Hot-button bills stall Legislature

McCOOK, Neb. – In its 49th day as of Thursday, the Nebraska State Legislature is on pace to accomplish very little in 2023.

Some blame it on the tactics of a small minority of senators who oppose proposed legislation and are using the rules to stall progress.

Others say the problem is due to the blunder of the conservative majority, who chose to focus on social issues which they knew would cause the quagmire that is currently before lawmakers. Both sides acknowledge that neither is listening to the other.

District 38 Senator Dave Murman heard from McCook constituents on Thursday morning’s Legislative Update sponsored by the McCook Chamber of Commerce. Those who spoke expressed their displeasure in the topics that the Legislature has chosen to debate at the expense of economic development, tax policy, school funding, and the biennial budget.

“I think we [Nebraskans] value our communities and being able to work with one another. To produce these extreme, divisive bills is a mistake, and the filibuster is just a response to that,” one constituent told the Senator.

The constituent also expressed embarrassment at the way debate was progressing and support for the filibuster process “until we can get some of these bills cleared off the docket.”

This week, the Legislature was being filibustered by Senators who oppose LB574, otherwise known as the Let Them Grow Act. The bill was introduced by Sen. Kathleen Kauth who was appointed in June 2022 and elected to represent District 31 in November 2022. It prohibits gender-altering procedures and drugs for individuals under the age of 19. Sen. Murman is in favor of the bill, stating that it protects children.

Through the filibuster and other motions, a minority group of Senators held up the bill, and are promising to continue their filibuster of every action before the body throughout the session. With a filibuster, Senators are allowed eight hours of debate on general file bills, after which a cloture motion to end debate can be invoked with the approval of two-thirds of the body (33 senators). Cloture was invoked on LB574 on Thursday, and the bill was passed on general file with a 30-17 vote.

Four hours of debate is allowed on select file, and two hours on final reading.

The filibuster of LB574 followed another controversial social bill, LB626, dubbed the Heartbeat bill. That bill, which Sen. Murman also supports, prohibits abortions once a heartbeat can be detected. That bill was also filibustered for several days throughout January and February.

Local residents in attendance at the legislative update questioned Sen. Murman’s choice of priority bill, another “social issue” bill, LB810, the Medical Ethics and Diversity Act. That law is intended to protect the right of conscience for medical providers and insurers from being compelled to perform or pay for medical procedures that they may object to on the basis of conscience.

Sen. Murman has carried the bill every year that he has served in the Legislature and decided this was the year to make it his priority bill.

He contends that passage would encourage more people to enter the health care field, stating that people with strong religious beliefs are hesitant to enter the medical field because they are not able to work “according to their beliefs”. He said that it was almost impossible to be accepted into medical school, and especially as an OB-GYN if you’re pro-life. Sen. Murman said there is a demand for medical professionals with strong religious convictions.

Sen. Murman referred to a 2019 survey conducted by The Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal advocacy group. The study surveyed 1,732 members of faith-based medical associations and found that 23% of respondents reported personally experiencing discrimination, 36% reported pressure or discrimination from medical school administrators or faculty based on their beliefs. Twenty percent of respondents said they decided not to pursue a career in a certain field due to a lack of tolerance for their moral, ethical, or religious beliefs. Of those, 80% specified the OB-GYN field.

Another survey from the American Academy of Medical Ethics concluded that nine out of ten respondents would stop practicing medicine rather than violate their beliefs.

Four states, Ohio, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Illinois, have all passed a medical ethics and diversity act.

Because of the filibuster tactics, Sen. Murman predicts that a special session of the Legislature will need to be called to approve a budget. While he supports the ability of Senators to filibuster so that minority opinions can be heard, he laments the fact that one or two Senators can bring the work of the Legislature to a halt.

“Senator, you need to remember you’re talking to people from McCook here. And there’s a number of us that believe that George Norris designed [the Unicameral] to do exactly what’s going on right now – to stop a simple majority from running roughshod over the minority,” a constituent challenged.

The next Legislative Update will be April 6 at 8 a.m. Contact the McCook Chamber for more information.