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. |
