Weekly District 30 Update – 4/11/25

State Senator Myron Dorn

The Legislature passed the 60th legislative day of the 90-day session. Senators have approved 78 bills which have been signed by the Governor. 137 bills sit on General File, which is our first round of debate by the full Legislature. Over 470 bills remain in committee. Either they did not have enough votes to move forward by the committee members, or there was not an urgency to see these bills debated this session. There are 106 priority bills, some of which are controversial and we have taken up a few of those already.

One of the priority bills by Senator Loren Lippincott is LB 3. This bill would change a 30-year-old practice of apportioning our electoral college votes based on who receives the most votes in a congressional district. Electoral votes are based on the two federal senator seats and the number of congressional districts in each state. Nebraska has 3 congressional districts which means our total electoral votes is five. Under current law, the statewide winner of a presidential race receives the two ‘senate’ seat votes and depending on the vote count in each district, the electoral vote goes to the top vote getter in each congressional district. The second district in Omaha, has been referred to as ‘the blue dot’ and there have been three times the electoral vote went to a presidential candidate; once for Barack Obama, once for Joe Biden, and once for Kamala Harris. The Speaker made the decision to cap the filibuster on LB3 at four hours since senators knew how they would vote. After four hours of debate, the cloture motion to cease debate was made. It takes 33 votes for the cloture motion to be successful. The motion failed with a vote of 31 in favor and 18 opposed. My constitutional proposal, LR 24CA, is still on General File to send the issue to a vote of the people. It does not have a priority so it probably won’t be taken up this year but could be possible for next year. I voted in favor of this bill.

A bill that was easier to vote on was LB 97. This was a Department of Motor Vehicle cleanup measure. Most of the bill made minor changes but one addition was LB 279 By Senator Brad Von Gillern. Starting in 2029 at the beginning of an issuance cycle, DMV will only issue one license plate rather than two for every registered motor vehicle or trailer. Many new cars do not even have a place to mount a front plate. Another incorporated bill to LB 97 was LB 543 by Senator Robert Dover and allows the department to deliver the plates by mail with the next issuance cycle. The measure also allows owners to register a motor vehicle or trailer for a period of two or three years, in addition to the annual registration period, also beginning in 2029. LB 97 passed on Final Reading with a vote of 46 in favor and 3 opposed. I voted in favor of this bill.

A bill aimed at protecting youth who go online received its second round of floor debate. LB 504 proposes to create the Age-Appropriate Online Design Code Act. The bill is offered by Senator Carolyn Bosn of Lincoln at the request of the Governor. Per the Act, a covered online service would be required to “exercise reasonable care” in protecting user data, and prevent harms such as compulsive use, severe emotional distress, identity theft and severe psychological harm. The definition of an online service is one that operates in Nebraska and is reasonably likely to be accessed by minors and meets certain revenue or volume thresholds. Senator Bosn introduced an amendment to address concerns that were raised during the first round of debate. It would replace the bill and make changes including removing reporting requirement; add a definition of dark patterns; removing the definition of sensitive personal data; changing the definition of compulsive usage; adding a definition of a covered minor; changing the definition of covered online services; removes the section regarding the exercise of “reasonable care” on behalf of a covered service. The changes were made to accommodate those companies who were inadvertently “scooped up” stated Senator Bosn. Such as automotive companies with an online presence and young adults may want to access this site looking for their first car. The Bosn amendment was adopted with 45-0 and the bill advanced to Final Reading.

The Appropriations Committee is meeting daily to finalize the budget bill. We are still over $100 million dollars away from a balanced budget. We will get there, but there will need to be reductions, and some possible increase in revenue sources like eliminating some sales tax exemptions. Any increases in revenue would have to come from the Revenue Committee and some of their packages will be discussed soon.

For more information on the Nebraska Legislature, the link is: nebraskalegislature.gov   

Here you can find all the information on bills, hearing schedules, information on senators, legislative divisions, and legislative reports etc.

My contact information is mdorn@leg.ne.gov and 402-471-2620. As always, I appreciate hearing from you.