Weekly District 30 Update – 5/30/25

State Senator Myron Dorn

The session is coming to a close. There were many debates, compromises, arguments, and frustrating moments but in the end, the Legislature passed its budget, adopted a number of priority bills, and moved various issues forward.

This past week the Legislature passed a number of bills on Final Reading. One relating to the petition initiative for paid sick leave for employers under 20 workers to require 5 days. LB 415 allowed employers with fewer than 10 employees to opt out of the sick leave requirement. The legislature’s intent is to protect small employers who may already be working with tight budgets. Senator Raybould, who led the discussion on reducing the minimum wage for younger workers (also a successful initiative petition) filed an amendment to include the minimum wage issue to this bill. Her LB 215, failed by one vote on a cloture motion because one of the proponents was absent from the chamber. Senators who did not like either of the bills trying to change the petition language, took LB 415 to cloture, which meant Senator Raybould’s amendment was not able to be discussed. LB 215 will most likely be taken up next year.

Next up was LB 398 which was a Transportation Committee omnibus bill to align Nebraska’s transportation statutes with federal regulations that govern the state Department of Motor Vehicles. Also included in this bill was a fee increase for a driver record abstract fee increase from $7.50 to $15. These abstracts are used by insurance companies for issuing insurance policies to clients. The fee would be used by the state department to modernize the driver licensing system project. Senators returned the bill to Select File to add an amendment to put a sunset date on a fee increase for drivers abstracts. The amendment was adopted, the bill readvanced and eventually was passed on Final Reading with a vote of 45-4-0.

We gave final approval to LB 513 to increase judges’ salaries by 1.5% this year and 1.5% next year. The bill also raises the Nebraska Supreme Court judges’ salaries to $228,431 on July 1, 2025 and $231,838 on July 1, 2026.The total fiscal impact of this measure is projected to be $1.3 million in 2025 and $2.67 million in 2026. The bill passed with 38 senators in support and 11 opposed.

Another bill passed on Final Reading is LB 521 by Senator Rita Sanders of Bellevue, updated the Nebraska Election Act per suggestions by the Secretary of State; our state’s top election official. Some of the provisions include clarification for petitions for partisan and nonpartisan candidates for President of the United States and other elective offices as well as petitions seeking to establish a new political party. Three other bills became part of this package. LB 19 by Senator John Cavanaugh of Omaha to allow cities of the metropolitan class (Omaha) to change the timing of their elections to coincide with the presidential elections. LB 659 by Senator Bob Andersen of Omaha would require vote counting devices to have at least three independent tests to be conducted prior to the actual counting of ballots. The bill passed 49-0.

This has been an especially challenging year with the budget shortfall of over $400 million dollars. Then learning the state has additional expenses for the Medicaid program, then a forecasting board who has dropped expected revenues. The Appropriations Committee made cuts to various programs, transferred cash funds from various agencies and turned to the state’s cash reserve a few times to make the budget numbers work.

One of the disappointments for me this session was the inability to pass a medical cannabis bill, LB 677. I didn’t like all of the proposals forwarded by the Health Committee but I did think it was essential to have the legislature act on this issue. In my way of thinking, I saw this as a way for the legislature to ‘validate’ in statute, the successful petition and establish a well-rounded law.

As we end this first session of a two-year cycle, any bills not acted upon this session, will be held over until next year. With over 100 priority bills, not all could be discussed this year.  All bills had hearings and committees had the decision to forward those bills or hold them. Many bills remain in committee. When we begin next year’s session, we will have 110 bills waiting on General File for floor debate.

I want to thank constituents who wrote, called and stopped in my office. I know that I did not please all of my district but I strived to serve the state and the district to the best of my ability. Thank you for the opportunity to serve in the Nebraska Legislature.

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.