Today in the Legislature

Today was a shortened day in the Legislature to allow for members to get any bills they may still be working on ready for introduction. A member of the Legislature can introduce any number of bills during the first 10 working days of the Legislative Session. That day is January 23 or Wednesday for this session.

This morning we debated LR 5 CA, LB 690, LB 92 and LB 467. All were advanced to Select File.

LR 5CA (which stands for Legislative Resolution 5, Constitutional Amendment) would authorize any county, city, or village to acquire, own, develop and lease real and personal property for use by charitable non-profit enterprises and to issue revenue bonds for the purpose of defraying the cost of acquiring and developing or financing such property by construction, purchase or otherwise.

The revenue bonds authorized under this measure would not be obligations of the issuing city or county. The bonds could not be repaid from any property of the city or county. Financial obligations arising from the bonds could only be satisfied from the project itself and the revenues received under the loan agreement or lease. No taxes may be levied to pay for the bonds by the express terms of the constitutional language.

After LR 5 CA was advanced we discussed LB 690.

LB 690 would create an apprentice hunter education exemption certificate program.

People between the age twelve to twenty-nine would be eligible to purchase this certificate and, with an appropriate hunting permit, accompany an experienced hunter to gauge their interest in pursuing complete hunter education certification. This new program is proposed to encourage more persons to try hunting.

LB 690 would also remove wild turkey from the big game list and would permit persons aged ten and eleven to hunt certain big game species under adult supervision.

We then discussed LB 92 which is a technical amendment to correct an issue of dual citizenship that need clarification. LB 92 would change the statutes relating to foreign national minors placed into protective custody with the Department of Health and Human Services. Currently, the statute applies to minors with dual citizenship. LB 92 would change this to apply to minors having multiple nationalities. There are situations where the parents are from different countries with the minor being born in a third. LB 92 would then apply to all cases of foreign national minors placed into protective custody.

LB 467 would extend the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman’s Office to address complaints of inmates in county correctional and jail facilities. Although there are periodic inspections of county jails to monitor compliance with physical and operational standards, it is not responsible to handle inmates’ complaints.

This bill was advanced to Select File with some amendments to further extend the office's jurisdiction. The fiscal note - what it will cost the state - will become more clear on Select File.

After lunch we debated LB 575. This bill would exempt non-profit licensed assisted living facilities from paying sales tax on their purchases. Of the 258 licensed assisted living facilities in Nebraska, some 55 are owned by private not-for-profit corporations - most of them church based. The 34 licensed facilities which are publicly owned are already exempt from paying sales tax by virtue of the exemption granted governmental sub-divisions. Under the present statute, nursing homes and "intermediate care facilities” are among those entities exempted from paying sales tax. Except for ICF-MR facilities, which are already exempt, there has not been a licensed intermediate care facility in Nebraska since the early nineties, when the various levels of nursing home care were for Medicaid and licensure purposes, collapsed into "nursing facilities.”

One amendment was adopted that clarified the entities who would be eligible for the tax exemption must be nonprofit. The statute was somewhat vague and so the amendment clarified the law. This bill was an amendment to the tax relief package from last year that did not make it through. The cost of this exemption to the state's tax receipts will be refigured now that the language has been clarified, but is estimated to be nearly $500,000 per year. This bill will likely have to wait on Select File until later in the session when the budget picture is clearer and the priorities of the Legislature and the Governor are determined for spending as well as tax relief.

View the Legislature Live

When the Legislature is in session, you can watch it online at: http://www.netnebraska.org/television/stream/legislature.html or on your local cable network on NET2..

One Line Descriptions of Bills

To search the list of bills introduced for any day this session, you can visit the Nebraska Legislature's website by clicking here.

You will have to scroll down to 2008 to see the one line description of bills introduced this session.

Hearing Schedule for Legislative Committees

To view the Hearing Schedules for the Committees of the Legislature, please click here.

Committee Hearings will begin for all Committees on Tuesday, January 22.