation. The bill passed the first round of debate with ease. Legislation identical to LB20 has come up multiple times over the years. I’m glad to see Nebraska catch up to other states when it comes to criminal justice reforms.

On Thursday March 14th, I met with UNMC student and future MD, Brock Calamari and discussed the progress of my bill LB834. This bill expedites the temporary licensure process for postgraduate dental students to be able to practice at their approved residency site. I truly appreciate the candid conversation we had and am hoping he continues to stay in Nebraska once he fulfills his educational obligations.

Thank you all for reading my newsletter. If you know a friend or family member that wishes to be subscribed to my newsletter, please have them contact my staff below or by calling the office at 402-471-2627. Thank you once again.

Legislative Aide: Alex Maycher, amaycher@leg.ne.gov
Administrative Aide: Gabriel Hinrichs, ghinrichs@leg.ne.gov

Your Week 10 Legislative Update

Hello friends,

The first week of all day floor debate has been very eventful to say the least. Filibusters have occurred, while committees have been voting on which bills should go out to the floor for debate. Throughout the week, my office has been busy trying to find ways to amend my legislation onto other bills. In order to do so, my bill must be germane and not deviate from the subject that the original bill is about. A bill being germane with another bill means that they’re considered to be under the “same subject”. We will continue to find paths toward passing good legislation for the great people of this state.

On Monday, most bills discussed weren’t considered to be controversial but, LB894 from Senator Ibach mandates a certain amount of law enforcement credentials for a person elected as a sheriff in any county. LB894 had a decent amount of time dedicated to it. A few amendments were introduced to include educational requirements. The bill passed General File with little opposition. On the same day, my bill LB834 made it past the first round of debate with 32 yeas and no opposition. LB834 replaces the “temporary” dental license with a “resident” dental license. This bill will help keep postgraduate students in Nebraska and to learn the practice of dentistry with less red tape.

During Tuesday, most of the day was made up of senators opposing LB1170 which was introduced by Senator Riepe. The bill lowers the amount of weeks for folks to receive unemployment benefits from 26 to 16 weeks. Often, it takes 16 weeks for people to even begin receiving payment. Other states that have shortened the duration of unemployment had no reduction in their unemployment numbers, so to say that this will encourage people to get back to work sooner is untrue based on facts and data. Existing unemployment funds are targeted to be used by our governors office to help with property taxes. 60 million should not be used to balance our budget as it is not our money to use. It should be noted, that many states that shortened their unemployment duration ended up getting loans from the federal government to keep their unemployment funds solvent. The bill hasn’t had its full 8 hours of debate for General File but myself and other senators will fight tooth and nail to make sure this bill doesn’t make it to the next round of debate.

Wednesday was an incredibly long day on the floor. LB175, introduced by Senator Dungan, creates the Residential Tenant Clean Slate Act. A tenant is immediately eligible for clean slate relief if the eviction proceeding was dismissed, the judgment against the tenant was reversed or vacated, or if a writ of restitution is never executed. An amendment to the bill included LB1115 which allows landlords and tenants to demand a jury trial. Senator Slama spoke through most of Wednesday and continued her filibuster Thursday morning for the full 8 hours given for debate until around 12:30 pm. The bill failed to get 33 votes needed to end debate on the bill, making the bill indefinitely postponed. Senator Slama’s disagreements with the bill stemmed from her belief that this bill would violate property rights. The bill was then cut down to allow tenants to only use the clean slate provision once. The clean slate provision will be very helpful for tenants that weren’t evicted but had proceedings occur but were dismissed. Not passing this bill will hurt individuals that are low-income, especially hurting single mothers and their children. Finding affordable housing is more difficult than ever in Nebraska and not allowing folks to have access to affordable housing will drive up homelessness and poverty.

On Thursday, the legislature passed numerous bills on final reading and passed two very important bills through to final reading. Senator Hughes’ bill LB1035 establishes the Nebraska Prescription Drug Donation Act. This bill will allow individuals to donate unused prescription drugs which will then be dispensed to customers by pharmacies. Senator Dungan’s bill, LB857 creates the Nebraska Prenatal Plus Program which assists mother’s that have Medicaid and looks to lower the rate of low-birth weights, help with pre-term birth and avoid adverse birth outcomes. LB857 had Senator Bosn’s bill, LB933 amended on to the bill. This bill expands Medicaid coverage for glucose monitors for pregnant women with gestational diabetes. Both of these bills will be very beneficial for health care outcomes in the state and I’m looking forward to the next round of debate.

