Hughes views: Two bills pass on final reading
Two of my bills, LB302 and LB127, passed on final reading on Friday, March 15.
Hearings for the committee I chair—the Natural Resources Committee—and the other I serve on—Transportation and Telecommunications—have completed hearings on all bills before them.
I will be using my afternoons for the next two weeks to study the bills coming up on the floor, and looking at all of the priority bills.
Other committees are still holding hearings on their remaining bills. Those committees have until March 28 to complete hearings.
In total, more than 700 bills were introduced this year and all of them have had or will have a public hearing where anyone can come and testify.
On Tuesday, April 2, we will start full day debates. Those nights can get long, but I am looking forward to them because we will see many bills start moving.
Priority bills chosen
Our senator and committee priority bills were due by noon, Tuesday, March 19.
My bill, LB277, was chosen as a priority by the Ag Committee.
The bill expands the 1982 Right To Farm Act to protect farm operations and public grain warehouses from nuisance laws if the entities existed before a change in the land use or occupancy of the land was made.
In essence, if a subdivision locates near a farm that already existed, the homeowners can’t seek a nuisance declaration since the farming operation was there first.
With the Ag Committee prioritizing that bill, it allowed me to select LB268 as my priority bill.
Introduced by Sen. Curt Friesen of Henderson, LB268 seeks to make it easier for a customer of a telecommunications company to switch to a different company offering better service in an adjoining exchange in Nebraska.
Giving a bill a priority designation means that bill gets to jump to the head of the line and guarantees the bill will be heard by the full body during General File debate.
However, giving a bill a priority designation does not necessarily help get a bill out of committee and to the floor for debate.
Unicameral Youth Legislature
Please share the following opportunity with any high school students you know.
The time has come to apply for Unicameral Youth Legislature, which is a four-day simulation of the legislative process.
High school students are invited to come experience the process of creating rules and bills at the Unicameral with senators and staff June 9-12, 2019.
To learn more about the program, visit www.NebraskaLegislature.gov/uyl and for a complete list of Nebraska’s free civic resources for Nebraskans of all ages, visit nebraskalegislature.gov/students
If you would like to speak directly to me about legislative issues, join the Great Plains conference call Tuesday at 7 a.m. MT or the McCook Chamber Conference call Thursday at 8 a.m. CT. Call the office for call-in numbers.
I always enjoy hearing from the Nebraskans I represent.
Please feel free to contact my office with any questions or concerns that you might have.
Read more about bills and other work of the Legislature at www.nebraskalegislature.gov. Click on the Live Video Streaming NET logo to watch sessions, hearings, and other Capitol events.