Legislative Updates

The Legislature is at the half-way mark of this 90-day session. This past week marked the priority bill designation deadline. Senators have the ability to designate one bill as their personal priority bill. …

The Platte Institute, initiated in 2008, was Nebraska’s first free market think tank. It is a non-partisan, non-profit research and educational institute. …

Things are heating up in the Legislature. The Speaker cancelled debate on the floor of the Legislature for two mornings, allowing the committees that meet in the afternoons for public hearings to hold executive sessions. …

In 1965, legislation was passed authorizing a Medicaid program in Nebraska. Medicaid offers health insurance for children in low-income families, pregnant women, the elderly and the disabled, as well as a small number of parents with income levels below 54% of federal poverty level. …

This past week marked the deadline for priority bill designation. Every senator is allowed to designate one bill as a priority bill, every committee can designate two bills, and the speaker is authorized to choose up to twenty-five bills as speaker priority bills. …

I introduced two bills before the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee this past week. The first bill deals with unfunded mandates placed on several counties across the state. …

This past week, the Legislature debated whether the fees for issuing a marriage license and providing certified copies of marriage records should be increased. The marriage license fee hasn’t been increased since 1995. …

The 10-day bill introductory period is complete, resulting in the introduction of 663 bills and 4 constitutional amendments. Last week, I summarized most of the bills that I had introduced to date. …

Bills can be introduced during the first 10 days of the legislative session. The last day for bill introductions is Wednesday, January 21. The following is a brief description of the bills that I have been working on throughout the interim and have introduced so far. …

The One Hundred Fourth Legislature, First Session, is up and running and at a whirlwind pace. Although this past week has been a lot of pomp and circumstance with the swearing in of the newly elected senators, the inauguration ceremonies for the constitutional officers and the Governor’s inaugural…