The end of the 108th Legislature, Second Session is rapidly coming to an end. However, at the time of writing we still have much work to do. According to Speaker Arch, there are 111 bills on select file and final reading that we will need to advance with the deadline for select file bills advancing being Wednesday the 10th. By the time of publication much of this work will be done and we will have one day left in session to pass any remaining bills on final reading or vote on any possible veto overrides before we Sine Die.

Last week, Senator Brewers LB399, which I had prioritized, advanced to select file. The bill would add a new requirement that public and private electric suppliers need to meet in order to get approval from the Power Review Board to construct a new electric generation facility. Specifically, the bill would require public and private electric suppliers to hold a public hearing on the proposed project and the type of facility in the county where the proposed facility would be located. Further, it would require 50% of the governing body of the electric supplier to be in attendance either by videoconference or in person with at least one member physically present. The purpose behind this bill is to afford property owners near the proposed project a chance to meet with the project developers and provide comment.

Another personal priority bill, LB71 introduced by Senator Sanders and prioritized by Senator Meyer, was also advanced to select file. LB71 would provide parents general access to teaching materials, practices, activities, exams, events, and guest speakers. The bill also requires each public school district to create and post a policy on their website regarding how they will seek to involve parents in schools and their children’s education. This policy would be subject to public hearing before being adopted.

LB1317, one of the revenue committee priority bills, which contained 10 additional bills was also advanced to select file. One of the bills included was LB1093, originally introduced by Senator Bostar. This bill is similar to my bill, LB1032, which would make game conservation officers eligible for tuition waivers for the resident tuition charges of any state university, state college, or community college. If passed into law, LB1317 would expand the definition of law enforcement to include game and parks officers and several other types of law enforcement officers such as members of a sheriff’s department; you can find further information on eligible parties in Nebraska state statute 81-1401.

I’m happy to announce that we’ve visited with over 150 students from District 23 this session. Having the opportunity to teach them about the importance of civic engagement as well as showing them my day to day operations has been a blessing.

As always, constituents are welcome to 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.

Greetings, we’ve crossed the horizon and the end of session is rapidly approaching. At the time of writing this article, we’re 12 legislative days away from Sine Die.

Senator Albrecht’s LB441, introduced last session, saw intensive debate by the body. The bill would have made changes to obscenity laws by creating a Class I misdemeanor to prepare, distribute, order, produce, exhibit or promote obscene materials in schools. A motion to invoke cloture failed on the 20th.

On March 18th, LB1031, one of my bills and a priority bill for the Transportation and Telecommunications committee, was voted to Select File. LB1031 would change Nebraska statute to end ongoing Nebraska Universal Service Funding (NUSF) support to services that are not capable of at least 100/20 Mbps. speeds 18 months after the effective date of the bill. Under the NUSF program, as it now operates, incumbent providers receive what is called ongoing support. This support is for the long-term sustainability of our broadband network. In rural areas of the state, where there are few customers, the cost of operating and maintaining the network far exceeds what any provider will receive in customer revenues. NUSF support is vital to filling the high-cost gap. Going forward, only those broadband services capable of 100/20 Mbps. speeds will receive the ongoing NUSF support.

On the 20th, my bill, LB1030 was voted to Select File. LB1030 amends the County Bridge Match Program which provides matching grant funds to counties to repair or replace aging and deficient bridges. Specifically, LB1030 creates the County Bridge Match Working Group consisting of three individuals from the Department of Transportation chosen by the Director and two representatives from a list of county highway superintendents, county surveyors, or county engineers. This working group would be responsible for scoring and awarding County Bridge Match Program grants to counties. The bill also provides additional funding to the program to carry out its essential work.

From June 9th-14th, 4-H and the University of Nebraska will be hosting a weeklong simulation for high school students to take on the role of lawmakers. Students will learn about the inner workings of the legislature directly from senators and staff. The deadline to apply is May 20th and registrants are encouraged to apply for a Greg Adams Civic Scholarship award, which covers the full cost of admission. Applicants must submit a short essay. For more information you can visit www.nebraskalegislature.com/uyl.

