The Legislature will no longer be accepting written, submitted testimony prior to the committee hearing. To appear on the transcript, a testifier must physically appear before a committee and be available to answer questions from the committee members.

In Person Testimony

As always, persons attending a public hearing in person will have an opportunity to present verbal testimony to the committee.

Position Comments for the Public Hearing Record

If you are not testifying in person at a public hearing on a bill or resolution and would like to submit written comments to be included in the official hearing record as an exhibit, you will find a link to submit your comments online on the chamber viewer page for each bill or resolution. Comments are allowed once a bill has been scheduled for public hearing and must be submitted prior to 12:00 p.m. CST on the last work day prior to the public hearing to be included in the official hearing record.

The comments submitted online prior to the deadline and identified as comments for the public hearing record will be the only method for submission of official hearing record comments other than testifying in person. Letters and comments submitted via email or hand-delivered will no longer be included as part of the hearing record although they are a viable option for communicating your views with an individual senator.

Submission of Online Comments

In order to facilitate public input on legislation, a feature was added to the Nebraska Legislature’s website for submission of written comments on pending legislation on the Legislature’s website at any stage of the process.  Comments submitted through this portal will be available to all legislators and staff. Additionally, they may be read and/or discussed during hearings and floor debate. New this year, comments submitted online prior to the deadline and identified as comments for the public hearing record will be available to anyone requesting a public hearing transcript with exhibits.

For more information, please see the Legislature’s Public Input Options page at https://nebraskalegislature.gov/committees/public-input.php