Bill introduction came to an end last week with 812 bills and over two dozen constitutional amendments introduced. We also adopted the permanent rules for how the Legislature will operate this biennium. Although there were many proposed changes, those advanced from the Rules Committee were fairly non-controversial; however, there may be two more rule changes offered in the coming weeks which will be highly contested. Until then, we are moving on to committee hearings. Unlike many states, all bills get a public hearing in the Nebraska Legislature. On Monday, January 23, committees will begin taking comments on the bills in their jurisdiction. Committees must complete all hearings by March 24. Hearings must be scheduled a week in advance and the public may participate by testifying in person or submitting comments through the Legislature’s website.

The Urban Affairs Committee has scheduled two of my bills for hearing on January 31. The first bill is LB33, a clean-up bill that clarifies when the mayor of a city of the first class (population of 5,001-100,000) can vote to break a tie. This issue came to my attention when the City of North Platte was voting to place the recreation center bond issue on the November ballot. LB33 would clarify a mayor may break a tie when one or more of the council members are absent, but does not allow the mayor to vote to create a super-majority.

The second bill is LB98. This bill makes three changes to the Micro-TIF statutes. First, the bill would permit cities other than Lincoln and Omaha to conduct a large “blight and substandard” study but then only declare certain individual lots as blighted and substandard to allow the TIF funds to be more targeted. Second, LB98 allows a city to limit the number of redevelopment plans approved in any one year. Third, and most importantly, the bill directs TIF proceeds to the holder of the note instead of the owner of the home. This is a necessary change so the developers who remodel a home under this program can retain the TIF proceeds if they subsequently sell the home. If the proceeds go to the note holder, the developer can then pledge the note to a lender just as they can with the other TIF programs and have those funds available to use to complete the project. In the past, updates to the Micro-TIF program have gotten strong support in the Legislature. With a large group of incoming Senators, it will be important that everyone understands how the program works now and the many benefits of my proposed changes.

I am pleased to have early hearing dates for both LB33 and LB98 and do not expect either bill to be controversial. I am hopeful that these bills will either be eligible for the consent calendar or be included in a committee omnibus bill so I can use my priority bill designation on another proposal.

I will keep you informed each week regarding upcoming bill hearings of interest. I would also invite you to join my weekly call with the North Platte Area Chamber and Development Corporation. Please contact the Chamber directly at 308-532-4966 to get the updated times and call-in information.

Although things are somewhat slow at this point, that will soon change. From January 30 to February 10, we will hold bill hearings in the morning and afternoon, after which we will begin floor debate in earnest. I remain focused on delivering results for District 42 and look forward to a busy session!

As legislation and other issues arise, please feel free to reach out to me at mjacobson@leg.ne.gov or 402-471-2729. My door is always open!

It has been a busy week in the Legislature. The Unicameral kicked off the week by picking up with the debate regarding approving the Committee on Committees report, which makes committee membership assignments. The tone of the debate is an early indication of the strong divisiveness that we are seeing in the body. Although the Legislature is nonpartisan, there will be a clear divide between the 32 conservatives and 17 progressives on controversial issues. And, since it takes 33 votes to invoke cloture (stop a filibuster), controversial bills may have a hard time getting to a vote. A motion for cloture is only accepted after full and fair debate, which is eight hours on the first round of debate (general file). The more filibusters we have, the slower things get done. This makes it important to get any relatively non-controversial bills out of committee and on the floor early.

Once the Committee on Committees report was approved, the committees could begin their business. I am happy to report that I will be serving on two standing committees: the Banking, Commerce, and Insurance Committee and the Natural Resources Committee. I was also appointed to the Performance Audit Special Committee and the Statewide Tourism And Recreational Water Access and Resource Sustainability (STAR WARS) Special Committee. I was very honored to be selected by my fellow committee members as Vice Chair of both the Banking, Commerce, and Insurance Committee and the Performance Audit Special Committee. I look forward to working on bills related to economic development, health insurance, water, energy, tourism, and state agency oversight through my service on these committees.

The Legislature also continued with bill introduction this week. To date, over 460 bills have been introduced and two days remain to introduce legislation. If history is any indication, we could see 200-300 bills introduced on Day 9 and Day 10. In addition to statutory changes, over a dozen constitutional amendments have been submitted. If passed by the Legislature, a constitutional amendment would then appear on a ballot to be considered by the voters. Remember, all bills will get a public hearing and committees will start holding bill hearings on January 23.

