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Opinion
Studying bills in preparation for floor debate
Thursday, March 21, 2019
Two of my bills, LB302 and LB127, passed on final reading on Friday the fifteenth. All Transportation and Telecommunications and Natural Resources committee hearings are finished. I will be using my afternoons for the next two weeks to study the bills coming up on the floor, and looking at all of the priority bills.
Other committees are still holding hearings on their remaining bills. Those committees have until March 28 to complete hearings. In total, more than 700 bills were introduced this year and all of them have had or will have a public hearing where anyone can come and testify. After March 28, we will start full day debates. Those nights can get long, but I am looking forward to them because we will see many bills start moving.
Our Senator priority bills were named this week as well as the Committee priority bills. Giving a bill a priority designation means that bill gets to jump to the head of the line for full floor debate. Giving a bill a priority designation does not help a bill get out of committee, it just guarantees that the bill will be heard by the full body during General File debate. As I am writing this article I have not chosen my personal priority yet
Also, please share the following opportunity with any high school students you know. The time has come to apply for Unicameral Youth Legislature, which is a four day long simulation of the legislative process. High school students are invited to come experience the process of creating rules and bills at the Unicameral with Senators and staff June 9-12, 2019. To learn more about the program, visit www.NebraskaLegislature.gov/uyl and for a complete list of Nebraska’s free civic resources for Nebraskans of all ages, visit nebraskalegislature.gov/students.
If you would like to speak directly to me about legislative issues, join the Great Plains conference call Tuesday at 8 AM CST and McCook Chamber Conference call Thursday at 8 AM CST.
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.