Note from Meg

Dear friends and neighbors,

On March 3rd, after weeks of passionate hearings and testimony, the committee hearings came to a close. The legislature has now moved to all-day floor debate – beginning with priority bill selections. I hope you continue to stay in touch with me on any issue that is of importance to you throughout this process.

Each Senator is allowed to designate one bill as a personal priority bill and each committee can designate two committee priority bills. In addition, the Speaker designates another 25 priority bills. This session I have prioritized LB121 – a bill that would remove the lifetime ban on SNAP eligibility for people with certain drug convictions. I requested LB932 as a priority bill from Speaker Hilgers. This bill would require the Department of Health and Human Services to notify foster youth and their guardians of their social security benefits. Unfortunately, Speaker Hilgers did not select this bill as one of his priority bills.

A big focus of mine this session has been opposing bills that do not represent the values Nebraskans hold dear. These bills include- LB939, LB1023, LB1015 among others. LB939 would reduce taxes for Nebraska’s highest individual earners while doing nothing for the majority of Nebraskans; LB1023 would appropriate $200 million of federal pandemic recovery funds to build a lake between Omaha and Lincoln when this money should be used for the services Nebraskans are asking us for such as rental assistance, mental healthcare, etc.; and LB1015 would use American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to build a canal that would divert South Platte River water from Colorado to Nebraska. This bill is in search of a problem as Colorado has not violated the water compact agreement between them and Nebraska. The canal will cost $500 million dollars with $100 million coming from ARPA funds. LB1023 and LB1015 would both use relief funds irresponsibly. We need your support in defeating these four bills.

As all-day floor debate continues, your voice matters. To learn how to submit online comments, click here. Since committee hearings have ceased this session, online comments will not be included on the official record. However, feedback is still relevant and important as bills progress.

All the best,
Meg

Legislative Update

• LB121: Lift SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) ban for people with drug convictions
  • This ban only applies to individuals with drug-related felonies.
  • Many people did not find out that they were banned from receiving SNAP until they were in desperate need of the service during the pandemic.
  • These individuals have served their time and should not be deprived of essential services. Everyone deserves access to food.
  • Nebraska is the only state with this ban.
  • Placed on General File
  • My priority bill
• AM2200: Require DHHS (Department of Health and Human Services) to inform foster youth and their guardians of social security benefits
  • After an interim study this past session, we discovered that DHHS in Nebraska does not inform foster youth or their guardians of possible social security benefits they are entitled to.
  • DHHS often was using these funds that were meant for the foster youth to pay for the cost of their care.
  • My bill would require that the foster youth and their guardian(s) are notified of their benefits.
  • AM 2200 to LB1173
  • Advanced to Final Reading
• LB1137: Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) update for the Fair Pay to Play Act
  • College athletes deserve to be compensated for their name, image, and likeness. This would be a technical update to the Fair Pay to Play Act that was passed into law in 2020.
  • Placed on Select File
• LB357: Youth in Care Bill of Rights
  • Foster youth are already required to be informed of their basic rights, however foster youth and advocates have expressed that the rights that are currently enumerated are not broad enough nor are they communicated in a way that the youth can retain or fully understand.
  • This bill would provide the foster youth with a more comprehensive list of rights and an avenue for them to file a complaint if they feel as though their rights have been violated.
  • Placed on General File
• LB250: Adopt the Interior Design Voluntary Registration Act
  • Currently in Nebraska, interior designers are required to hire an architect or an engineer to stamp their design plans; thus, causing unnecessary fees and delays in their project.
  • This is a bill to create a voluntary registration to be administered to the Nebraska State Treasurer for those qualified interior designers in Nebraska to use the title “Registered Interior Designer”. Those registered would have the ability to stamp and seal their interior design construction documents.
  • Placed on General File with AM471

Bills to Watch

Bills I Support

• LB920 (Lathrop): Create the Justice Reinvestment Oversight Task Force
  • The task force would enact a series of evidence-based strategies to reduce inmate population and lower recidivism rates.
• LB872 (Brewer): Allows Native American students to proudly wear their tribal regalia
  • Requires that Native American students shall not be forced to remove items of tribal regalia at school or school-sanctioned events.
• AM1969 (Hansen, M.): Require the Governor to apply for emergency rental assistance under ARPA
  • Nebraska is one of two states who have not yet applied for emergency rental assistance from the federal American Rescue Plan Act.
  • This amendment would require Governor Ricketts to apply for this emergency rental assistance.

