Session in the home stretch

The Nebraska Legislature has entered the final stretch of the session. We still have quite a few bills that we would like to get through. The budget passed the second round of debate. There will be one more round of debate and then it will go to the Governor.

The legislature is trying something new. Last week we started session at 9 a.m. and had floor debate until noon, followed by a twenty minute break, and then floor debate resumed. We usually adjourn around 7:00 pm. Before, we would take an hour and half break for lunch but then work until 9:00 or 10:00 pm. I prefer taking a shorter lunch break and getting back to debate.

A bill we recently debated was LB 329, introduced by Senator Ken Schilz. It creates the Nebraska Agritourism Promotion Act. It is intended to promote tourism and rural economic development. It limits a landowner's civil liability when they allow public access to their property, so they can participate in agritourism activities. Agritourism activities are hunting, fishing, bird watching, hiking, etc. The visitors must be warned of potential dangers. An amendment offered, AM 1580 defines inherent risk as any condition, danger or hazard that is an integral part of land or water used for agritourism, including; the risk of animals and land and water conditions, the ordinary dangers of structures or equipment ordinarily used in farming or ranching operations, and the potential for you or another participant to act in a negligent manner that may contribute to your own injury or death. An individual assumes some risk when they participate in agritourism activities.

On Thursday, May 7, Senator Chambers made a motion to suspend the rules to permit introduction of a bill. The motion prevailed with 37 ayes and 6 nays. It is a bill relating to the Nebraska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. It amends sections 57-903 and 57-905, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska; to provide duties for the commission regarding the disposal of wastewater, to define a term, to repeal the original sections, and to declare an emergency. With any bill being introduced this late in the session, I doubt if it will see floor debate. It will have to have a committee hearing first and our current schedule does not allow much time to fit another hearing in. This is something the Natural Resources Committee will take a look at over the summer and come back with a recommendation for the next Legislative session beginning in January of 2016.

I look forward to hearing from you. Please feel free to contact my office with any questions or concerns that you might have. My email address is dhughes@leg.ne.gov and my phone number is (402) 471-2805. You can read more about these and any other bills at www.nebraska.gov.