Priority bill passed into law

On April 11th my priority bill, LB 1009, was passed by the Legislature. This bill authorizes the Nebraska Department of Transportation to increase highway speed limits.

The speed limit can be increased by a maximum of 5 mph on two-lane highways, four-lane divided highways that are not part of the state highway system, expressways and freeways that are a part of the state highway system, and on portions of highways in Douglas, Lancaster and Dakota counties.

Originally the bill would have allowed for certain stretches of I-80 to be raised to 80 mph. This was taken out of the bill during debate on the floor of the Legislature. There was some pushback from the truckers association during committee hearings on the bill which resulted in this being eliminated.

There were some safety concerns about onramp lengths and being able to reach the appropriate speed before merging in with traffic. After July 19, you will see some of the speed limits across the state change. This will not all happen at once, the speed limit posted will remain the legal limit until the signs are changed.

LB 449 was vetoed by the governor on April 23rd. This bill would have repealed the Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Management Act. I along with other senators fought this bill throughout the process.

I am glad the governor vetoed the bill. Prairie dogs are pests to farmers and ranchers and can cause extensive damage to crops and rangeland. Currently, only one county has adopted this act, but it is important to keep this law in place in case more landowners in other counties need help with controlling these rodents.

Allowing the counties to use the law as leverage, if needed, can help solve problems in the future on this issue. Over the interim months, I will be looking at ways to help make this law better. I would like to keep the act on the books, but there need to be a few things defined more clearly in statute.

The petition drive for 50/50 property tax relief was suddenly abandoned a few weeks ago. We must find some form of property tax relief for our state. With this option being abandoned the issue will most likely not be addressed until session next year. The call for a special session to address property tax relief was also unsuccessful. We needed an additional 20 senators to sign on and that didn’t happen. I am still looking for a path forward for property tax relief and will be asking many of you this summer and fall for your input.

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.