WELCOME back to the remainder of Session! Lots happened in the five days the Legislature met this week. Forty-three bills were voted on Monday, July 20 alone. A couple of rarely used motions were debated. And, the Governor appeared on the floor of the Legislature. Busy week and preview of things to come.

On Friday, July 24, the Governor spoke to Senators on the floor of the Legislature. He updated Senators on the success of TestNebraska, which has trained 929 contact tracers who have been able to contact those who have been exposed to a person with confirmed COVID-19 within the first day after confirmation 90% of the time.

The Governor also spoke of the updated figures from the Forecasting Board. Those figures show an optimistic picture for Nebraska and its economy. The Governor urged the Legislature to put the people’s work ahead of personal politics and suggested four key pillars to get Nebraska growing again. The four pillars identified by the Governor were:

1. Property tax relief by passing LB1106, which he described as giving more money to our schools while reducing taxable valuations to provide property tax relief to every property owner in the State, whether personal , commercial, or agricultural/horticultural
2. Incentives to bring new businesses to Nebraska through passage of LB720, which would replace the soon to expire Advantage Act that has provided hundreds of jobs in Nebraska and would help keep Nebraska competitive with other states as companies
look for new places to locate or expand.
3. The University of Nebraska Medical Centers NExT Project. The NExT project is described by UNMC as including two major components to serve the training and research needs of Nebraska and to provide a federal all-hazard disaster response military and civilian partnership to treat United States military and civilian personnel injured by biological weapons and
4. Veterans tax relief through LB153, which exempts one-half of military retirement benefits from Nebraska Income Tax.

I am in full support of these priorities and continue to work first and foremost towards the passage of LB1106 to make sure the other pillars are possible.

The Legislature also debated Senator Groene’s bill, LB147 this past week. I am a strong supporter of LB147 and the teachers of Nebraska. LB147 will give teachers throughout Nebraska the ability to protect themselves and other children from danger by being able to restrain and/or remove from the classroom out-of-control children. We heard from teachers who have experienced horrible assaults and unmanageable classroom situations that they have been unable or uncertain about what action, if any, can be taken. LB147 also provides that teachers will receive training in proven de-escalation methods to assist them in being able to provide a safe and healthy learning environment for Nebraska children.

As the Session has moved forward, it was encouraging to see LB1186 pass on to Final Reading. LB1186 was introduced by Senator Hilgers and I designated it as my priority bill back in February. The bill requires that school districts pay teachers their salary from day one if the teacher is injured as a result of an assault taking place while at school. Our teachers are important to our children and our future. Making schools safe for them as well as for our students is a priority and I am honored that Senator Hilgers allowed me to designate his bill as my priority bill.

Things got very interesting pretty quickly once the Legislature reconvened. We experienced some procedural matters that are not necessarily typical during Session.

First, there was what is called a “Pull Motion” from Senator Geist to pull her bill banning dismemberment abortion (LB814) out of Committee. In order for a bill to be debated on the floor, it must first be voted out of Committee and on to General File. The Judiciary Committee, which handles an estimated 250 bills per session did not advance LB814. It takes a motion and 25 or more votes to pull a bill out of committee. We debated Senator Geist’s motion on Tuesday, July 21. The motion prevailed with a 30-8 vote in favor. There were seven senators who were Present Not Voting and four who were Excused and Not Voting. LB814 is Senator Geist’s priority bill and is now on General File for first round debate.

On Wednesday, July 22, the Legislature debated a Motion to Suspend the Rules in order to file a new bill out of time. The motion was filed by Senator Wayne for purposes of introducing LB1222, a bill that would require all cities over 5,000 that employee a full-time police officer to mandate formation of a Citizen’s Advisory Council to investigate complaints and examine law enforcement standards and practices. Though seldom used, the Motion to Suspend the Rules is a tool available to Senators where circumstances warrant. As a rule, bills are allowed to be introduced by Senators during the first ten days of Session. The deadline for introducing bills in the 2020 Session was January 23rd.

Senator Wayne’s motion prevailed on a 32-4 vote with 12 members Present Not Voting. I voted “no” on the motion because of the limited time left in this Session and because I see this as best addressed at the local level rather than state government handing down an unfunded mandate. The bill, in its present form, would require each city to pass an ordinance creating a board of seven people without any experience or ties to law enforcement procedures to investigate every complaint, giving them subpoena power and reporting responsibilities, along with one or more mandated personnel positions. I have reached out to cities and law enforcement in District 17 about the issue and am aware that there are already procedures in place that serve this need through a Civil Service Commission or advisory board. My concern is that a one-size fits all response to the unrest we have seen in Omaha, Lincoln, and throughout the United States, is not appropriate considering the differing needs and resources available in various cities and counties throughout Nebraska. Hearings on Senator Wayne’s bill is scheduled to be heard before the Urban Affairs Committee at 1:00 PM on Friday, July 31.

There is much more ahead as we move into the last 11 days of Session and I will do my best to keep residents of District 17 informed.

As always, it is of great importance that I hear from my constituents to effectively do my job as your voice in the Legislature. I encourage you to contact me and I look forward to hearing from you.
You can reach me by phone at 402-471-2716 or by email at jalbrecht@leg.ne.gov