The Importance of Afterschool Programs

Throughout the week, the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation’s Beyond School Bells program has had a display, showcasing boards created by students from across the state that attend their school’s after school programs. The benefits of having a robust afterschool program are:

1) Provides quality enrichment experiences for children
2) Creates social emotional learning and mentoring relationships
3) Prepares kids for real-world, 21st-century jobs
4) Supports Nebraska’s hard working families and communities

The truth about Nebraska’s economy is that workforce participation is mandatory, making it difficult as a parent to take your kid home once school is done for the day. That’s why we need to have afterschool programs that are able to give the care and educational support needed for kids, no matter where they are in Nebraska or their family’s financial situation.

Thank you for reading my weekly newsletter. If you have a friend or family member that you think would be interested in subscribing, please have them reach out to my staff who are listed below. Thank you once again for being subscribed and have a great weekend!

Legislative Aide, Alex Maycher: amaycher@leg.ne.gov
Administrative Aide, Gabriel Hinrichs: ghinrichs@leg.ne.gov

Your Weeks 8 and 9 Legislative Updates

Hello my friends,

The past two weeks at the legislature were the last days of committee hearings, meaning that all day floor debate will begin next week. I introduced my final 4 bills, LB823, LB1337, LB825 and LB833 over the past two weeks. I can’t believe it’s my last time introducing legislation as your State Senator from LD3 but I can’t be more proud about the legislation my office crafted and introduced this session. We brought up important issues that must be addressed in Nebraska especially with health care, jobs, military issues and more. I’m looking forward to finishing up the year on a high note with the majority of my legislation being passed.

LB823 allows Nebraska to become a member of the Interstate Compact for Physician Associates. The compact would remove licensure hurdles for licensed physician associates moving to Nebraska to practice through granting a multi-state license and a shared database between Compact member states for background checks. Active-duty military spouses and others licensed in this profession who have moved to Nebraska will be able to enter the workforce sooner. LB823 has been voted out of committee to General File with no opposition.

LB1373 allows Nebraska to join the Dietician Licensure Compact. This compact eases licensure hurdles for licensed dieticians entering the state to practice in Nebraska through granting a multi-state license and a shared database between Compact member states for background checks. Active-duty military spouses and others licensed in this profession who have moved to Nebraska will be able to enter the workforce sooner. LB1373 has been voted out of committee to General File with no opposition.

LB825 establishes the Nebraska Farmers of Color Opportunity Act. It grants tax breaks to any organization awarding grants to black farmers/food producers. The bill has not been voted out by the committee as of yet.

LB833 adopts the Prescription Drug Affordability Act. The act establishes the Nebraska Prescription Drug Affordability Review Board and the Nebraska Prescription Drug Affordability Council. The 5 member board, appointed by the governor, subject to approval by the legislature, are required to have expertise in health care economics or clinical medicine. The board is able to establish an upper payment limit for prescription drugs after performing an affordability review. The board is limited to reviewing 12 drugs per year unless other prescription drugs are deemed worthy for a review. The bill has not been voted out by the committee as of yet.

Floor Debate

Last week, morning floor debates were filled with a lot of legislation that are considered to be “clean-up language” bills or bills that aren’t considered to be divisive. One of the more interesting debates that occurred on the floor last week wasn’t for a bill but for a legislative resolution. LR298 creates the Legislative Oversight Review Special Committee. This helps to resolve issues with oversight that have been discussed for months at the legislature. This all stems from an opinion written by Attorney General Mike Hilgers that questioned the constitutionality of the Inspector General Acts. After this opinion, executive branch departments such as the Department of Health and Human Services didn’t assist the Inspector General of Child Welfare or the State Ombudsman’s office when asking for new data and information. While this resolution answers many questions, the fact that this even happened in the first place was not needed. The months spent without the Inspectors General Act was a negative for oversight for the wellbeing of children, incarcerated Nebraskans, the foster system and other groups of people that are under the state’s watch.

From Tuesday the 27 to Wednesday the 28th, the legislature debated LB1067 which was introduced by Senator Clements. The bill would end the Inheritance Tax over a 5 year period. Much of the debate surrounded how counties would be able to continue to fund themselves without inheritance tax. The bill has close to 3 hours left for debate on General File.

On Thursday the 29th, the legislature was business as usual for most of the morning, with 15 bills passing on final reading. LB1288 introduced by Senator Raybould would allow the Nebraska Mental Health Commitment Act to include recognition of tribal mental health and dangerous sex offender commitment orders, allow for transportation of persons civilly committed under tribal law, and provide for reimbursement for transportation and other expenses prescribed. The bill passed General File with a vote of 25-10.

