Nebraska 2023 Unicameral committee assignments finalized

LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) - State lawmakers finalized their committee assignments Monday, allowing the Unicam to move forward on its legislative session.

The 40-7 vote to approve the committee on committees after a few delays Monday.

At one point in the session, Speaker John Arch moved to suspend the rules and vote on committee assignments to get around delay maneuvers by some Democratic members. The move came under fire with several saying that action should only be used in rare circumstances so it doesn’t set a precedent of shutting down debate in the chamber.

Nebraska state senators introduced nearly 100 bills on Thursday and dozens more on Friday as the 108th Legislative session begins to take shape last week.

Among the more than 60 bills filed on Monday:

• LB159, introduced by State Sen. Mike McDonnell of Omaha, foster kids could get grants for postsecondary education (public college, university, community college, or institution of postsecondary education in this state)
• LB169, introduced by State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha, would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity; currently, race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, sex, marital status, national origin, and familial status are protected.
• LB175, introduced by State Sen. George Dungan of Lincoln, would give tenants meeting certain criteria a “clean slate,” sealing records relating to eviction proceedings.
• LB178, introduced by State Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard, would require schools to display the national motto “in God we trust” in English, in each classroom or other prominent place in every school building.
• LB179, introduced by State Sen. John Fredrickson of Omaha, would prohibit conversion therapy.
• LB193, introduced by State Sen. Steve Halloran of Hastings, would require components of voting machines used in Nebraska to be designed, manufactured, integrated, and assembled in the U.S. from trusted suppliers.
• LB194, also introduced by Halloran, would mostly prohibit state agencies or employees from enforcing federal firearms law.
• LB202, introduced by State Sen. Merv Riepe, would allow pharmacy techs to administer vaccines.

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Assistant News Director Cassie Crowe and Digital Director Gina Dvorak contributed to this report.

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