Easter brings hope to our lives, new beginnings and eternal life, all made possible by Christ who loved us enough to die for us. Christ triumphed over death and offers eternal life for us. With Christ we also can rise above setbacks, obstacles and continue living in His grace. The Easter message resounds in the greatest act of Love! May you be Blessed this Easter Season.

Legislative offices will be closed on Friday, March 29th and Monday, April 1st due to the Easter Holiday. You can reach my office at 402-471-2719 or bbostelman@leg.ne.gov.

Greetings from the Nebraska Legislature, we’re in the home stretch of our 60 day session. By the time of publishing, we’ll be within 12 legislative days of Sine Die. Though, those legislative days are spread over 3 weeks with many recess days. Full day debate on non-budget bills is scheduled to resume on day 51. 

Senator Hunt’s LB307 was passed to the Governor’s desk to be signed into law on February 29th, however, Governor Pillen vetoed the bill. Senator Hunt made a motion to override Governor Pillen’s veto however it failed to reach the necessary 30 votes. LB307 would have allowed municipalities or counties to create a syringe service program to distribute clean hypodermic needles to members of the public of all ages. 

Later in the week, the body began discussing the budget bills LB1412 and LB1413. Debate on budget bills started late Tuesday, and must be passed by day 50.  LB1412 was advanced to select file on the 13th after reaching a cloture vote, and LB1413 advanced to select file.

LB1412 is the mid-biennium budget adjustment which makes adjustments to the budget which the Legislature passed last year. The Appropriations Committee’s preliminary budget adjustment included an increase in appropriations of $56.7 million. The bill also includes appropriations for all State Agencies and Departments. LB1412 also included provisions to move unused American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds into eligible programs such as child care agencies, increasing the daily rate for rural assisted-living facilities, and workforce development grants.

LB1413 includes cash fund transfers which move funds already appropriated to a specific fund to another fund. One of the main provisions of LB1413 was a transfer of $70 million from the State Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund to the General Fund. 

On the 15th, Senator Sanders’ LB771 passed Final Reading with 45 votes. The bill would direct the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to provide grants relating to the US Defense POW/MIA Accounting agency for internships and academic programming to assist the Department of Veterans’ Affairs with its mission. Specifically, this program seeks to retrieve and identify the remains of individuals who gave their lives for our country. The bill also would make appropriations of $200,000 from the General Fund to the Department of Veterans affairs to distribute for these grants.

Senator Brandt’s dark fiber bill, LB61, passed final reading on the 15th of March and will soon make it to the Governor’s desk. Dark fiber refers to the unused strands in an underground fiber optic line. Currently, there are fiber optic lines across the state that are not entirely used. This bill creates a new streamlined process for the leasing of dark fiber to serve unserved areas of the state. 

As always, constituents are welcome to 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.

As we enter the final 20 days of the 60 day legislative session, the pace of activities in the chamber tends to fluctuate between incredibly fast and grinding away slowly. On a day to day basis, depending on the agenda, the body can debate for hours at a time over one bill. 

On the 4th of March the Legislature officially began full day debates. In practice, this means that for the majority of the work week, the body will be meeting in the morning and afternoon.  Beginning March 18th, the Legislature may be holding evening sessions which extend debate time past our normal adjournment time of 5PM. As customary on the last day of the work week, the body will convene at 9:00 in the morning and work through lunch adjourning in the early afternoon. 

Late night sessions can be unpredictable, there’s precedent for the legislature working as  late as eleven o’clock at night. Though, those especially late work days aren’t the norm, typically a late night means adjournment between six or seven in the evening. 

This week in the legislature, there was debate over Senator Hardin’s LB1120, which focuses on requiring affidavits for certain purchases of land that surround military installations; such as missile complexes and Air Force bases. Sen. Hardin’s bill specifically defines “foreign adversaries”, and requires individuals seeking to purchase land within a close proximity of one of these installations to sign an affidavit stating that they are not affiliated with any foreign government or nongovernment person determined to be a foreign adversary. An individual who falsely swears on an affidavit shall be guilty of a Class II Misdemeanor. The bill was advanced to select file.

