The Nebraska Legislature began its 60-day 2024 session yesterday with a combination of high hopes and apprehension in the wake of last year’s acrimonious session with its endless string of filibusters that got personal at times.
Speaker John Arch reminded the senators yesterday they had a short time to act this year and urged them to use their time wisely – adding the divisiveness that characterized the officially nonpartisan Unicameral reflects the divisions in society.
He said they must develop “the ability to have passionate but civil discourse on very difficult subjects (which will) take everyone’s commitment to work together to craft legislation that allows the majority to govern, (while) respecting minority input
An indication of whether that’s possible could come over the next couple weeks as lawmakers debate changes to the rules under which the legislature operates.
Arch has proposed a package he hopes will “hit the reset button” and encourage “good debate and good progress” while allowing “majority rule and minority voice.”
Conservative Rules Committee Chair Steve Erdman of Bayard has proposed his own set of rules changes, which are viewed as more controversial,
They include eliminating secret ballots to elect committee chairs and barring the news media from committee executive sessions deciding whether bills advance or die.
Lawmakers yesterday elected the chairman and vice-chairman of the Executive Board, the Legislature’s internal governing body. Ray Aguilar of Grand Island was voted chair, but the candidacy of Kearney Senator John Lowe drew some objections.
Omaha Senator Terrell McKinney said having both leaders from outside the Omaha and Lincoln areas would produce a geographical imbalance and unnecessarily heighten tensions on some issues.
Some of the first bills introduced yesterday virtually guarantee tensions. Omaha conservative Senator Kathleen Kauth followed through on her promise to prioritize a bill dealing with transgender students.
It would limit or bar the ability of transgender students to compete in high school sports and to using bathrooms and locker rooms that don’t match their gender at birth.
Progressive Senator Machaela Cavanaugh introduced a bill to repeal last year’s law that sharply limits gender-confirming care for transgender minors and severely limits abortions after 12-weeks.