The weather has made a change towards summer. Governor Jim Pillen posted on his Facebook page– “Due to continued wildfires across our state, I have issued a Proclamation declaring a state of emergency within our State. This declaration allows our state to coordinate and activate the necessary resources to effectively combat these wildfires. Additionally, I have issued an executive order that bans all open burns in Nebraska until April 16, 2023. For the status of current wildfires in Nebraska, go to: http://nema.nebraska.gov.”
(Pillen, Governor Jim. (April 13, 2023) Proclamation declaring a state of emergency and a ban on all open burns, Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087314096798)

I so appreciate the firefighters and first responders that are on call to jump into action when needed. Please be aware of the Red Flag warnings that are posted and keep an eye on the sky. Stay safe.

Bill Update

• LB626—The Nebraska Heartbeat Act—On Wednesday, April 12th, my personal priority bill was debated for eight hours on the floor. This bill requires a doctor to do an ultrasound before proceeding with an elective abortion. If there is a heartbeat detected, there will not be an abortion. If there is not a heartbeat detected, the abortion can be done. Exceptions to this are for rape, incest, and the life of the mother.
  • This measure would be the “friendliest pro-life” law for doctors in the country. Every other state that regulates abortion imposes criminal or civil penalties for unlawful abortions, she said, but LB626 would impact only a physician’s license. (“Abortion restrictions advanced to select file after cloture”. Unicameral Update. April 14, 2023. http://update.legislature.ne.gov/?p=34135)

After eight hours of debate, a cloture vote was taken to stop the filibuster. The vote was 33-16 for cloture and the final vote to advance the bill to Enrollment and Review Initial and Select File was 33-16. The next round of debate on LB626 will be four hours.

• LB574–Let Them Grow—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. It was debated for four hours on Thursday. April 13th on Select File. The cloture vote was 33-16 and the final vote to move the bill forward was 33-16. An amendment will be coming between Select File and Final Reading. Bills on final reading cannot be amended, but senators may vote to return a bill from final reading to select file for consideration of a specific amendment. (“Ban on gender-altering procedures for minors advanced to final round after cloture”. Unicameral Update. April 14, 2023. http://update.legislature.ne.gov/?p=34125)
  
  
• LB753—Adopt the Opportunity Scholarships Act and provide tax credits—Under this Act, individual and corporate taxpayers would qualify for a non-refundable tax credit equal to the amount the taxpayer contributed to a scholarship-granting organization. No taxpayer may receive tax credits in an amount exceeding 50% of their state income tax liability. This bill is on Select File and has an amendment added to it by Senator Linehan along with Senator Hughes and Senator DeKay. This amendment makes sure the money is spent on scholarships by the Scholarship Granting Organization (SGO), and not held, and also requires reporting of progress statistics from the Nebraska Department of Education to the Revenue, Education, and Appropriations Committees. The cloture vote was 34-9, the amendment was adopted 41-0, and the bill was voted to advance to Final Reading 33-11.

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.