On Wednesday, February 28 a public hearing was held on LR281CA before the Executive Board of the State Legislature. This was the final public hearing of my legislative career. LR281CA is my resolution for a constitutional amendment to convert the State Legislature over to a biennial calendar. In other words, the State Legislature would meet every other year during odd numbered years beginning in the year 2027 and no legislative session would ever exceed 90 legislative days. Changing over to a biennial calendar would be a big change, so why am I doing this?

First, biennial legislative sessions were how the State Legislature used to operate. From 1875 until 1971 the Nebraska State Legislature only convened during odd numbered years. So, biennial legislative sessions were the norm for 96 consecutive years of Nebraska’s history. That system was quite efficient and effective.

The shorter 60-day session was never intended to be a regular session of the Legislature. According to what former Nebraska State Senator, Herbert J. Duis of Gothenburg, said during a public hearing on LB 151 on February 22, 1979, the original intention of the shorter 60-day session was supposed to “be confined to budgetary procedures.” However, that original purpose quickly deteriorated as Senators began introducing non-budgetary bills during the short session.

Because the Legislature has drifted away from the original purpose of the current annual legislative system, the time has come to take the decision back to the people. LR281CA would put a measure on the ballot for the voters to decide on November 5 of this year. The voters represent Nebraska’s first legislative house. The State Legislature is the second house. Article 3, Section 2 of the Nebraska State Constitution says, “The first power reserved by the people is the initiative whereby laws may be enacted and constitutional amendments adopted by the people independently of the Legislature.”

Another reason for switching back to a biennial calendar is that it would save the State a lot of money. According to the Legislature’s Fiscal Office, even if the legislative staff remained employed on a full-time basis, the State of Nebraska would stand to save approximately $500,000 by switching over to a biennial system. So, the burden of proof falls upon those who believe the State should spend this much money for legislative purposes.

Switching back to a biennial system would significantly reduce the number of bills which get introduced in the State Legislature. Currently, more than 600 bills get introduced in the State Legislature every year. Making matters worse is the fact that each one of those bills is required to have a public hearing. State Senators cannot adequately read, study and understand so many bills in a single session of the Legislature. Therefore, something needs to be done to limit the number of bills that Senators introduce and switching to a biennial system is one way to accomplish that goal.

Annual sessions of the Legislature grow the state government by encouraging the redundancy of bills. Under the current annual system, State Senators are inclined to introduce the same stale bills over and over again until they finally pass and become law. As Sen. Duis said again in that 1979 hearing, “…we have the problem of increasing government to the people because we have a lot of the same bills over and over again.” Sen. Duis also said about reducing the size of government that “The less of it we have, the better off we are…” So, LR281CA represents an opportunity for Nebraskans to reduce the size of their state government for the betterment of the State.

LR281CA has a hard uphill road to climb. Unfortunately, LR281CA likely won’t pass in the Legislature this year. Because the public hearing was scheduled so late in the session and the bill lacks a priority status, the chances of this constitutional amendment ever getting onto the ballot for the election on November 5 aren’t very good. Nevertheless, I believe this is a conversation that the people of Nebraska need to have. Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, and Texas all use biennial sessions, and Nebraska needs to be next.