Lawmakers will convene on the last day of the 2024 legislative session, though many expect to return for a special session later this year. Not pictured: Secretary of State Joni Albrecht, Ben Hansen, John Lowe and Tony Vargas. April 18, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
LINCOLN — Lawmakers are gearing up for a special session later this year, but on Thursday they celebrated the end of a session in which they “successfully hit the reset button,” Nebraska’s top legislative leader said.
Speaker John Arch of La Vista. April 18, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
Speaker John Arch of La Vista said the Legislature sent more than 370 bills to Gov. Jim Pillen this year, including “good public policy” to grow Nebraska’s workforce, economy and communities; supporting families and primary education; criminal justice system reform; and improve the physical and mental well-being of Nebraskans.
It’s a session, Arch said, “we can all be proud of.”
‘Enjoy the peace’
Pillen similarly applauded lawmakers for approving a health care proposal that could provide up to $1.4 billion for Nebraska hospitals and also improve child care options, creating incentives for companies to hire workers from out of state and small school districts would be allowed to better protect students “by training the good guys with guns to stop the bad guys with guns.”
“Even in a short session, your hard work and countless hours have produced great results for Nebraska,” Pillen told lawmakers.
However, much of Pillen’s speech to the full Legislature focused on what he described as late-stage failures in refusing to take a final vote on the property tax cut. He said senators offered “not a cent” more relief; the bill was pulled from the floor earlier today after it threatened to fail.
Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen. April 18, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
The governor tried to cut property taxes by 40% this year, and he said that is still the goal, pledging to “host as many sessions as necessary” to get tax relief in 2024.
“We are behind at the end of the first half, but we still have a second half to go,” Pillen said. “Enjoy the peace and quiet. We’ll see you here again soon.”
Pillen also said he won’t hesitate to call another special session for “other unfinished business,” which he said includes switching Nebraska’s allocation of Electoral College votes to a winner-take-all system. He has said that he will only convene a meeting for this if there are enough votes; there are currently no 33 senators who support the change.
Special session in sight
State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, chairman of the Legislature’s Revenue Committee, withdrew her tax proposal after it appeared to be in jeopardy Thursday. She said Pillen “gave all kinds of warnings” about a special session, and she was not surprised by his speech.
“I’ve already told the revenue committee that we’re going to get started this summer,” she said.
State Sen. Teresa Ibach of Sumner described Pillen’s speech as “thoughtful yet deliberate” and said that while there is still “a way to go” on many issues, the trajectory is good.
State Sen. Teresa Ibach of Sumner. March 3, 2023. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska News Service)
“Ultimately, we all have in our hearts the best interest in what we are trying to accomplish here. I think taking a very thoughtful approach and navigating things a little bit will ultimately be very productive,” Ibach said. “I’m actually really looking forward to it.”
Special sessions come at your own expense and cost thousands per day.
Pillen’s speech was not received in the same positive way by others, such as Secretary of State Danielle Conrad of Lincoln and Megan Hunt of Omaha, who criticized Pillen for focusing on what they said were his losses rather than legislative achievements.
“If he has ideas for new solutions to achieve our shared goals of growing Nebraska’s workforce and making this a great place for every Nebraskan to call home, I’d like to work with him on them during the special session,” Hunt told the newspaper. Nebraska Examiner.
Conrad said senators are not afraid to return for a special session and “shouldn’t wait.”
“We need to roll up our sleeves, put all the ideas and solutions on the table and find the right path to funding our schools and easing property taxes without raising taxes on Nebraska families and businesses,” Conrad said in a text. “I am confident that we can do it together.”
2023 turned out to be ‘an aberration’
Legislative leaders aimed to make this year’s 60-day session different from the 2023 88-day session, which was largely defined by legislative gridlock, infighting and rancor.
Arch said in his closing remarks last year that he hoped 2023 would be “an aberration, not a predictor of the future,” and that lawmakers would have to decide for themselves how to proceed.
Lawmakers with term limits or who do not want elections in the fall meet on the last day of the 2024 legislative session. Not pictured: Secretary of State Joni Albrecht, John Lowe and Tony Vargas. April 18, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
He said lawmakers were motivated to find another way to legislate and they heeded his call, thinking for months before returning in January. This included implementing feedback to better improve the public input process for Nebraska’s “second home.”
But one message still holds true: how “extremely fragile” Nebraska’s unique, one-house political system is.
At least 15 senators will not return next year, 13 due to constitutional term limits, and Arch said those who return should continue what they learned this year and be good role models for those who come next.
“We must continue to protect this cherished institution of the Unicameral Parliament,” Arch said.
In numbers: the 2023 and 2024 parliamentary terms
In 2024, each of Nebraska’s 49 legislators got a bill on the governor’s desk, either on its own or after it was folded into several legislative packages.
Senators sent 11 final bills to the governor Thursday, including Bill No. 25, from Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha, that would expand legal liability in certain child sexual abuse cases. Wayne said there is talk of a possible veto, which Pillen would have to exercise next Wednesday.
Here is a statistical comparison between the 2023 and 2024 legislative terms.
Statistics for 2023 — 88 days of session
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820 bills were introduced, or an average of 16 per senator.
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1,160 motions were filed, with the vast majority (80%) coming from a trio of lawmakers: Secretary of State Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha (437), Megan Hunt of Omaha (359) and Danielle Conrad of Lincoln (128). State Sen. Julie Slama of Dunbar followed with 41 motions.
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Most important bill targeted: LB 574, restriction of gender care for minors and abortion at 12 weeks’ gestation (42 motions).
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Top Senator Targeting: State Senator Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn (78 motions).
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57 bills were forced to maximum debate. Only one failed, namely abortion restrictions.
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52 bills approved by the Legislature and Governor – 33 Acts and 19 Appropriations.
Statistics for 2024 — 60 days of session
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597 bills were introduced, or an average of twelve per senator.
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258 motions were filed, with the majority (47%) coming from Cavanaugh (121). Linehan followed with twenty moves.
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Most important bill addressed: LB 937, authorizing certain tax credits and exemptions (19 motions)
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Top senator targeting: Linehan (36 motions).
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Eleven bills were forced to maximum debate. Of those, four failed: two-person train crews, a slimmed-down clean slate law for residential tenants, criminal obscenity in primary schools and sex-based restrictions on primary and secondary school toilet and sports teams.
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201 bills were approved: 153 laws and 48 appropriations. One was vetoed, two became law without the governor’s signature, and 11 are pending approval.
By Nebraska Examiner reporter Zach Wendling
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