Eleven days of the session are in the books, which means bill introduction is over, and public hearings have begun.  There were 482 new bills introduced for a total of 1221 for this session, which spans 2019-2020. A large number of bills address taxation and spending; some offer new ideas to increase revenue or distribute funds, and some have been written as back up to pending legislation.

During bill introduction, I read through the one-liners (a brief one sentence explanation of a bill or constitutional amendment). As varied as the ideas are, my reactions to some are just as varied – from a nod of my head and thinking that sounds like a good idea, to why do we as a state need this bill?  Then I put it into perspective.  There is usually a constituent or a group of people who have asked for a bill to fix a problem, or it springs from an idea a senator has. A senator decides if the issue needs a bill or can be handled some other way.  It may be as simple as giving that constituent or group a chance to present their issue; or the other extreme where a situation is dire and needs legislative attention.  Almost every bill has someone behind the scenes believing the issue is important.

The legislative process allows for all of those ideas to be presented to the committee at a public hearing, a process very unique to Nebraska, whereby the committee members have the opportunity to hear proponents, opponents and neutral testimony.  If the majority of committee members agree the bill has merit, it will be advanced to our first stage of floor debate.  A committee can also hold a bill for further discussion by committee members or hold it for other reasons.  The committee can also indefinitely postpone a bill, which kills the bill for that session.

With that said, here are some of the bills being heard by committees this past week:

The main property tax bill, as introduced by the Revenue Committee, is LB 974. The bill had a hearing on Wednesday with good representation from the school districts, agriculture and property owners from across the state. The basic framework reduces reliance on property taxes for school funding, and has a projected cost to the state of $520 million over three years, which will go directly to property tax relief.  A cap would be placed on school budget growth, tied to the Consumer Price Index (CPI).   As with any bill, there will be an opportunity to offer amendments and continued work on the details. The Revenue Committee will have to keep working to build consensus to get this moved through the legislative process, but it is a start.

Senator Jim Scheer, the Speaker of the Legislature, has introduced a constitutional amendment to increase the number of senators from 50 to 55.  Currently the legislature has 49 senators but we could add one more with the existing constitutional language. Senator Scheer’s LR 279CA would ask the voters to consider increasing the number to 55 senators.  Every senator’s district is based on population.  Scheer said the change would decrease the number of constituents in each legislative district and hopefully keep the some of the rural districts that cover hundreds of miles, from growing even larger.

One of the bills I introduced had a quick and efficient public hearing this week. LB 763 would add townships to the list of entities that can access their funds on a regular basis from the county treasurer without cumbersome paper work. The bill simply corrects the oversight of including townships when the county fund disbursement legislation was enacted many years ago.

The Health and Human Services Committee held a briefing Wednesday morning on the Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Centers (YRTC). They detailed what has happened the last six months with the Geneva, Kearney, and now Lincoln facilities.  The Committee listed 14 recommendations for improvements and guidelines with the state’s YRTC institutions. Out of this report and those recommendations, the Committee introduced six new bills to help with the problems.  We will have opportunities to have public hearings and discussion on this important issue.

The Appropriations Committee also began meeting this week.  At this time we are reviewing state agency budget reports and will work through those before holding hearings on new bills. As you can imagine, there are a large number of requests for funding with the last year of revenue coming in above projections.

Last week the Governor gave the executive branch report to the Legislature in his State of the State address. The Governor outlined key issues of property tax relief, LB720 which is a business tax incentive package, funding for last year’s flooding concerns, and an income tax credit for military retirement benefits.

This week we heard from the judicial branch of government. Chief Justice Mike Heavican reported on activities of the Supreme Court to be accessible to everyone in the state while building confidence in the system. New initiatives put in place across Nebraska by the court system include ways to reach all races, genders, income levels and languages.

As you can see from this report, which covers just a few days, many important topics come to my attention. Let me assure you, your concerns are just as important and I encourage you to contact me at mdorn@leg.ne.gov or call 402–471-2620.