Does your car literally have a bomb ready to explode in your face? I’m not being overly dramatic when I stress the importance of my counterfeit airbag bill that was heard this past Tuesday in front of the Judiciary Committee. I’m hoping they see LB690 as important as I do and kick it out for a possible consent agenda item. The bill would make it a felony for repair shops to knowingly install counterfeit airbags into cars. This is a bigger problem than people realize around the country and we need to make sure the practice is stopped cold in Nebraska so we don’t have the sad case of having to name a future bill after a loved one who has been killed as a result of this practice.

This bill was heard on the last day of hearings and we have now moved into full-day debate. That’s generally a sign that the session is also starting to wind down, though there is still much to do. On the legislature floor, we got through the first round of debate on my priority bill for this year. LB 685 provides a funding priority for special-needs military dependents under the Developmental Disabilities Services Act. This would specifically add dependents of active duty military members who are severely developmentally disabled to the list of treatment priorities kept by the DHHS. In essence, this would allow prioritized treatment for those who need it most but do not have all of the care necessary covered by Tricare. We were very careful to make sure this isn’t coming at the detriment of others who also need services. In fact, as it’s been explained to us, the list has everyone starting out on the bottom priority and then everyone is moved up depending on the need for services. This means there really isn’t any kind of “jumping the line.”

The bill got 37 yes votes and had six senators who were present and not voting for this first round. I don’t anticipate that it will be any problem getting people to continue to support this. This type of legislation is vitally important for the community because they also underline how much we value the military community in Nebraska and in my district. Getting legislation like this passed helps identify our state as “military friendly” and that’s important considering that another round of Base Realignment and Closings (BRAC) is in our future. We cannot afford to lose Offutt, It simply has too big an impact on our local economy. I will continue to bring forward legislation in support of our military families in future sessions.

Friday and Monday are recess days so we are able to spend time with the residents in our respective districts. When we return to the session on Tuesday it will be the 37th day, meaning we’re barreling towards the finish line quite quickly.

Make sure to make some time to check out the International trade conference at Bellevue University’s John B. Muller Administrative Services Building later this month. Slated for March 22, attendees will be discussing The North American Free Trade Agreement, Britain’s departure from the European Union, doing business with foreign-owned companies and other topics.

With just over 20 days left in the session, time is running out to make your voice heard on issues that are important to you. If you have any questions or comments about my bills or any legislation in front of the legislature, please don’t hesitate to email or call my office at cblood@leg.ne.gov or 402-471-2627.

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There are currently many opportunities to serve on boards and commissions spanning a variety of open positions. This is a great chance to give back and be involved in our community. Application forms can be found and completed at https://governor.nebraska.gov/ under “Constituent Services.” If you feel so inclined and might be interested in serving, please review the opportunities that are available and consider sharing this message with others who might share this interest as well.
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Did you know that there is a long list of items available for free to the public relating to the Nebraska Legislature? Here is a list of only a few that you might find interesting. If you are receiving this email digitally, you should be able to link to the information from your newsletter.

1. Unicameral Update
2. About the Legislature
3. Unicam Kids
4. Inside Our Nation’s Only Unicameral
5. Poster of Nebraska Senators
6. Membership & Committees Card
7. Lines of Government

Some of these links have documents that can be printed. If you would like a hard copy of one or more of these documents, please call my office at 402-471-2627 and we will be happy to place it in the mail to your home address.