This week found me very busy with my first committee hearings. I serve on the Education Committee which has hearings on Monday and Tuesday followed by the Revenue Committee hearings on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Committee hearings began at 1:30 p.m. and three bills were heard on each day we met.

This next week finds me introducing LB626–Nebraska Heartbeat Act to the Health and Human Services Committee on Wednesday, February 1st beginning at 1:30 p.m. The Nebraska Heartbeat Act would provide babies who have a heartbeat protection under the law from abortion. The Nebraska Heartbeat Act would require that a doctor, before proceeding with any abortion, first perform an ultrasound in accordance with standard medical procedure to listen for a fetal heartbeat. If a heartbeat is present, an abortion may not be performed. There are exceptions in this bill for rape, incest, or a medical emergency. This only affects intrauterine pregnancies which excludes ectopic pregnancies (outside of the uterus), IVF procedures (embryos are created in a lab outside of the lab), and miscarriages (no heartbeat present using an ultrasound). The Nebraska Heartbeat Act is about one thing: protecting babies who have heartbeats from elective abortions. A heartbeat is a universal sign of life. We also know that abortion stops a beating heart. We envision a Nebraska where EVERY life is celebrated, valued, and protected.

The other bill I am introducing in the Revenue Committee is Governor Pillen’s priority bill LB820—The Agricultural Valuation Fairness Act. This bill goes before the Revenue Committee on Friday, February 3rd at 9:30 a.m. in Room 1524. This bill was introduced during Governor Pillen’s State of the State speech on Wednesday, January 25th.  LB820 is a structural reform of property valuation for agricultural and horticultural land for tax purposes in Nebraska and changes the tax valuation from market based valuation to an income potential valuation. The bill implements an Agricultural Land Valuation Committee to establish appropriate capitalization rate limits. The total value of all agricultural and horticultural land can NOT increase more than 3.5% statewide. Nebraska is an outlier in how it values its ag land. States such as Iowa, Kansas, and South Dakota utilize an income based assessment to value their ag land.  Agricultural land values are once again expected to face double-digit increases across the state. Implementation of this bill for 2024 will limit those increases to 3.5%, potentially reducing agricultural land valuations by $7.5 BILLION. The total valuation of agricultural land in Nebraska is $89.4 BILLION. 

The public can testify at a Committee Hearing. You need the Legislative Bill (LB)  number, the date of the hearing, and the room it is being held in. When you have that information, you can travel to the State Capitol and testify in person or you can submit written testimony. Go to nebraskalegislature.gov/bills—under search current bills enter the bill number. Click on Submit Comments Online. The deadline to submit your testimony is clearly set and the instructions are easy to follow. Additional information can be found at nebraskalegislature.gov/committees.

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.