Senators and committees have until March 14 to select their priority bills. Each Senator gets one priority and each committee two priorities. Speaker Arch will also get to designate up to 25 bills as Speaker priorities. Because there is such a limited number of priority bills, it is important not to waste your designation by prioritizing a bill that will stall in committee. Furthermore, it is sometimes possible to attach a bill to another priority bill through an amendment without having to designate the bill individually as a priority. I will be looking for paths to a priority designation for all of my legislation and need your help in supporting my initiatives.

I have introduced ten bills and co-sponsored another 14. I have tried to focus my efforts on issues that will have a direct impact on District 42. As promised, the first bill that I introduced was LB31 which is the two-person train crew bill. LB31 will face opposition from the railroads, so I encourage those who support this bill to provide oral testimony or submit written comments once a hearing is scheduled by the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee. I am already reaching out to the committee members to encourage them to advance this important bill to the full Legislature so we can debate the merits of this important legislation.

Although bill introduction will not end until Wednesday, January 18, any bill language sent to the bill drafters next week will likely not have enough time to be put into final bill form. However, please continue to reach out with specific issues you would like reviewed. It may be possible to get these issues addressed by amending an introduced bill, or it may be our first great idea for 2024.

In this column, I will share important updates on my legislation and other bills of interest. The public is also invited to join my weekly call with the North Platte Area Chamber of Commerce and Development, where I will answer questions and provide live updates. If you are interested in joining this call, please contact the Chamber at (308) 532-4966. The first call will be held at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, January 19. Subsequent call times may change as participants settle on the best day to meet. If others would like to schedule a regular forum in your area, please contact me to discuss times. It is important to me to hear from my constituents so I can better work on your behalf.

I look forward to a very busy session. As legislation and issues arise, please feel free to reach out to me at mjacobson@leg.ne.gov or 402-471-2729. My door is always open!

The first week of the Legislature is under our belt and we got a good taste of how the session might go. After all the ceremonial activities, we spent the first day approving temporary rules and electing the new leadership and committee chairs.

I was happy to be elected by my peers in the third caucus to serve on the Committee on Committees. This committee consists of 13 members, one chairperson and four from each of the three caucuses (generally aligning with Nebraska’s three Congressional Districts). The role of the Committee on Committees is to determine committee membership for the next two years. This can be a complicated process because committees meet on different days of the week and each Senator must have a committee assignment for each day of the week. In addition, there needs to be representation from each caucus on all of the committees.

As a general rule, committee assignments are based on committee preferences submitted by each Senator, seniority, expertise, and membership balance among the caucuses. Although the Legislature is a non-partisan body, there has always been a tendency to balance committees based on the conservative or liberal leanings of the individual committee members for key committees. Caucuses add members on a rotating basis as the Committee on Committees does its work. For example, if the chair of a committee is from the third caucus, the first caucus will have the first selection for the next member of that committee. This is followed by the second and the third caucuses, until the committee is filled. After this process is completed, the entire Committee on Committees votes to release a preliminary report. The next day, the Committee meets again to make any final adjustments based on trades that the members of the Legislature may have requested since the initial report was released. Political jockeying can make this process controversial; in the end, however, the Committee must approve any changes by a majority vote.

This year, the final report from the Committee on Committees was released for approval by the Unicameral on Friday. The report cannot be amended on the floor, so the Unicameral can either vote to accept the report or return it to the Committee for changes. This session, there was a motion to return the report to the Committee because some Senators were unhappy with the Committee’s handling of change requests and the Legislature adjourned on Friday with this issue still unresolved.

The Legislature will take the final Committee on Committee report back up on Monday. I expect the full body to ultimately approve the report. Once finalized, committee chairs can set up initial meetings of their committees to select vice-chairs and prepare for upcoming hearings.

In addition to leadership and committee selection, Senators and Committees begin introducing the bills that will be considered in 2023. In the first week, 145 bills and seven constitutional amendments were filed. I introduced five bills, including one to require two-person train crews, and have at least a couple more to file. Senators and Committees can continue to introduce bills through Day 10, which is scheduled to fall on January 18. As bills are introduced, the Reference Committee meets to assign bills to the standing committee with jurisdiction over the topic. From there, committee chairs will schedule hearings for all of the bills referred to their committee sometime between January 23 and March 24.

Although every bill gets a committee hearing, not every bill will be voted on by a committee, much less advance to the floor for consideration by the full Legislature. If you are interested in a specific bill, I encourage you to participate in the hearing process by testifying, submitting written comments for the record, or watching the bill’s hearing. All floor debates and committee hearings are live-streamed by Nebraska Public Media.