In the latter half of last week a multiday debate and filibuster on Senator Dungan’s LB175 took place. LB175 would have provided a process for individuals to petition the courts to have records relating to eviction proceedings to be sealed if the proceedings were dismissed, the ruling was vacated or reversed, and in a writ of restitution was never executed. The bill ultimately failed to advance after a successful filibuster.

My bill, LB867, one of the Natural Resource Committee’s priority bills which I discussed in last week’s article, was advanced to Select File. As a quick refresher, this bill creates a voluntary hunting and fishing guide and outfitter database. The committee amendment included five other Natural Resources Committee bills which dealt with a variety of topics such as the Petroleum Release Fund, the Power Review Board, and hunting permits and park passes for veterans or active duty military members.  

At the time of publishing the Legislature will have taken up debate on LB1412 and LB1413, which are the mid-biennium budget bills. The mid-biennium budget adjusts FY2023-24 and FY2024-25 budget.

Constituents are welcome to 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.

Greetings from the legislature, the body met for only three days last week. Hearings for both my committees concluded last week, at the time of publishing, full day debate will have begun. The full day debates typically run from nine in the morning to at least five, sometimes running past five into the later portions of the evening.

Last week, we debated Sen. Clements’ priority bill LB1067 and Sen. Raybould’s priority bill LB1288. Sen. Clement’s LB1067 would eliminate inheritance tax over a five year period and would create the State Prisoner Reimbursement Act if passed. Some examples specifically showcasing these changes would be the creation of a new statute that would allow for an increase for reimbursement for housing a state prisoner under the State Prisoner Reimbursement Act up to a set cap of $3,910,000.00 annually for these reimbursements.

Sen. Conrad’s LB16 passed final reading on Thursday as well, LB16 is a bill that aims to make multiple changes to the laws surrounding occupational regulations. It also adds two new members to the State Electrical Board. Furthermore, it provides reciprocal licensure for individuals, like real estate agents, attorneys, architects, who hold licenses in other states and who may want to move to Nebraska. 

LB867 is the natural resource committee’s first designated priority bill. LB867 is one of my bills for this session, and it creates a voluntary database of Hunting and Fishing Guides and Outfitters created by Nebraska Game and Parks. Qualified applicants may be placed on the database for a period of 3 years. The purpose of this bill is to provide the public with a database list of Hunting and Fishing Guides and Outfitters with “trusted” businesses providing a level of assurance that the guide or outfitter knows and complies with state and federal laws.. 

There were also multiple bills included in LB867 as amendments to the original bill. This includes LB971, LB1001, LB1406, and LB866, and LB868. LB971 from Sen. Lippincott, creates a free hunting permit for veterans to hunt on Veteran’s Day. Sen. Conrad’s LB1001, provides for a waterfowl hunting season for veterans or members of the armed forces as long as they have a valid hunting permit and all required stamps. Sen. Sanders’ LB1406 provides state park entry permits to active duty military stationed in Nebraska for a fee of $5. 

In addition, LB867 includes my two bills LB866 and LB868. LB866 addresses concerns over succession planning for the one Power Review Board member designated to represent the Board and the State of Nebraska on the Southwest Power Pool’s state regulators committee, to alleviate recruitment difficulties for the Board. LB868 extends the sunset date for the Petroleum Release Remedial Action Cash Fund which is used to clean up petroleum tank spills.

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.

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.

Last week, the Legislature continued our work on bringing broadband to the entire state. LB61, introduced by Sen. Brandt, was advanced to Select File on the 15th of February. Dark fiber refers to the unused strands in an underground fiber optic line. Currently, there are fiber optic lines across the state that are not entirely used. This bill creates a new streamlined process for the leasing of dark fiber to serve unserved areas of the state. The bill would allow for public-private partnerships between utilities and internet providers to reach those high-cost areas of the state. 

Sen. Brewer’s LB895 was advanced to Select File as well. Currently, the Adjutant General of the Nebraska National Guard has the authority to provide incentive payments to encourage individuals to enlist or reenlist in the Guard. LB895 allows for the Adjutant General to also provide similar payments for commissioned officers.  

