Legislative Update #3
Is Spring Here Already?
Seems like I missed part of winter this season. I know we’ll still see some snow and some cold and wind, but I think I only put on my big long dress coat 3 times this winter. It was about 60 degrees here in Lincoln yesterday and the forecast for the next 3 days is 50, 61, and 70 on Monday! That kind of weather makes life during hearing season seem much less terrible 😊.
Speaking of hearings…there are just 3 weeks of public hearings on bills and resolutions left in the session. This week has been super busy for not only JRA, but for lots of people. Most hearing rooms have been full each afternoon, and at least 2 committees have run past 5 this week with at least 1 running past 7:00 in the evening. Needless to say, I’m ready for a day off soon, please! Next weekend is the President’s Day long 4-day weekend, and I’m gonna guess that the Statehouse will be fairly dark and silent as people retreat to their respective corners for a few days.
The Unicameral is being fairly productive, despite some continuing fails here and there. Senator Lonowski’s priority bill, LB669, failed to overcome a filibuster this week after 4 days of debate. Then just the next day, they sent 6 bills to the Governor for his signature. They were about to put another 13 bills on Final Reading today, but got hung up on a priority bill that would require antisemitism training in schools. You just never know sometimes what will get peoples’ backs up! We’ve got lots of fighting yet to watch and wage, but Speaker Arch is at least sprinkling a few good bills in between that have general consensus.
Priority selection day is looming and coming fast. February 19th is the last day Senators and Committee Chairs have to select their priority bills for the session. Senators each get one, and Committee Chairs get two bills, although committee priority bills usually contain a package of 5-6 bills smashed together. 9 Senators have already chosen their priority bills, and 3 of them have already had some debate.
Always a little joy coming in the mail…the annual St. Patrick’s Day Party invite showed up yesterday, so we all have something to look ahead to in March!
Go out and enjoy the weekend!
~Kent