By the time of this publication, the 107th Legislature will have adjourned “Sine Die.” The last days of session were spent passing bills on Final Reading. We also recognized the thirteen outgoing senators who are either being term-limited out, or not running for re-election.

At the time of writing this, the legislature has passed 149 bills for the 2022 session. 22 of these bills have been approved by the governor, and three have become law notwithstanding objections from the Governor, which are the budget bills that were line-item-vetoed. Additionally, one resolution, LR14, which involves a call for a Convention of States, was delivered to the Nebraska Secretary of State.

Overall, the legislature managed to pass a number of critical pieces of legislation for Nebraskans. Last week, I joined Governor Ricketts in the Capitol rotunda to sign LB873, the historic tax relief bill, into law. This bill reduces the top Nebraska state individual income tax rate by 1%, lowers the corporate income tax rates by approximately 2% on all taxable income in excess of $100,000 by 2027, and phases out the state income tax on social security benefits by 2025.

LB750, one of the Transportation and Telecommunications committee priority bills passed on Final Reading. This bill makes a number of changes related to the Department of Motor Vehicles, and includes one of my bills, LB913, which requires the Nebraska Department of Transportation to reconstruct a highway approach, which is the part of a county road located on the State’s right of way, when it is destroyed by a natural disaster or as a result of faulty engineering. 

LB1144, the other Transportation and Telecommunications priority bill was also passed by the legislature. This bill includes my bill, LB914, which gives the Public Service Commission the authority to create and maintain a Nebraska Location Fabric Broadband Access Map, which would provide valuable information related to broadband availability and quality of service in Nebraska.  LB1144 also includes Senator Dorn’s bill, LB761 which establishes the Precision Agriculture Infrastructure Grant Program, intended to provide high-speed connectivity to farm sites in underserved areas of the state.

I was disappointed to see LB933, a bill introduced by Senator Albrecht fail to overcome a filibuster. This bill would have prohibited the practice of abortion on live, unborn children on the condition that the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade is overturned.

LB773, also a bill I co-sponsored introduced by Senator Brewer, would have authorized the carrying of concealed handguns without a permit in Nebraska. This bill was debated for four more hours on Select File, but ultimately failed to overcome the filibuster and only received 31 of the 33 votes it needed to advance.

My office remains open over the interim, and we will continue to work with different groups, agencies, and constituents on issues that affect District 23 and Nebraska.  I appreciate hearing from constituents and encourage you to contact my office on legislation at 402-471-2719 or bbostelman@leg.ne.gov.