Last Tuesday my priority bill, LB 432, advanced out of Select File and into Enrollment and Review for Engrossment. What this means is that the bill will be analyzed by Capitol lawyers and finalized for a final vote on the floor. LB 432 takes away the authority of tax asking entities from adding the collection of delinquent taxes into their tax asking ability. Onced passed into law, this bill will offer some much needed property tax relief to property owners in our State.

On Wednesday Gov. Pete Ricketts signed Sen. Dan Watermeier’s bill, LB 46, into law. LB 46 creates a special “Choose Life” license plate, which has yet to be designed for Nebraska’s automobiles. Although the Choose Life license plates will cost an extra $5.00, the extra expense will be donated to charity.

The most controversial bill of the week was Sen. Adam Morfelds’s bill, LB173. This bill would prohibit employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of their sexual orientation or their gender identity. I intended to oppose this bill, but in an unusual twist of events Sen. Morfeld led a filibuster against his own bill. Because no vote was taken on the bill, LB 173 will be held over for a vote in next year’s session.

Another very rare event took place at the Capitol on Friday. A Special Committee of the Executive Board held a special hearing to determine whether or not Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha’s legislative district 11 was eligible to keep his Senate seat. Mr. John Sciara, who ran against Sen. Chambers in last year’s election, challenged the incumbent on the basis that he did not reside within legislative district 11 one year prior to the election. The Special Committee of the Executive Board ruled in favor of Sen. Ernie Chambers. However, the most ironic part of the hearing was that the Sen. Ernie Chambers’ eligibility hearing was held in the Sen. Ernie Chambers Judiciary Hearing Chamber.