Bills I Oppose

• LB939 (Linehan): A tax break for wealthy Nebraskans
  • Cuts taxes for wealthy Nebraskans, but fails to provide any significant relief for middle to lower-class Nebraskans.
• LB773 (Brewer): Concealed Carry without a permit
  • Removes the requirement for one to receive a permit to conceal carry a handgun which in turn means people will not have to take a safety class before doing so.
• LB730 (Lindstrom): Tax credit bill amended to include Opportunity Scholarship tax credit
  • Puts in place a tax incentive that would match dollar-for-dollar donations to private schools.
• LB1213 (Albrecht): Provides requirements for access to digital and online materials for public schools. Restricts access to “obscene” materials.
  • This is a bill in search of a problem. Obscene is never defined in the bill leaving it up to interpretation which could restrict academic freedom for students. It also takes control away from the library commission and educators who are already filtering online content.
• LB933 (Albrecht): Bans abortions entirely if SCOTUS overturns Roe
  • Makes it so that if the Supreme Court of the United States overturns all or part of Roe, Nebraska law will reflect that decision immediately.
• LB1086 (Geist): Put unnecessary restrictions on medication abortions
  • Requires the patient who is taking the medication abortion to partake in pre and post appointments which are not medically unnecessary. This bill also shortens the window you can take the medication down from 11 weeks to 10 weeks. Both of these requirements go against the standard of care of abortion services.

February/March in Review

On March 4th I had the pleasure of speaking at the National Art Education Foundation’s National Conference Panel about my help with defeating LB364, the opportunity tax credit bill. I discussed how this bill is an effort to undermine public schools and chip away at public schools to move towards privatization.

The Nebraska Civic Leaders Program (NCLP) held a Senator panel on March 10th. This program is a partnership between Omaha Public Schools and the University of Nebraska Omaha to give high schoolers hands-on experiences on how government works at all levels. I had the opportunity to speak on my experience as a State Senator in Nebraska.

Our Office in the News

District 8 Events, News, and Resources

The Unicameral is back in session! Bill introduction is officially over and below you can find a brief overview of my 2022 legislative agenda, testifying procedure updates, bills I support, and dangerous proposals that have been introduced this session.

We are beginning our 60-day session with nearly 700 bills introduced and the added task of allocating over 1 billion in federal funding. This is our chance to make generational investments with the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding by prioritizing affordable housing, racial and gender equity, education, infrastructure, economic justice, and environmental protections.

A handful of my colleagues have continued their relentless attack on abortion rights by introducing roughly six bills to ban or restrict access to reproductive healthcare and comprehensive sex education. We must remember that abortion is a right. Abortion is health care. The decision about whether and when to become a parent belongs to Nebraskans and their medical providers, not the government. Above all, politicians have no place interfering with personal health care decisions. We aren’t medical experts, and we don’t know better than doctors or the patient themselves. However we personally feel about abortion, individuals, not lawmakers, should have the option to make these decisions without political interference. As long as I am in the Nebraska Legislature, and beyond, I am committed to doing everything I can to protect the rights of patients, families, doctors, and ensure that any policy we advance is motivated by evidence, research, and the well-being of all Nebraskans.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to my office with your thoughts on any upcoming legislation. Your feedback and input are always important to me.

All the best,
Meg

2022 Legislative Agenda

LB 715 – Lift the ban on insurance coverage for abortion care

• Nebraska is one of 11 states that prohibit abortion coverage from being included in private and public plans. Current restrictive laws serve to “punish” people who have made the difficult decision to end a pregnancy.  Many of these people may already be struggling financially, and the burden of medical bills incurred from abortion care may contribute to keeping them in a cycle of poverty.

LB 716 – Expand the list of providers qualified to provide abortion care to include Certified Nurse Midwives, Advanced Practice Registered Nurses, and physician assistants

• Health care providers are overworked and in short supply. Many duties that are currently performed by physicians can also be safely done by skilled, licensed nurses and physician assistants. This is a simple, effective way to help our health care workers and patients alike.

