The majority of the past week has been spent debating the General Affairs Committee’s priority bills–LB376 (Change provisions relating to the importation of alcoholic liquor into the state under the Nebraska Liquor Control Act) and LB775 (Redefine a term under the Nebraska Racetrack Gaming Act and change and provide powers and duties for the State Racing and Gaming Commission). LB376 has been moved to Select File with amendments and LB775 has been amended and moved onto the Enrollment and Review Initial.

This past week we also debated Senator John Cavanaugh’s bill LB552 which extends the dates for the Legislative Mental Health Care Capacity Strategic Planning Committee for one year. This bill was one of the Executive Board’s priority bills. This bill was moved to the Enrollment and Review process with amendments. After debating LB552, we moved on to Senator McDonnell’s bill LB103 which would correct two items following the passage of LB700 in 2022. The first item is to expand the definition of school plan employee for those teachers employed by state agencies to include teachers not covered by the State Code Agency Teachers Association (SCATA). This would impact a few (less than 15) teachers that are employed by the Department of Education not represented by SCATA. The second item in LB103 is to correct a date after the passage last year. LB700 had an effective date of July 1, but also contained an emergency clause. As the bill was signed by the Governor on March 4, 2022, the July 1 effective date currently in statute is amended to reflect the actual effective date of March 4, 2022. This bill was also advanced to the Enrollment and Review Initial with amendments. This was one of the Nebraska Retirement Systems Committee priority bills

This week, my final bill will be heard in the Judiciary Committee on Friday, March 24th. This will be the last day of public committee hearings.

• LB441–Repeal Obscenity Exemption–This bill will repeal the exemption from prosecution for those in educational institutions providing obscenity to minors in grades K-12.

Bills to Watch

• This week we will begin debating Senator Kathleen Kauth’s personal priority bill, LB574 (Adopt the Let Them Grow Act). This bill would prohibit the performance of gender altering procedures for individuals under the age of 19, provide for definition of terminology and allow for civil action to be brought against violators of the act. This has been a topic of debate on the legislative floor for the past several weeks. Speaker Arch scheduled this bill to be debated because of the recent filibuster.

Just a reminder that the Nebraska Legislature does business for 2 years otherwise known as a biennium. Bills that do not get voted out of committee may stay in committee and can be rolled forward into the 2024 session. Other bills voted out of committee and not debated on the floor will return in the 2024 session.

Governor Pillen and I visited Pender Public Schools on Monday, March 20th. Both he and I really enjoyed our tour and meeting many of the teachers and children. I am always proud to get back to Lincoln and brag on what is happening in my schools in District 17. As always Pender is doing an awesome job.t.

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.