As we prepare for the special session which will begin on Thursday, I want to share some scheduling and procedural information with you. My goal is to facilitate the best use of our time during the special session to allow the body to fully consider the issues of the call which are property tax reductions for Nebraskans and the identification of funds to achieve that policy.

Prior to the start of the special session, no one can predict the length of the session, the number of bills to be introduced, the number of public hearings to be held, or the length of floor debate. Because of these uncertainties, I have asked senators to remain open with their outside commitments during the weekday and weekday evenings through at least the middle of August.

In addition to processing bills and constitutional amendments germane to the Governor’s special session proclamation, the Legislature will be confirming gubernatorial appointments, an action considered administrative in nature. The Governor has made a series of appointments since the Legislature adjourned sine die in April. It is my understanding that the appointments will fall within the jurisdiction of seven of our standing committees (Agriculture Committee, Business and Labor Committee, General Affairs Committee, Health and Human Services Committee, Natural Resources Committee, Revenue Committee, and the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee.) 

Governor Pillen’s Special Session Proclamation calls for the Legislature to convene on Thursday, July 25th at 10:00 a.m. in the morning. I intend to schedule the second and third days of the special session on Friday and Saturday at 10:00 a.m. each day. Rule 9 of the Rules of the Nebraska Legislature (rule governing special sessions) limits bill introduction to the first three days of a special session. By meeting Saturday, we will be able to complete the three days of bill introduction, allowing committees to schedule and hold public hearings the following week.

In general, it is my intention to ask committees to conduct public hearings beginning Monday next week. The number of bills introduced and the total number of days committees need for public hearings ultimately will influence the schedule and we may need to devote a full week for all-day hearings. I will be better able to assess that once bill introduction and referencing has concluded and I have spoken to the affected committee chairs.

Because of the unknowns of the special session described above, I am unable to provide much scheduling guidance beyond the first six days of session. I will announce additional scheduling information beyond July 30th, as we progress. In general, other than meeting on Saturday, July 27, I do not intend to schedule session days on any additional Saturdays. “Late Nights” will be scheduled if I believe it necessary to advance debate.

Following is the scheduling information I can provide at this time:

Thursday, July 25
• Convene at 10:00 a.m.
• Bill Introduction

Friday, July 26
• 9:00 a.m. – deadline to submit a bill request to the Revisor’s Office to guarantee a 3-part prior to adjournment on Saturday
• Convene at 10:00 a.m.
• Bill Introduction
• Stand at ease while Referencing Committee meets and then files referencing report

Saturday, July 27
• Convene at 10:00 a.m.
• Last day of Bill Introduction
• Stand at ease until Revisor’s Office has returned to senators all bill requests submitted to their office by 9:00 a.m. on Friday

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday July 29-31
• Convene at 9:00 a.m.
• Check-in Days
• Public Hearings begin at 9:30 a.m.

In addition to scheduling information, I want to share some specific legislative floor procedures I will be following during the special session. With respect to cloture motions on bills and resolutions, in general I intend to follow the same guidelines utilized during the 2024 regular session, as outlined in my January 22, 2024 memo. I will be following a “full and fair debate” guideline that a cloture motion is in order after 8 hours of debate on general file, 4 hours of debate on select file, and 2 hours of debate on final reading unless I discern that full and fair debate has occurred sooner, in which case I will entertain a motion for cloture earlier than the 8-4-2-time thresholds. I will make that determination in consultation with the principal introducer and members of the Legislature in opposition to the bill based on the quality of the debate and the number of members participating in the debate.

The “full and fair debate” guideline for appropriation bills accompanying substantive bills (“A” bills) will be 30 minutes of debate at each stage of consideration unless in my estimation additional time is needed to debate a substantive issue with the “A” bill, in which case the time for “full and fair debate” will be 1 hour. Conversely, if I discern that “full and fair debate” has occurred sooner than 30 minutes on “A” bills, I will entertain a motion for cloture earlier than 30 minutes of debate completion.
For the legislative appropriation bill funding the expenses of the special session—a narrow bill within the call of the special session—a motion for cloture will be in order after 1 hour at each stage of debate.

Please note, at this time I do not intend to deviate from the 8-4-2-hour threshold, or the “A” bill 30 minute/1 hour threshold in determining “full and fair debate” for purposes of cloture. The objective determination of “full and fair debate” by following the respective time thresholds will be my default decision, I hope, for the entire special session. However, I have provided myself flexibility with respect to determining “full and fair debate” for invoking a cloture motion, if necessary.

Additionally, with the 2024 rule change to Rule 7, Sec. 10 allowing the cloture motion to apply to more than bills and constitutional amendments (i.e. procedural motions, committee reports, and other items of business other than the adoption of rules) I intend to allow a cloture motion if debate on such matters becomes exceedingly obstructive. I will provide the body with notice if such an occasion occurs.

