Weekly District 30 Update – 5/2/25

State Senator Myron Dorn

The Legislature has just entered the last full month of this year’s legislative session. We have started late nights usually going from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. with a lunch break and 30-minute dinner break. Otherwise, we are in full debate mode the entire day.

The Legislature passed the 70th day which, for the Appropriations committee, means the state budget must be sent to the floor. During the past four months, the committee reviewed expenditures to programs and any requests for additional funds could be considered. We reduced a number of program expenditures, transferred some cash funds from various programs, and relied on other committees to bring forward additional revenue sources or savings on state spending.

The Nebraska Retirement Committee found cost savings with the teacher retirement fund in LB 645. The fund is 99.1% fully funded. The state could reduce its contributions by $30 million the first year and $50 million the second year as long as the fund stays above a specified percentage. The teachers’ contributions would also be reduced accordingly.

The Revenue Committee advanced LB 650 to roll back or fully repeal a collection of recently passed tax incentives. This bill would save an additional $70 plus million dollars. The two bills were supposed to cover our budget deficit, that is until the new forecast came out on April 25th which increased the deficit. The Revenue Committee is looking at removing tax exemptions on things like pop and candy (LB 170) and treating all nicotine delivery systems the same and taxing all products at the same rate. Other bills removing exemptions on sales tax services are also being considered.

A bill looking to ban hemp derived products with more than .3% THC, overcame a filibuster and moved forward. LB 316 would ban these products which are not regulated and have flooded the market. I heard from a number of people who have been able to control chronic pain or PTSD with these products. Senator John Cavanaugh of Omaha, wanted to regulate the products and require licensure of sellers, but his bill was not considered. I will take a very close look at this bill again in the next round of debate.

Senator Robert Dover, introduced a constitutional proposal to extend term limits for state senators from two terms to three terms. Prior to term-limits enacted 2004, the average length of service for a state senator was approximately 6 years. By allowing 3 terms, a senator could gain more experience and provide more consistent representation to their district. This proposal would have to be approved by the voters in a May primary in 2026. Senators, like myself, would not be eligible for a third term since our time to file would have passed. For me, the eight years ending in 2026, will be the end of my legislative service. I see the benefit of allowing senators to serve longer and if the voters believe they have not been served well by their elected officials, the ballot box is the place to make that known. LR 19CA advanced to our second round of debate.

The medical cannabis bill is still under consideration. There are strong opinions in the General Affairs Committee on what should happen. Senator Rick Holdcroft, the Chair of the Committee and Senator John Cavanaugh, Vice Chair of the Committee will hold three public forums on May 3rd, 4th and 5th. Since we are under a time crunch, these forums had to be held quickly to get additional feedback from constituents. I have supported past efforts to legalize and regulate medical cannabis and will support efforts again this session. The voters were clear in November -they want to see the legislature act on this issue now. It is my hope the public forums will bring some hesitant senators to more clearly see that they should not delay the implementation of legalization of medical cannabis any longer.

For more information on the Nebraska Legislature, the link is: nebraskalegislature.gov   

Here you can find all the information on bills, hearing schedules, information on senators, legislative divisions, and legislative reports etc.

My contact information is mdorn@leg.ne.gov and 402-471-2620. As always, I appreciate hearing from you.