Monday, January 22, marks Day 13 of the session and the first day for half-day floor debate followed by afternoon committee hearings. The task now begins to hold public hearings for nearly 600 bills introduced this year. Hearings will continue through the end of February. At that time, the remainder of the session will be all day floor debate until we adjourn the 108^th Legislature on April 18.

Last week, the Unicameral considered some proposed changes to the rules governing how we operate. There was a concerted effort by the progressives in the body to filibuster all of the rule changes in an effort to keep the more controversial proposed rule changes from being heard. In the end, most of the noncontroversial rule changes were adopted, as was a rule change offered by Senator Ben Hansen to limit the number of bills that can be offered by any one Senator in a single legislative session to 20. In the end, only one of the three “controversial” changes proposed by Senator Erdman was heard. That rule would have required all votes for leadership to be done in an open vote as opposed to a secret ballot. That proposed rule change failed to garner the necessary 30 votes to pass.

All of us are holding our breath to see how the session will go. If we can avoid most of what happened last year, we should have some noncontroversial bills passed through the “consent calendar,” and I would expect many other bills (many with bi-partisan support) to pass after the normal debate. Keep in mind that we also carried over 500 bills from last year that have not yet been debated. That is why personal and committee priority bills are so important; they bring key issues to the front of the queue. As we start debate on priority bills this week, it could set the tone for much of the remaining session. However, there will be more controversial bills offered out of committee as the session moves on that will likely cause filibusters to reemerge. Hopefully, they will be short-lived, and the session can be a productive one.

This week, I have four bills scheduled for hearings, including three on Monday, January 22 (LB851, LB854, and LB960). LB852 will be heard on Tuesday, January 23. If the Natural Resources Committee hearings are completed early enough, I will plan to sit in on the Revenue Committee hearing to listen to the testimony on LB1088 introduced by Senator Linehan. This bill makes necessary changes to the Nebraska Advantage Act to allow Sustainable Beef to maximize the benefits allowed for in the act, and I am a co-sponsor of the bill.

Below is a quick summary of my bills that will be heard this week:

LB851 improves the statewide internship program in an effort to expand the program and help retain and transition more graduates to jobs in Nebraska.

LB854 reduces the required credit hours for those wishing to sit for the CPA exam. This change removes one of the barriers to qualifying more professional CPAs by eliminating the need for additional classes if the applicant is able to pass the exam without additional educational costs.

LB960 was brought to me by a constituent who wants the Athletic Commissioner to be able to create and regulate matches and exhibitions for amateur bare-knuckle mixed martial kickboxing and boxing sparring.

LB852 prevents providers who sell durable medical equipment but do not participate in Medicare from charging a Nebraska Medicare patient more than 15% above the Medicare-approved rate. This rule already applies to Medicaid patients but not to Medicare patients.

Now that we have passed the deadline for bill introduction and finished the rules debate, it is time to get to work holding public hearings and debating the more than 1,200 bills that have not yet gotten through the legislative process. Any bill not dealt with this year will die at the end of the session. Time to go to work!

I look forward to continuing to hear from you regarding 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 by calling my legislative office at 402-471-2729.