Today in the Legislature

This morning we began with the motion to withdraw two bills including one that was introduced by Sen. Schimek to ban certain pens used in the production of hogs in the state of Nebraska. To my knowledge this is the first outright attempt limit or prohibit the production of livestock in the state directly by the state Legislature. When folks from New York City want to tell farmers how to raise livestock in Nebraska, I tend to get a little perturbed.

The rest of the morning we debated LB 474 which would make disciplinary actions of teachers, law enforcement and other similar position, public record. The debate was interesting on two fronts. First, the fact that the committee amendments were being discarded for a floor amendment created some interesting discussion. The second part was the discussion over whether we should even pass the bill or why we should pass the bill.

There is a lot of confusion on what the bill will do as there are amendments being discussed but not offered and no one knows for sure what the proposed amendments will look like. No action was taken on the bill.

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One Line Descriptions of Bills

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

Today in the General Affairs Committee

Appointment - John F. Hiller - State Electrical Board
LB723 (Engel) Change the State Electrical Act
LB760 (Gay) Create the Nebraska State Library Task Force
LB995 (General Affairs) Change provisions relating to cemeteries

Today was the first hearing in the General Affairs Committee for the session.

John Hiller was before the committee as a new appointment to the State Electrical Board. He appointed was recommended for approval by the committee to the full legislature.

LB 723 was introduced to update the state's electrical act to comply with the 2008 code instead of the 2005 code. There was some discussion of some of the items that are in the 2008 code that cause some concern with the new law should it pass. It is my understanding that either we adopt the new code or we leave the current code in place. No action was taken on LB 723.

LB 760 would create another commission to do what should be done by the people named in the commission. It is a thoughtful proposal to get the attention of the Legislature and the public on the need for repairs at the State Library on the 3rd Floor of the State Capitol. The Supreme Court has the responsibility for it, but the money is not being requested to make the needed improvements due to the exterior work that needs to be done on the capitol. It seems that if the people who are named in the bill to be on this task force would do this as I think they should we wouldn't need the bill. Regardless the bill was advanced to the full Legislature. I did vote for it as there is no harm in its passage, but I cannot believe it takes a commission to care for the maintenance of state facilities that collective parties are aware need improved.

LB 995 would make numerous changes to the cemetery laws in the state and would provide for additional responsibilities for counties who have abandoned pioneer and other cemeteries. There was a great deal of discussion about the history of the law and the work that has been done by the committee to get to this point. However, there is going to continue to be additional discussions on the contents of the bill and no action was taken.

General Affairs Committee Website:
http://www.nebraskalegislature.gov/web/public/genaffairs

Members of the General Affairs Committee:
Vickie McDonald, Chair, St. Paul - vmcdonald@leg.ne.gov
Russ Karpisek, Vice Chair, Wilbur - rkarpisek@leg.ne.gov
Annette Dubas, Fullerton - adubas@leg.ne.gov
Cap Dierks, Ewing - mdierks@leg.ne.gov
Philip Erdman, Bayard - perdman@leg.ne.gov
Mike Friend, Omaha - mfriend@leg.ne.gov
Ray Janssen, Nickerson - rjanssen@leg.ne.gov
Don Preister, Omaha - dpreister@leg.ne.gov

Hearing Schedule for Legislative Committees

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