LB 834 – Eliminate the disability subminimum wage

• The current practice of setting disability wages based on a worker’s efficiency and ability is exploitive, discriminatory, and dehumanizing, resulting in these workers being paid cents on the dollar due to a little-known 80-year old federal law.

LB 930 – Allow for the use of campaign funds for a child’s travel and childcare related to the office holder’s official duties

• Being a parent with little to no disposable income should not be a factor in whether or not someone is able to run for office. The aim of this bill is to make it easier for low-income and single parents to fulfill the public service duties they were elected to do.

LB 931 – Counting vacation payouts fairly for unemployment eligibility

• This bill removes the statute that currently requires lump sum vacation paid out upon separation to be prorated to an amount reasonably attributable to that week and the amount the employee would be entitled to for the weeks thereafter. If a contract employee chooses to save up vacation days rather than take time off in order to get paid out for those days later on,  it is their prerogative to do so; and their unemployment eligibility should not be adversely affected. The employee earned those vacation benefit dollars during the course of employment and is now no longer working, so they should be eligible for unemployment without the lump-sum payment counting against them.
• Hearing set for Jan. 24th

LB 932 – Establish protections for foster youth’s social security benefits  

• Establishes notification requirements and transparency measures, requires the state to provide financial literacy training to older youth, and requires the state to establish a savings account for social security benefits for youth starting at age 14.
• Comes after interim study LR 198 which investigated the state’s practice of interception social security benefits that belong to foster youth under the guise of reimbursing itself for the youth’s care (2.7mil a year) without the youths’ or their guardian’s knowledge.
• Nebraska is one of at least 10 states that has hired a for-profit contractor to screen youth for eligibility for this money and to apply for it on the state’s behalf, taking the most vulnerable of our vulnerable children and asking them to foot the bill for their own care.
• Hearing set for Jan. 28th

LB 1027 – Provide grants to schools that discontinue the use of Native American mascots  

• Incentivizes schools to discontinue the use of Native mascots by allowing them to apply for a grant from the State Department of Education for up to $200,000 to assist with the cost of changing mascots. Currently

LB 1028 – Tipped wage enforcement

• We know from reports and testimony from hundreds of workers across the state that some employers are not following the current law, but due to the vagueness of the statute, it is difficult to track and enforce
• The bill makes it explicitly clear it is the employer’s responsibility to make up the difference between a tipped employee’s wage + tips and the regular minimum wage of $9/hr,
  establishes a simplified process to submit complaints, and expands protections for employees.

LB 1029 – Provide employee harassment protections for small businesses

• Creates harassment and discrimination protections that apply to businesses with 14 or fewer employees
• The Fair Employment Practice Act (NFEPA) includes protections for employees from harassment, discrimination, and employer retaliation for employers with at least 15 employees. This means there is a giant hole in the Act – employers with 14 employees or less have no protections under this Act or federal law. There is no good reason that small employers should be free to discriminate against and harass their employees without penalty.

LB 1136 – Prohibit senior care living facilities from discriminating against LGBTQ+ individuals 

• Under current statute, these facilities can deny applications, evict residents, refuse to assign a room in accordance with one’s gender identity, and bully and harasses LGBTQ+ individuals for simply being themselves. This bill will provide vital housing protections for our LGBTQ+ senior Nebraskans.

LR 269CA – Establish an independent redistricting commission 

• Establishes a politically balanced 9 member independent citizens commission to set district lines for the Legislature’s approval to remove partisan games and restore transparency in the redistricting process.
• Hearing set for Jan. 27th

Carryover Legislation 

• LB 121 (General File) – Removes the lifetime SNAP ban for individuals with prior drug convictions
• LB 205 (in committee)– Places a cap on rental late fees
  • Bringing a new amendment to simplify the math
• LB 250 (General File) – Establishes the Interior Design Voluntary Registration Act
• LB 276 (in committee) – Permit telemedicine abortions
• LB 357 (General File) – Create the Youth in Care Bill of Rights

Sponsored Legislation

Racial Justice 

• LB 814 (McKinney) – Require racial impact statements for legislative bills
• LB 842 (Brewer) – Include tribal governments to be able to receive Civic and Community Center assistance grants
• LB 872 (Brewer) – Ensure Native American students can proudly wear their tribal regalia in Nebraska schools
• LB 1191 (Brewer) – Use federal funds to improve tribal-owned drinking water

