Greetings, the legislature was not in session last Monday in observance of Presidents day, legislative activities were resumed on Tuesday the 20th. We are more than half way through the session, and things have flown by.

Last week, the body discussed Sen. Fredrickson’s child subsidy bill, LB856, which is based on programs seen in Kentucky and now Iowa. This bill would exclude all earned and unearned income for child care workers when an agency like DHHS is determining eligibility for the federal Child Care Subsidy. The applicant must work at least 20 hours a week at a licensed center, an Early Head Start program, or as a self- employed licensed child care provider.

There was also discussion on Sen. Vargas’s LB1355 early last week. LB1355 would appropriate funds for the Nebraska Opioid Recovery fund for grants and aid programs. This bill also redefines multiple terms and adds entirely new definitions to statute, if passed. Examples of new definitions would be “Opioid epidemic” and “Opioid remediation”. Opioid remediation specifically means care, treatment, and other programs/expenditures designed to address the misuse/abuse of opioid products by affected individuals. It also means treating or mitigating opioid use or related disorders and to attempt to lessen the overall impact of the opioid epidemic.

There was also a vigorous debate on Bosn’s LB137 that led to a multi day filibuster. The bill  would provide an enhanced penalty for drug dealers when the person who used the controlled substance either died or sustained serious bodily injury. All three bills were advanced to Select File.

Speaker Arch designated his 25 Speaker Priority Bills for this session. One of the bills he designated as a Speaker Priority was my bill, LB1030. For those needing a refresh on what the purpose of LB1030 is, it is my county bridge match bill, which provides additional funding to ensure the County Bridge Match program continues. The program provides matching state funds to our counties in order to repair or replace structurally deficient bridges on our county roads. LB1030 also adds two county officials to the newly created working group who awards the funds to provide the Department of Transportation with a county official’s perspective.

Committee hearings will be wrapping up this week.  With this we can expect committee priority bills to be brought to the floor for debate.  Committee priority bills may have a number of bills that were heard in that committee included in their priority bill.

The first of March is a recess day, thus the legislature will not be meeting. Full day debate will officially begin on the 4th, and budget bills will be placed on general file on the 7th of March. The budget is an adjustment to the budget that we passed last year.  Debate on the budget bills will  begin on the 12th of March.

As always, constituents can contact my office with any questions or thoughts on legislation impacting District 23. You can reach my office at 402-471-2719 or bbostelman@leg.ne.gov.