After a busy week, Julie and I had the privilege of attending the Inaugural Ball for Governor Jim Pillen. I look forward to working with Governor Pillen and his staff as we move forward together to do the people’s work. The theme of the Governor’s address was Day by Day, based on a message that he heard from Coach Tom Osborne when Governor Pillen was a member of the Husker football team. I would like to join Governor Pillen in thanking Governor Pete Ricketts for all of his work done on behalf of the State of Nebraska, particularly through the COVID-19 pandemic. He did an outstanding job of leading our state over the past eight years and left the state in a great fiscal position. I wish him the best in his future endeavors.

In closing, I want to acknowledge all the ranchers who have been dealing with the winter storms in recent weeks. My prayers are with you and your operations; please know I remain available to help facilitate any additional assistance you may need to get access to feed and care for your cattle. Both Governor Ricketts and Governor Pillen have been helpful in mobilizing additional state resources to clear county roads. Governor Pillen has assured me that they will continue to have your backs.

I look forward to hearing from constituents about the bills we will be working on this year. Please feel free to reach out to me at mjacobson@leg.ne.gov or 402-471-2729 with your opinions and stories.

The 108^th biennium of the Nebraska Legislature begins at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, January 4, 2023. The first item of business will be to appoint temporary presiding officers (the Clerk and Sergeant at Arms), then escort the Chief Justice in to swear in all the newly elected members of the Legislature. We will then adopt “temporary rules” which will be used to conduct the first day’s business and typically mirror the rules adopted by the previous legislature.

Once sworn in, the Legislature will elect a new Clerk of the Legislature, as Patrick J. O’Donnell is retiring, as well as the Assistant Clerks and the Chief Sergeant at Arms. This will be followed by the election of the new Speaker of the Legislature and members of the Executive Board. Next, Chairs of the Unicameral’s 14 Standing Committee Chairs and additional Special and Select Committee Chairs will be elected. Senators will also have the opportunity to introduce bills on Day 1.

The Committee on Committees cannot meet to work out which Senators will serve on which committees until the Chairs of the Committees have been selected. In addition, office assignments depend on Chair selections, so there will be much reshuffling during the first few days of the Legislative Session.

Senators must have all their bills introduced by Day 10, which is scheduled to fall on January 18. As bills are introduced, they are referred to the committee of jurisdiction by the Referencing Committee, which consists of the members of the Executive Board. All bills will have a public hearing at which the public, stakeholders, and industry can weigh in on the merits of the bill. Although every bill gets a hearing, not every bill gets a vote. Ultimately, the chair determines what bills the committee votes on, and the members of the committee decide whether the bill advances to the full legislature for consideration. The chair also determines which bills receive the committee’s two priority designations. Although most bills advance from a committee before they are debated on the floor, it is possible for the body to “pull” a bill from a committee with 30 votes. This mechanism is used rarely, and usually for controversial legislation stalled in committee.

If a bill is voted out of committee, the bill advances for debate by the whole legislature. Those with a priority designation, either from an individual Senator, a committee, or the Speaker, move to the top of the queue. However, the Speaker of the Legislature ultimately sets the agenda for each day and often schedules bills out of order to better manage the body’s schedule. A bill must then pass three rounds of debate (General File, Select File, and Final Reading) before it becomes law. It takes 25 votes (a majority) to advance a bill, but 33 votes to end a filibuster. Any bills that fail to advance during this coming 90-day session will be carried over to next year’s 60-day session.

Currently, I plan to introduce six bills, including a bill to require railroads to maintain a two-person crew while moving freight along the rail system. Although I am a business person who believes in the free market and limited government interference, I believe this policy is necessary to ensure public and worker safety. The railroads want to experiment with stationary conductors working from their homes along the track, but this plan fails to account for problems that could arise if the engineer has a health issue along the route. It also will not provide a short enough response time if there is a time-sensitive emergency; for example, being the first responder at an accident or taking care of the duties involved in “breaking” a train to unblock a rail crossing should the train need to stop for an extended period of time.

Blocked crossings create public safety issues when first responders and the general public cannot access one, two, or three crossings at the same time. Additionally, there have been multiple reports of children dragging their bicycles under the train to get through. Any sudden movement of the train at that point could result in disaster. In the end, safety should be a priority and should not and cannot be compromised. Every regulated business (banks, hospitals, nursing homes, power plants, packing plants, manufacturers, and many others) are required to maintain safety protocols for their workers and customers. The railroads should be no exception.

I will spend the next few weeks updating you on bills of interest and will look forward to your input. I also encourage you to be engaged in the committee review process by testifying or submitting comments in support or opposition to legislation.

It is an honor to serve as your District 42 State Senator. Please feel free to reach out to my office at 402-471-2729 or by email at mjacobson@leg.ne.gov. My door is always open!