Wednesday saved for vetoes

Last week was the beginning of the end of the 104th session of the Nebraska Legislature. Tuesday and Wednesday were the 58th and 59th days of this 60 day session, and Wednesday the 20th is the 60th day -- reserved for voting on veto overrides after the office of the governor is given the required 5 days, excluding Sundays. Several bills had a lot of attention on them in that short week.

LB 10 would have changed the allocation of Nebraska's electoral votes in presidential elections from proportional to "winner-take-all," as 48 other states do. While this bill made it through two previous rounds of lengthy debate, it was defeated on Tuesday, one vote short of the 33 needed to end debate and allow the legislature to vote on its passage.

Another bill, LB 824, took an interesting route to passage. LB 824 would make it easier for wind energy to come into Nebraska, although without the voices of all property owners to be heard. The bill didn't have the support to be voted out of committee as introduced, so an amendment "gutted" the bill, and replaced it with entirely different language. Once the bill was on the floor and advanced, an amendment was introduced and adopted which returned the bill to how it looked when it was unable to leave committee. The bill was then passed out of the legislature and sent to the governor's desk.

As you read in my column last week, LB 947 would make eligible for professional licenses those who would otherwise have their ability to do so limited because they are in this country illegally. The bill, however, would not be limited to those brought here as children, but would apply to many more, including their parents, those with pending asylum applications, those with a pending or approved temporary protected status, and those with an approved deferred action status. LB 947 was passed by the legislature and also sent to the governor last week.

As of the deadline for this column, the governor has vetoed LB 947 and LB 935. I am sure a veto override attempt will be made on LB 947.

All three bills dealing with property taxes passed this week. A few weeks ago, I wrote about LB 958, which would raise the rate at which property tax credits are calculated; about LB 959, which removes a penalty for school districts who keep their levies low; and about LB 1067, which would replace the common levy of the Omaha area learning community with more equitable state aid which will help impoverished Nebraskans across the state.

I always enjoy hearing from the Nebraskans I represent. 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 bills and other work of the Legislature at www.nebraskalegislature.gov, and you can click on the Live Video Streaming NET logo to watch sessions, hearings, and other Capitol events.