Well this week found us finishing Day 12 of Session. It has been a busy 12 days. Bill introduction was completed on Wednesday and we adopted the Permanent Rules on Thursday. Now it is time to get ready for Committee Hearings and moving my bills forward.

I introduced 13 bills this session. Some of the bills I introduced I brought back from last session as I felt it was important to continue working to move them forward. Now that bill introduction has taken place and permanent rules have been adopted, we are ready to move forward with the work we were elected to do. Until Permanent Rules were successfully advanced, we couldn’t move forward to committee hearings.

There were 812 bills introduced and 30 Constitutional Amendments. Here is a list of the bills I introduced:
LB 440—Change provisions relating to certain school taxes and special funds
LB 441—Change provisions relating to obscenity
LB 442—State intent to transfer funds to the Livestock Growth Act Cash Fund
LB 443—Change provisions relating to compensation for total disability under the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Act
LB 605—Change provisions of the Mental Health Practice Act ot include protections and requirements for certified art therapists
LB 606—Adopt the Nebraska Pregnancy Help Act and provide tax credits
LB 626—Adopt the Nebraska Heartbeat Act
LB 635—Provide requirements regarding access to digital and online resources provided for students by school districts, schools, and the Nebraska Library Commission
LB 636—Prohibit political subdivisions from restricting certain energy services
LB 637—Require members of the public to be allowed to speak at each meeting subject to the Open Meetings Act
LB 638—Adopt the Nebraska K-12 Cybersecurity and Data Protection Act
LR24CA—Constitutional amendment to eliminate the State Board of Education and provide for the Governor to appoint the commissioner of Education
It was also my pleasure to introduce Legislative Resolution 25 extending sympathy to the family of former Senator Pat Engel. Every week I will introduce the bills I am carrying and provide more information about them.

There are a lot of bills that I did not sign on to or will not speak on until they come to the floor for debate. Please feel free to call or email my office to let your voice be heard. I would also encourage you to participate in the committee hearings by coming in person to testify or submitting written testimony or comments through the Nebraska Legislature website (nebraskalegislature.gov). In order to have comments or testimony in the record, you must go through the comment portal once a hearing has been scheduled. If you are submitting testimony or comments, you will be asked for a good email address as you will be asked to verify your comments. If you don’t verify your information, your comment or testimony will not be in the record. You must submit written comments or testimony by noon the weekday before the hearing. If a hearing takes place on a Monday, then your testimony or comments will need to be submitted by noon the Friday before.

On Wednesday, January 25th, Governor Jim Pillen will give his State of the State address and will introduce his priority bills for the upcoming year. I am pleased to carry the Agricultural Valuation Fairness Act for Governor Pillen. In this bill, we will be implementing the Agricultural Land Valuation Committee to establish appropriate capitalization rate limits. This committee will determine assessed values using the income-based approach and these valuations will be implemented by county assessors. The assessed values determined by the Committee will be developed using income and expense information from the USDA, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, landowner surveys made available to the committee, or other sources that yield reliable information. This bill will go into effect in 2024 and will be capped at 3.5% per year.

As always, I invite you to let me know your thoughts, ideas, concerns, or suggestions by contacting me by calling (402) 471-2716 or emailing me at jalbrecht@leg.ne.gov.