Legislative Update #5
This week took us through some rough sledding in terms of number of items happening at the same time every day. Yesterday was the deadline for Senators and Committee Chairs to identify their priorities for the rest of the session. Under the Legislative Rules, each Senator gets one priority bill, and most Committees get two. There are a few Special Committees that only get one, but that adds to the tab. Also…Committee Priorities can contain packages of up to at least 5 separate bills in their jurisdiction. And today the Speaker announced his 25 Speaker Priority bills that he selected from probably around 75 requests from his colleagues. Starting next week, most all of the remaining floor debate for the year will be focused solely on those Priority Bills. Why is this a big deal for the people in Nebraska’s political world? Because for the most part, I can stop focusing on the other 1000 bills that are still hanging out there and not carrying a priority designation. There are still hearings on new bills today and all of next week, but most of them are ‘crazy’ good ideas .
Also, today is Day 30, meaning half-way through the 2026 session. The countdown begins! The closer we get to 59, the more pressure is exerted on Senators, staff, and lobbyists to get issues addressed before they adjourn for the year. Are we halfway done with the work for the session? Not even close! Starting March 3rd, they will begin full day debate, and starting March 18th, the Speaker will start keeping his colleagues on the debate floor into the evenings 3 days a week in order to get more done. Looking at the 2026 Priority Bill List, I see at least a dozen bills that will be full-on filibusters, meaning each of those first round debates on General File will take an entire day. Take 12 from 30 and you only have 18 days to address 80-plus other bills and the budget adjustments. It’s looking very likely that we simply won’t have time to hear all of the priority bills, especially ones that don’t likely have enough support to make it across the finish line. And/or…I’ll have a decent amount of time to work on bills that you all care about while the fight ensues on the debate floor. Fine by me!
Got a little unexpected snow storm in Lincoln yesterday afternoon, so this particular Friday is spent hiding mostly indoors, but the forecast looks good for next week. Bring on March!
Happy Hump Day from the Star City!
~Kent