Things are beginning to heat up in Lincoln as a number of high profile bills are beginning to make their way to the Unicameral floor for debate by state senators.

One of the more contentious bills that have been debated so far this year was LB 477, a bill which would have repealed the state’s mandatory minimum sentences of three to five years for all offenses but rape and child molestation. These aren’t non-violent drug users who pose little threat, these are serious criminals.

As the debate on the bill moved forward, it was clear that it did not have the votes to pass. An attempt was made to scale down the legislation so that it applies only to drug offenses, but to many of us, this didn’t clear up our concerns.

Under current law, dealers who sell cocaine, heroin or methamphetamine (also known as meth) to minors or within 1000 feet of a school, college or university can face mandatory minimum penalties.

As amended the bill would allow those caught dealing heroin, cocaine or meth – even to children or near school property – would no longer face mandatory minimums. The bill still faces two more rounds of consideration before it will go to Governor Ricketts, who has indicated he will veto this bill. If he were to veto the measure, it will need 30 votes to override.

Listening to my constituents, I am not comfortable with removing the penalties for those caught with dealer-level quantities of meth, cocaine and heroin.

I agree that Nebraska’s prison system is overcrowded, but I am hesitant to look to a solution that reduces mandatory minimums with such a sweeping action. As always, if any of my constituents want to weigh in on this or other bills making their way through the Nebraska Legislature, please reach out to me (contact info below).

I’m pleased to report that my priority bill LB 506, to Adopt the Compassion and Care for Medically Challenging Pregnancies Act, has been passed out of the Health and Human Services Committee with unanimous support. My bill would task the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services to place on their website information that may be shared by physicians to expectant parents whose unborn child has been diagnosed with a lethal fetal anomaly. This is a relatively simple bill which will have a big impact on families going through such a horrible situation.

Also the Agriculture Committee prioritized my bill, LB 276, which will update sections of Nebraska law first adopted in 1937 relating to hybrid seed corn to specifically to include modern processes of producing seed corn. The bill was passed out of committee without opposition.

I wanted to make sure my constituents knew of the Unclaimed Property program, administered by the State Treasurer’s office. State Treasurer Don Stenberg is currently holding more than $170 million in unclaimed property from more than 350,000 owners. The Treasurer publishes a newsletter which breaks down the unclaimed property by county. My office has copies available for my constituents or you can look it up online by going to www.treasurer.nebraska.gov and clicking on the “unclaimed property” link. Last year a record $16.3 million was returned to Nebraskans and it would be great to see more of our neighbors be reunited with unclaimed or forgotten assets.

Finally, it has been another active week for visitors to my office. I was pleased to have former State Senator Dave Bloomfield stop by on Thursday. I was also able to visit with some folks from Wayne and Pender hospitals who were in Lincoln as part of the Nebraska Hospital Association.