Last Friday marked the end of Day 12. This past week focused on debating rules changes forwarded by the Rules Committee. At the beginning of each biennium, the Legislature operates under “Temporary Rules” that mirror the permanent rules established at the beginning of the prior biennium. There were only two proposed rule changes that were forwarded by the committee to the full Legislature. They included a rule change proposed by Senator Ben Hansen which would allow the Legislature to vote on Gubernatorial appointments as a slate, as opposed to voting on each individual appointment. The rule allows for any individual appointments to be removed from the list and voted on individually if a Senator has concerns with that appointment. This rule change was noncontroversial and will be a huge time saver.

The second rule was proposed by Senator Tereasa Ibach, which would require the introducer of any bill to publish their “Statement of Intent” within three business days from the time the bill is referenced as opposed to waiting until the bill is scheduled for debate. The intent is to allow constituents to read a summary of a bill earlier in the process to understand its intent, as opposed to reading the entire bill. This is another good rule change and will be helpful to everyone.

After approving those two changes, Senator Kauth moved to amend the rules changes by including a rule change to eliminate the “Present Not Voting” vote and to change the cloture rule if members are absent. This idea was somewhat controversial because it was not voted out by the committee and had opposition. After several hours of debate, the Legislature voted to approve a limited version of the rule change. The final change requires all Senators present for the vote on Final Reading to vote yes or no. If you vote “Present Not Voting,” your vote will be recorded as “No” with an asterisk.

I know many constituents have opposed the “Present Not Voting” option because they want their Senators to clearly state their position on a bill with a clear vote. It is important to understand that there are several reasons for Senators to not be voting when they are present during the first and second rounds of debate. First, let’s remember that even if you are “checked in” you may be off the floor when a vote is held. You may be in the Rotunda, in meetings in your office, in the restroom, or any other number of places. If the vote is an important vote, the bill introducer will generally ask for a “call of the house” which requires all Senators who are checked in to return to the floor prior to the vote. The Red Coats or the State Patrol could come and get you if the bill introducers ask them to do so. However, if you are checked out, your vote will be recorded as Absent. Final Reading votes require all Senators to be in their seats unless they are checked out.

It is also important to keep in mind that it generally requires 25 “Yes” votes to pass a bill, amendment, or motion. A present not voting is the same as a “No” vote since you did not vote yes.

Following this rule change, Senator McKinney tried to amend the rules to remove the 20-bill limit approved last year. After much debate, that rule change failed. I believe that 20 bills are a large number of bills to manage and also interfere with your attendance in your assigned committee when you are presenting your bills to other committees. I think we owe it to our constituents who travel across the state to testify to be present to hear them testify as much as possible.

This week, we will host Chief Justice Funke for his State of the Judiciary Address on Wednesday. Thursday, we will begin morning floor debate as bills begin to be advanced to the floor by committees. Hearings on bills before the standing committees will continue in the afternoons.

As a reminder, if you are not able to make the trip to Lincoln but have views on a particular bill you would like to share, each bill will have a public comment link at the top of its page once it is scheduled for hearing. If you submit comments up to 500 words in length. If they are submitted before 8:00 a.m. CT on the day of the bill’s hearing, you can opt for your comments to be included in the hearing record. If you don’t want your comments included in the record or make your comments later in the process, all of those comments are still available for Senators to read and review.

I look forward to continuing to hear from you about issues that are important to you. It is a privilege to serve as your State Senator, and I will continue to give my full effort to make a positive difference for the District and the State. You can reach me at mjacobson@leg.ne.gov or 402-471-2729.