Pressure mounts with clock ticking

Hughes' Views
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Tuesday marked the 45th day of the short session, meaning there’s only 15 days remaining. That actually leaves only 14 working days because the final day is basically ceremonial.

That leaves plenty to be discussed in the coming days. 

Last week, we started late nights, debated the budget bills and passed another one of my bills on to select file. 

The budget is an important topic this session. We had three bills related to the budget debated last week—LB 946, LB 945, and LB 944. 

On Tuesday, March 13, we discussed these bills until nearly midnight. 

LB 944 dealt with Title X funds, which are given to healthcare clinics. One of the big issues is, that in the past, some of this money went to fund abortions. 

With the language included that was voted out of committee by a 9-0 vote, and passed the first round of debate, the part of those clinics that are providing abortions must be paid for by separate and distinct funds.

This means no tax dollars can be used to fund abortions. 

This change in no way stops funds flowing to our health clinic in McCook.

Late nights started last week in the capitol. During the remainder of this session, the speaker will designate a handful of days that we will work late nights. 

On these nights, the full body will stay and try to work through the agenda and address as many bills as possible. If necessary, we can continue debate until 11:59 p.m. 

This being the 60-day short session, and more than 500 bills introduced this year, we need more time to debate these important issues.

My third bill of the session was advanced to select file, LB 760. LB 760 is a common sense bill that helps the county volunteer first responders. 

In 2016, county volunteers were unintentionally left out of a bill providing volunteers with a tax credit. With the passage of this bill, they too will be able to receive the credit. There was a little debate on the bill and it passed on a 33-0 vote.

I would like to clear up some confusion with the amendment I added to LB 822. The amendment the committee adopted is the result of a compromise between media representatives and public power. The amendment is important to our utilities who produce power in Nebraska, but more so to Nebraska ratepayers. 

The amendment will allow public power in Nebraska to withhold competitive or proprietary information about generating costs that would give an advantage to its business competitors who also produce electricity.

I would like to thank both Elwood High School and Bertrand High School for coming to visit me last week. I always enjoy having people from district come to visit. The students were very engaging and interested in the political process. If you are ever in Lincoln please feel free to stop by my office.

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.

Tuesday teleconference

Two bills debated last week did not have enough votes to seek cloture (33 votes) so they are dead for this session, Hughes said. They include LB 158 and LB  44.

LB 158, introduced by Patty Pansing-Brooks of Lincoln, sought to have counties appoint an attorney for every juvenile case.

Hughes said he opposed the bill as it represents another unfunded mandate on counties. 

The measure fell two votes short, he said. 

LB 44 would have allowed the state to require online retailers to collect Nebraska sales tax on internet sales.

Hughes said he was optimistic the bill could pass after a compromise was reached by several senators on the bill. 

However, that compromise didn’t included the governor’s office and they weren’t on board. This caused some senators to reconsider their support, leaving the bill short of the needed votes. 

The U.S. Supreme Court will be delivering a decision on a case brought by South Dakota on their ability to collect these taxes. 

Hughes said that decision will provide some guidance for next year’s Legislature. 

The senator said there’s still no direction on property tax relief. The governor is opposed to any new taxes and until property tax becomes a crisis with urban senators, Hughes doubts little progress in the remaining days. 

Hughes responded to question on LB 778. 

LB 778, introduced by Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte and prioritized by the Education Committee, would require a voter approval for new school facilities versus using building fund monies to build new facilities. Hughes said he doesn’t see a problem with the current situation. 

 

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