Peter Sarpy Elementary School Tour

On Thursday last week, I had the great pleasure of meeting with 4th graders from Peter Sarpy Elementary to discuss the role of the legislature, where bills come from and how they are able to bring change to their communities. I always cherish these field trips and want to inspire these kids to become leaders in their own lives.

Paul Contreras

I wish to sincerely thank Paul Contreras and his family (from left to right Ava, Toni, Senator Blood, Paul and Alyssa) for taking the time out of their busy lives to visit the capitol and be honored on the floor of the legislature. Paul Contreras and his family were in Kansas City to celebrate the Chiefs Super Bowl win. At the end of the parade, shots rang out. Paul tackled one of the suspects, preventing further bloodshed. His heroism deserves to be recognized as much as possible. His family was wonderful to host in the office. Thank you to Paul and his family once again for visiting the capitol.

Health Insurance Coverage in Nebraska

The Legislative Research Office sent this map to my office and it paints a picture of how much work is still left to do for health care coverage in the state of Nebraska.

This Maptime provides the percentage of the county population under 65 that is uninsured. Health insurance coverage in the American Communities Survey refers to comprehensive coverage at any time during the calendar year for the civilian, non-institution population of the United States.  The Census Bureau broadly classifies health insurance coverage as private insurance or public insurance.  In this map (pdf), the counties with higher rates of people without insurance show up in yellows and oranges, the counties with lower rates of people without insurance show up in deep purples and dark blues.

Thank you for reading my newsletter! If you know a friend or family member that might be interested in signing up to read my newsletter, have them call my office at 402-471-2627 or have them email one of my staff members below. Thank you all once again.

Alex Maycher – Legislative Aide amaycher@leg.ne.gov
Gabriel Hinrichs – Administrative Aide ghinrichs@leg.ne.gov

Your Week 7 Legislative Update

Hello friends,

This past week at the legislature saw some great pieces of legislation voted on and moved onto different rounds of debate. I also had two committee hearings for LB’s 821 and 911 that went well overall and I will describe to you what each bill does.

I had the great privilege of meeting with members of the League of Women Voters of Nebraska. We discussed the mission of the LWV and the necessity of expanding democracy and ending dark money in politics.

On Wednesday morning, the legislature passed two significant bills. LB857 from Senator George Dungan establishes the Nebraska Prenatal Plus Program. The bill’s goal is to reduce the incidences of low birth weight, pre-term birth, and adverse birth outcomes by having 6 or less sessions of nutrition counseling, psychosocial counseling, breastfeeding support, targeted case management and more. This bill will support mothers that are experiencing economic hardship and ensure that babies in Nebraska are going to be healthier from the jump.

The other bill that passed on Wednesday was LB1035 from Senator Jana Hughes. This bill establishes the Prescription Drug Donation Act. Individuals, drug manufacturers and healthcare facilities may donate prescription drugs to the Department of Health and Human Services which then distributes the donated drugs to licensed pharmacists that then hand the drugs out to patients that have a prescription for said drugs. This will help to lower costs for prescription drugs across Nebraska.

My priority bill for the session, LB829 passed the second round of debate on Wednesday morning to Final Reading which is the 3rd and final round of debate. LB829 closes a loophole used by insurance companies to charge patients for when a polyp or other abnormalities are removed during a colonoscopy. My hope with this bill is that more Nebraskans will look to get their colonoscopies and not be burdened financially.

Committee Hearings for my Office

LB821 had its hearing on Monday in the Education Committee. The bill streamlines the preliminary enrollment process for children with special needs for military families. This change will allow students who transfer with their military families comparable services upon arrival here in Nebraska by requiring that the preliminary or advanced enrollment provisions of a school district applies to students with an IEP or special education program. The hearing for LB821 went very smooth and didn’t have any opposition.

LB911 had its hearing on Thursday afternoon in the Judiciary Committee. The legislation relates to the Indian Child Welfare Act and assigns the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services to keep records of each ICWA case and allow for data analysis. DHHS will also report the data annually to the Nebraska Commission of Indian Affairs. Five strong women testified in support for LB911 with no opposition.

Thank you very much for subscribing to my newsletter! If you know anyone that may like to subscribe to this newsletter, please have them email my staff below or have them call my office at 402-471-2627. Thank you once again.

Legislative Aide: Alex Maycher, amaycher@leg.ne.gov
Administrative Aide: Gabriel Hinrichs, ghinrichs@leg.ne.gov