Healthcare

• LB 929 (Wishart) – Extends postpartum insurance coverage
• LB 1129 (Morfeld) – Provide free birth control
• LB 1133 (Morfeld) – Allow health workers to qualify for mental health benefits under workers’ compensation
• LB 1066 & 1067 (Stinner) – Direct federal funds to behavioral health care services
• LB 1075 (Stinner) – Direct federal funds to youth mental health services

Gender Equity

• LB 745 (Cavanaugh, M.) – Update marriage language to “spouses” to make it more inclusive
• LB 881 (McKinney) – Provide for a sale tax exemption for feminine hygiene products and require detention facilities to provide such products

Housing

• LB 940 (Hansen, M.) – Direct federal funds for housing
• LB 1002 (McDonnell) – Direct funds to low-income home energy assistance
• LB 1142 (Vargas) – Direct federal funds to affordable housing
• LB 1052 (Cavanaugh, J.) – Direct federal funds to a homeless assistance program
• LB 1070 & 1071 (Williams) – Direct federal funds to rural affordable housing
• LB 1073 (Wayne) – Create the Department of Housing and Urban Development to address affordable housing needs
• LB 1252 (Vargas) – Direct federal funds to middle-income housing

Economic Development 

• LB 991 (Morfeld) – Direct funds to conduct a feasibility study for a high-speed commuter rail between Omaha and Lincoln
• LB 1024 (Wayne) – Adopt the North Omaha Recovery Act and state intent regarding appropriation of federal funds
• LB 1114 (McKinney), LB 1116 & 1117 (Wayne) – Encourage business/development in areas of high poverty and/or unemployment
• LB 1141 (Vargas) – Direct federal funds to legal civil representation for financially struggling clients
• LB 1201 (Deboer) – Use federal funds on expanded food assistance
• LB 1203 (Briese) – Use federal funds on child care assistance
• LB 1238 (Vargas) – Use federal funds on South Omaha Recovery Grant Program

Criminal Justice Reform 

• LB 920 (Lathrop) – Create the Justice Reinvestment Oversight Task Force
• LB 946 (Wayne) – Prohibit state agencies from prescribing off-label medications to certain juveniles
• LB 952 (Cavanaugh, J.) – Provide Medicaid enrollment assistance to inmates prior to release
• LB 1111 (McKinney) – Designate funding for reentry and restorative justice programming
• LB 1154 (McKinney) – Smart justice reform to support reentry and rehabilitation
• LB 1155 (Cavanaugh, J.) – Smart justice assessment of pretrial release, supporting bond reform
• LB 1276 (McKinney) – Allow for civil actions against police officers who commit misconduct

Voting 

• LB 793 (McCollister) – Provide for ranked-choice voting

District 8 Events

COVID-19 Vaccinations

• Douglas County has several locations you can visit to receive a free COVID-19 vaccine.

Benson First Friday Art Walk

• Supporting the emerging artistic community in Omaha and our surrounding areas starting Friday, February 4th.

Hand Up Food Pantry

• January 27 at 3:30 pm – 5:15 pm at First Presbyterian Church’s on 216 S 34th St, Omaha. This is a recurring event every Thursday.

Season of Lights

• Experience a winter’s night and stroll in the glow of a cherished holiday tradition – tens of thousands of white LED lights strung throughout Turner Park and along Farnam Street. Happening now through February 14, 2022.

Valentine’s Day Pop-Up Events with Mauve Moon Florals 

• February 6th embrace your inner goddess pop-up at Bellevue Social Center
• February 12th Galentine’s Day Pop-Up at Shop Five Nine (Benson)

Our Office in the News

Lincoln Journal Star – Sen. Megan Hunt proposes expanded access to abortion care as Legislature returns

Omaha World-Herald editorial – Midlands Voices It’s vital for Nebraska leaders to stand up for all women by Megan Hunt

3 News Now – School choice bill fails in Nebraska Legislature despite unlikely political alliances

ACLU of Nebraska – Advocates announce new bills to protect abortion rights

KETV Omaha – Abortion stakes high in upcoming legislative session

Lincoln Journal Star – Social Security tax repeal bill delayed by fiscal uncertainty