Bills introduced by Christensen

This week in my letter I would like to discuss a few of the bills I introduced this session.

Two of these bills were up for their public hearings this last week. Legislative Bill687 and LB762.

LB687, heard in the Banking, Commerce, and Insurance Committee, was a bill brought to me by the Real Estate Commission to change license application procedures regarding when an applicant needs to get fingerprints to the commission. The bill switches the timing for providing fingerprints to after the application has been received instead of before. This will help provide proper notice of all the rights applicants have regarding finger printing and criminal background checks, which will better meet the standards of the FBI and our Nebraska State Patrol. LB687 has already advanced to General File.

As I mentioned last week, LB762 was also heard this last week in the Natural Resources Committee. This is one of several controversial water bills I have introduced this year. I was pleased with the candid discussion.

I challenged the committee that the Legislature needs to decide where we are going long-term with our water policy in this state. Are we going to continue a slow death of surface water in the Republican? Is taking surface water without compensation, giving them little to no water during a compact-call year, while allowing groundwater to irrigate like it was a normal year, going to be the new norm? To me, that is a bad policy, and the perception is not very good either. But, if that is going to be our policy, we need to be honest enough to say it, and not pretend otherwise.

Though taking surface water without compensation for state compact compliance may turn out to be technically legal, I believe as Nebraskans, we can do better to our neighbors.

LB684 and LB685 were brought to me by the Nebraska Real Property Appraiser Board, and will be heard in the Banking, Commerce, and Insurance Committee on Monday the 27th.

LB684 addresses a multitude of issues concerning the administration and enforcement of the Appraisal Management Company Registration Act, which has been in effect since January 1, 2012. The primary purpose is to provide clarity for administrative issues recently faced by the Nebraska Real Property Appraiser Board.

Legislative Bill 685 also addresses many issues concerning the administration and enforcement of the Real Property Appraiser Act. It seeks to eliminate inconsistencies within the Act, and inconsistencies between the Act and the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP).

Tuesday the 28th, I will be discussing LB688 in the same committee. I brought this bill at the request of the Director of Insurance to change the requirements of the Motor Vehicle Service Contract Reimbursement Insurance Act, related to cease and desist hearings. Currently, the law demands that a hearing take place even though no one has requested one. This would save time and resources of everyone involved.

Thursday of this same week, the 30th, I will be having hearings for LB686 and LB710 back in the Natural Resources Committee.

LB686 is a simple bill that changes the deadline for choosing to opt out of the occupation tax for irrigation when not irrigating that season from March 1st, to the new date, June 1st. I believe this is a workable date that provides more flexibility for producers, while still providing enough time administratively for Natural Resources Districts.

LB710 would provide a little more due process for voters and taxpayers in local communities to voice their opinions when a NRD is contemplating entering into an augmentation project outside the geographical boundaries of the district in the future. The bill would require that a public hearing pertaining to the project take place prior to any decision, and that any vote on the project would require a two-thirds majority. I have heard from many constituents that wish they would have had an opportunity to voice their position on the N-CORE project in Lincoln County.

Finally, I will be discussing LB798, brought to me by the Nebraska League of Municipalities, to help a power district in our legislative district to change their fiscal year from a calendar year and allow that a district with only one wholesale customer that is a city or a village may also use the same fiscal year as the city or village.

If you have any questions or comments, contact my office. Mark R. Christensen, PO Box 94604, Lincoln, NE 68509, 402-471-2805 or mchristensen@leg.ne.gov.