As for other procedural practices, I intend to follow the practices implemented in the last special session by the former speaker to allow the rules to dictate when a bill is considered completed. Unlike a regular session where we have up to 108 priorities bills competing for floor time and many of which do not need to pass, a special session is called for a specific purpose with the goal of achieving a policy outcome. Past practices of myself and former speakers during regular sessions treated legislation that was bracketed, failed a cloture motion, or failed to advance from general file or select file as done for the session. These regular session floor practices are intended to provide time for all priorities to have floor time.

In the upcoming special session, my role is to facilitate full and fair debate of property tax reduction proposals to allow the body to pass a plan agreed to by a majority of the Legislature. To that end, if any legislative components of the plan fails to receive the required 33 votes to adopt a cloture motion, it will not be considered done for the session. Instead, I will be following the practice outlined in Rule 7, Sec 10 which directs the debate on the bill to end for the day but allows the bill to be rescheduled. In such an instance, per the rule, a cloture motion will be in order after two additional hours of debate (at any stage of debate).

Bills failing to advance from general file or select file may be rescheduled unless they have been indefinitely postponed due to failing to advance three times from general file or two times from select file pursuant to Rule 6, Sec 3(i) and Rule 6, Sec 5(e). Additionally, any bill bracketed may be rescheduled for debate either when eligible for rescheduling in the case of bracketing to a date certain or after a motion to unbracket the bill has been filed.

At the beginning of the session, I asked members to keep their evenings open on session days beginning March 13 through the end of the session for evening debate. Below you will find the specific dates that we will be working into the evening.

Please reserve the following dates for the Legislature to work during the early evening hours:

Monday, March 18;
Tuesday, March 19;
Wednesday, March 20;
Monday, March 25;
Tuesday, March 26;
Wednesday, March 27;
Tuesday, April 2;
Wednesday, April 3;
Thursday, April 4; and
Tuesday, April 9.

The adjournment time for a scheduled “late night” will be around 8:30 to 9:00 p.m. or later (potentially as late as 11:59 p.m.). The specific adjournment time each evening will be dependent upon the Body’s progress on that day’s agenda. We will have a half-hour recess for dinner around 6:00 p.m. each scheduled late night.

These dates are “reserved late nights” some of which I may cancel. I will provide members with as much notice as possible of such a cancellation. However, a cancelled “late night” may still mean working through the dinner hour and then adjourning sometime early evening.

I have decided to continue with a 10:00 a.m. start time for the first day of our work week. On the last day of our work week (March 15, 21, 28, and April 5) we will work through the lunch hour and adjourn between 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. dependent upon our progress that day.

Before we begin floor debate on legislation, I want to announce how I will be handling certain procedural motions under our current rules.

With respect to cloture motions on bills and resolutions, I intend to follow a “full and fair debate” guideline that a cloture motion is in order after 8 hours of debate on general file, 4 hours of debate on select file, and 2 hours of debate on final reading unless I discern that full and fair debate has occurred sooner, in which case I will entertain a motion for cloture earlier than the 8-4-2-time thresholds. I will make that determination in consultation with the principal introducer and members of the Legislature in opposition to the bill based on the quality of the debate and the number of members participating in the debate.

The “full and fair debate” guideline for appropriation bills accompanying substantive bills (“A” bills) will be 30 minutes of debate at each stage of consideration unless in my estimation additional time is needed to debate a substantive issue with the “A” bill, in which case the time for “full and fair debate” will be 1 hour. Conversely, if I discern that “full and fair debate” has occurred sooner than 30 minutes on “A” bills, I will entertain a motion for cloture earlier than 30 minutes of debate completion.

Please note, at this time I do not intend to deviate from the 8-4-2-hour threshold, or the “A” bill 30 minute/1 hour threshold in determining “full and fair debate” for purposes of cloture. The objective determination of “full and fair debate” by following the respective time thresholds will be my default decision, I hope, for the entire session. However, I have provided myself flexibility with respect to determining “full and fair debate” for invoking a cloture motion, if necessary.

If a motion to invoke cloture on legislation fails, I will consider the bill finished for the year, unless the bill is not a 2024 priority bill and is subsequently designated as such.

With respect to the Legislature’s adoption of the rule change to Rule 7, Sec. 10 allowing the cloture motion to apply to committee reports, non-CA resolutions, procedural motions, and other items of business (other than the adoption of rules), I intend to allow a cloture motion only if debate on such matters becomes exceedingly obstructive. I will provide the body with notice if such an occasion occurs.

As for other procedural practices, I intend to continue, in general, the practice of our recent speakers not to reschedule any bill that fails to advance from general file or from select file, unless the bill is subsequently designated as a priority bill.

This same general rule of not rescheduling a bill will apply to any bill successfully bracketed during debate (to a date certain or without a specified date) and any bill for which the principal introducer chooses to lay the bill over following the filing of a motion to indefinitely postpone pursuant to Rule 7, Section 3(a) and Section 6. In other words, if a principal introducer chooses to lay over their bill in the midst of debate due to the filing of a motion to indefinitely postpone the bill, I will not reschedule the bill on the agenda without subsequent designation of the bill as a priority bill. A bracketed bill may also be rescheduled if subsequently designated as a priority bill.