LB685, introduced by Sen. Lowe, which is a bill to increase regulation and enforcement of laws involving games of skill. Amendment 2329 replaces all of the language in LB685, and it adds a definition for manufacturer of cash devices into statute and changes rules and licensing fees surrounding the manufacture of skill machines. A cash device is defined as any mechanical amusement device capable of awarding cash prizes or anything exchangeable for cash. AM2329 would also require background checks for any individual interested in applying for a license to own and operate these machines. 

Importantly, LB 836 was amended into LB 685. The bill creates a definition and regulation for a new class of alcoholic beverage; a co-branded alcoholic beverage. An example of a co-branded alcoholic beverage would be a hard mountain dew. This bill focuses on how and where these beverages are displayed in retail spaces.

The speaker priority request deadline passed on the 14th, as did the committee priority and Senator priority deadline on the 15th. This session, I designated Sen. Brewer’s LB399 as my personal priority bill. LB399 would require that before public power entities or private electric suppliers construct an electric generation facility, they must first hold a public meeting, with members of their board present, affording the general public a chance to comment on the proposed facilities. 

The Transportation and Telecommunication committee has selected Sen. Moser’s LB1200 and my bill, LB1031, as the committee’s priority bills for the 2024 session. LB1031 phases out Nebraska Universal Service Fund Support for services that cannot provide 100/20 Mbps over specified timeframes.  NUSF provides telecommunication providers with funds to build out fiber and upkeep their infrastructure. Right now, we are subsidizing big national telecommunications carriers, well-capitalized corporations, to maintain the infrastructure those carriers have allowed to become obsolete. LB1031 ends this poor use of funds.

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.

Greetings from the Nebraska Legislature, at the time of publishing, this article will chronicle the events of week seven. We’re quickly approaching the halfway point of the legislative session, as day 30 of the 60 day session falls on February 20th. 

The Legislature officially passed its first batch of bills on Final Reading, which means that they’re waiting for Governor Pillen’s signature. All together there were 15 bills, all of which were carry over bills from last session. Some of them include Sen. Linehan’s LB299, which requires approval by the voters of a school district or educational service unit for the issuance of any bonds by a joint agency, Sen. Bostar’s LB308, the Genetic Information Privacy Act which seeks to protect consumers by requiring a genetic testing service to gain express consent from a consumer before they share, store, or use the genetic data.

On Monday the 5th, the body opened the week with three bills debated on the floor, including Sen. Brewer’s LB287, one of the Government, Military and Veteran Affairs Committee Priority Bills. LB287 cleans up a variety of election and open meetings act statutes. For example the bill clarifies the process for filling vacancies for our federal delegation. The bill mandates that a special election to fill any vacancies must occur within 90 days but no earlier than 75 days.

The Legislature also advanced Sen. Sanders LB771 to Select File. LB771 directs the Department of Veteran Affairs to provide grants relating to the United States Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (located on Offutt AFB) for undergraduate and graduate internships and academic programming to assist the said Accounting Agency with its mission of accounting for service members and American civilians missing from designated past conflicts. The bill intends to appropriate $200,000 from the General Fund to the Department for such grants.  

The Transportation and Telecommunications and Natural Resources Committees held their weekly hearings on possible legislation. My bill, LB1030, was also presented to the Transportation and Telecommunications committee. For those who haven’t seen previous summaries of the bill, LB1030 would make several changes to the County Bridge Match Program and would provide additional funding to ensure the program continues. The program provides matching state funds to our counties in order to repair or replace structurally deficient bridges on our county roads. 

By the time this article is published, all committee, speaker and senator priority bills will have been designated. You can find a list of these bills by going to the legislature landing page, clicking the Session Information tab, then clicking on Additional Activity and Information. On the expanding menu, you’ll find a link to the list of priority bills.

The legislature will not be meeting on the 19th, in observance of President’s Day. 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.

The Legislature has concluded the First Session of the 108th Legislature, Sine Die. This year 820 bills were introduced along with 274 Legislative Resolutions. These resolutions include celebrations of achievements, studies to be completed during the interim, and constitutional amendments. The Legislature passed a total 291 bills this first session that were included in 52 “priority bills”. All of these bills have either been signed or will be signed by the Governor.

