Culture wars, taxes, minimum wage on tap for Nebraska lawmakers in second half of session

Nebraska lawmakers have guaranteed themselves plenty of long, emotional debates by naming several culture war bills as priorities for the rest of the session.

But as of Tuesday’s deadline, they also gave priority designations to pieces of Gov. Jim Pillen’s tax cut and school aid package, along with measures on higher-blend ethanol, teacher retention, term limits, a Sarpy County sewer system and more.

Speaker of the Legislature John Arch of La Vista said he expects that the priority bills will provide a mix of highly controversial proposals and less-contentious measures.

“Any senator can bring a bill they feel passionate about and prioritize it,” he said. “I don’t think we can avoid controversy as our standard.”

But he also said the Legislature may have to settle for passing fewer bills than usual this year, in light of Omaha State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh’s ongoing efforts to eat up time on every bill in hopes of blocking two controversial measures.

LB574 would prohibit gender-altering care for transgender youths and LB626 would ban most abortions. Both have advanced from committee and been named priorities but have not been scheduled for debate by the full Legislature.

Arch said he has tried to negotiate a resolution among senators that would convince Cavanaugh to drop her filibusters and allow debate to proceed normally. He said he has been unsuccessful so far but is not giving up.

This week represents a key milestone in the legislative session. Tuesday was the deadline for individual senators and standing committees to name their priority bills. Each senator can name one priority and most committees get two.

On Wednesday, Arch  announced the speaker priority bills. Those 25 bills are chosen from among requests made by other senators. Wednesday also is the 45th legislative day of the 90-day session.

From here on, the focus will be on the state budget and those bills named as priorities. In most years, lawmakers debate all of the priority bills that emerge from committee, along with passing a number of noncontroversial consent calendar bills. That’s not possible if every bill faces a filibuster.

Arch told colleagues he plans to debate into the evening, starting March 28, in hopes of getting through as many priority bills as possible.

Even without Cavanaugh’s efforts, the list of priority bills would ensure multiple filibusters. Some tap into the nation’s deep cultural divide.

LB575, prioritized by Sen. Rob Clements of Elmwood, would require transgender youths to play school sports and use bathrooms that match their gender at birth. LB810, prioritized by Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil, would allow health care professionals and institutions to deny care to people if the care violates their ethical, moral or religious beliefs.

LB753, prioritized by Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, would provide tax credits to boost organizations giving scholarships to private and faith-based schools, while LB277, prioritized by Sen. Brian Hardin of Gering, would increase protections for religious freedom despite critics’ concerns that it would allow discrimination in the name of religion.

Others split lawmakers along more political lines. LB327, prioritized by Sen. Jane Raybould of Lincoln, would carve out exceptions to the voter-approved minimum wage increases. LB343, prioritized by Sen. Julie Slama of Dunbar, would bar the state from contracting with companies that boycott Israel and Israeli-controlled territories.

LB535, prioritized by the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, would implement the constitutional amendment passed by voters last year to require photographic identification for voting.

Pillen’s tax and school aid proposals could be contentious, depending on the results of work being done in committee.

Sen. Rita Sanders of Bellevue named LB583, which she introduced on behalf of the governor, as her priority. The measure would make major changes in the state school aid formula in an effort to boost state support of schools and to reduce property taxes.

The Revenue Committee named LB754 as one of its priorities. Linehan introduced the bill on Pillen’s behalf. As introduced, it would cut income tax rates. It is expected to become the home for several pieces of the governor’s tax plan, including changes affecting both property and income taxes.

It’s unclear how many priority bills will see debate time. Fewer than half have advanced from committee so far and time could prevent others from coming up.

But Arch vowed the Legislature will pass a state budget, as well as address taxes, school funding and voter ID.