This past week we addressed the line item vetoes from the Governor. The legislature has taken up specific motions to override certain line items that the Governor vetoed. The only motion that was sustained was to override the Governor’s veto for additional funds for the Public Auditor’s office. Auditor Foley had previously testified that the office needed additional staff in order to carry out the function of his office. The Auditor’s office is charged with auditing all State agencies, officers, boards, bureaus, commissions and other investigations.

LB298, a speaker priority bill, was passed on Wednesday. LB298 adopts the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact for Nebraska. This compact will create a reciprocity agreement for those with teaching certificates. If you are licensed in one state that has adopted the contract and move to another state that has also adopted the compact, the teacher licensure process will be streamlined and less burdensome. Once ten states have signed onto this compact the bill will take effect.

As the week wrapped up, the Legislature began debate on the remaining bills on Finale Reading. This includes LB227 which is the Health and Human Services committee Priority bill. The bill provides requirements for increases in Medicaid reimbursement to hospitals, extends the sunset date for the Federal Child Care Subsidy program and Cash Assistance to families who have not achieved economic self-sufficiency. Further, the bill extends the sunset date of the SNAP gross income eligibility limit of 165% of the poverty level until September 2025. There are 24 bills amended into LB227 for more information visit the legislature’s website.

On Thursday we passed the second Revenue Committee Priority package LB727. This bill included LB529 requires at least one elected official from each participating political subdivision seeking a levy override, shall attend the joint public hearing on raising property taxes in that subdivision. This change was made after the committee received feedback that members were not attending the public meetings outside a single representative. The Legislature received some feedback after the public meetings last year that the appropriate officials were not present to answer relevant questions regarding the levy increases.

As the first day of summer quickly approaches, I urge everyone to make safety a priority whether traveling on the roadways, enjoying Nebraska waterways or other activities. My office remains open over the interim to serve 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.

We are now in the final week of the First Session of the 108th Legislature. At the time of publishing, we will have two legislative days remaining before the Legislature adjourns Sine Die. It has been a busy week passing a number of significant bills that were included in the overall tax reduction package. The next three bills are part of that package.

LB243e passed, in part, it increased the funding for the Property Tax Credit Fund from $313 million to $560 million. It also requires the fund to grow equal to the increase in assessed value of real property in the state. The bill further creates a new mechanism for the percentage of annual increase that a school district may request in regards to their levy authority.

LB583e was passed and provides $1,500 per student in foundational aid to each school district. Currently, roughly 75% of schools in the state do not receive funding from the state and instead rely on property taxes. The bill also expands State funding for special education by reimbursing 80% of special education needs. By providing this state funding, schools can reduce their reliance on property taxes. It also provides the mechanism for the utilization of LB681, the Education Future Fund that was established with over one billion dollars in support of future public school needs.

LB754e was also passed by the Legislature and provides income tax relief. The bill provides a gradual reduction in income taxes for the top two tax brackets that will ultimately stop at 3.99% by 2027 tax year. By the time the bill is fully implemented there will be a substantial reduction in income tax for individuals making more than $18,000 per year, married couples making more $36,000 per year, and heads of households making more than $28,800 per year.

Other bills passed include B683e creating the Nebraska Broadband Office which will be responsible for managing and directing federal funds received by the state for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program. These funds are specifically targeted for the hardest to reach areas in the state with broadband services. The broadband office will also be responsible for developing the Nebraska broadband access map. This map will be crucial in identifying which areas of the state lack access in order to strategically deploy broadband.

In addition, LB565e, the Natural Resources priority bill passed, provides funds to the Department of Economic Development to provide grants to the Hydrogen Hub Industry Working Group to continue their work on applying for a hydrogen hub designation. LB565 includes eight additional bills from the committee. The bill also includes LB217, LB289, LB395, LB400, LB425, LB567, LB568, and LB723.
For additional or more specific information on these bills or others please visit nebraskalegislature.gov. You may also reach my office at 402-471-2719 or bbostelman@leg.ne.gov.