Nebraska lawmakers reach final 10-day stretch of 2025 session
Speaker John Arch of La Vista marks an end to the Legislature's 2024 legislative session. April 18, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
LINCOLN — The final 10-day countdown has begun for the Nebraska Legislature's 2025 session, with little time or funding to enact a slew of designated priorities.
Every year, all 49 state senators get to designate one bill as a 'priority' for the year. Committee chairs get an additional two priority bills, and the speaker of the Legislature gets 25 extra priorities, usually reserved for non-controversial measures.
This year, there are 106 priority bills or constitutional amendments. All but 10 priority proposals have been reported out of various legislative committees or are in a separate package.
The system is meant to help streamline the limited time in 90-day sessions in odd years and 60-day sessions in even years. Of lawmaker priorities, 39 have passed and 21 are one round of voting away from passage — including a bill related to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits that will have a veto override vote Monday afternoon.
Still in committee: 11 proposals (one identical to a measure on the final stage of debate).
First stage of debate: 19 proposals (of those, one failed, one is in a package).
Second stage of debate: 17 proposals (of those, two failed, one is in a package).
Final stage of debate: 20 proposals (of those, one failed).
Awaiting the governor's signature: 21 proposals.
Vetoed: 1 proposal (veto override motion filed).
Signed into law: 17 proposals.
In Nebraska, with just one legislative chamber, bills move through three rounds of debate. Lumping together priority bills and all other measures passed this year, a total of 136 bills had passed the Legislature and another 34 more were one step away from passage heading into the final 10 days. These totals would be higher if they separated out the number of bills that have been packaged together.
Speaker John Arch of La Vista, who sets the daily agenda, said it was 'very unusual' for at least half of priority bills to be stuck in committee when lawmakers moved March 31 to all-day debate.
However, he said, lawmakers had an opportunity to work through many 'good government' bills as they advanced from committee, which he said helped a large freshman class learn the ropes.
'It isn't just me sitting in my office deciding what's going to be scheduled, what isn't going to be scheduled,' Arch said. 'The input that I seek from the sponsor and those in opposition kind of tells me, especially the sponsor, whether or not they feel that bill is ready to move.'
Arch said relationship building among lawmakers has been crucial as senators continue making progress in what he says is 'learning how to debate difficult subjects' since he took the reins in the 2023 session — an 88-day session marked by rampant filibusters and partisan rancor.
That progress is important, he said, because debate shapes final policy decisions.
'We still have strong passion. We still have hurt feelings. We still have strong opinions on what is the right policy,' Arch said. 'But how we have handled ourselves, and how we have improved in that area, I think, has been encouraging to me, and I think encouraging to the body.'
State Sen. Carolyn Bosn of Lincoln, chair of the Legislature's Judiciary Committee, joined on day 59 of the 2023 session, calling it a 'low bar.' Compared to then, she said, 2025 has been 'OK.'
Bosn said all senators 'wholeheartedly' want what they think is best for Nebraska, and while there are disagreements, 2025 has featured respect, decorum and compromises.
'I think we've had hiccups and then we have moments where we come together and work towards what we can all say is a common good on a lot of things,' Bosn said.
However, some progressive colleagues to Bosn and Arch disagreed that 2025 has improved from 2023, such as State Sen. Terrell McKinney of Omaha, who defined the 2025 session as working against Nebraskans and 'stripping away' recent investments or deals.
'In a lot of ways, I think it's going to cause a lot of harm, especially when you look at us becoming a 'felony factory,'' McKinney said, quoting a phrase from State Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Omaha as the Legislature creates or expands some felony crimes.
State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha, who led the 2023 logjam, has again pledged to weaponize the limited time on those she says have brushed off Nebraskans, such as watering down voter-approved paid sick leave and minimum wage laws. In 2023, she slowed the process to a crawl by talking for days on end, including on noncontroversial bills.
'You have the votes, but I have the clock,' Cavanaugh said last week, aimed at Republicans.
Part of the balancing act in the final 10 days of 2025 involves the state budget for the next two years. With the expected passage of Legislative Bill 513, to give all judges 1.5% raises each of the next two years, lawmakers have $1.1 million to possibly spend on other priorities.
The governor has until midnight on Wednesday to offer any line-item vetoes to the state budget, which could increase the amount of funds lawmakers have access to.
As the session draws to a close by June 9, the window for some measures to move forward is tight and will largely depend on how Arch designs the remaining schedule. Typically, the final day is reserved for possible veto overrides, or lawmakers can adjourn early if none are needed. Bills would need to pass by June 2, the 89th day, to leave time for a veto override if needed.
Some lawmakers' priority bills will also be filibustered, taking up hours that could jam up the remaining days and place some bills out of reach.
All bills not killed or passed this year can continue in 2026, alongside a new slate of legislation.
Arch said he hasn't yet decided what could happen with 2025 priority bills that don't reach a conclusion this year, as he waits to see how many, if any, are left behind and could find a way back into focus next year.
Among notable priority proposals that are left in committee, at least for now, include:
LB 156, to allow lawsuits against schools in cases of sexual assaults of children, a narrowed version of a bill vetoed in 2024, from State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln.
LB 298, to address and button-up the Legislature's oversight of child welfare and corrections, from Arch.
LB 538, to require K-12 schools and colleges to adopt a policy and provide training to crack down on antisemitism, from State Sen. Brian Hardin of Gering.
LB 634, to periodically review legislatively created boards, commissions, spending and more to see what can be repealed every 5 years, from Hansen.
Legislative Resolution 12CA, a constitutional amendment to limit annual property tax growth, from State Sens. Kathleen Kauth of Omaha and Bob Andersen of Sarpy County.
Proposals expected to be filibustered, based on filed motions or lawmaker threats, include:
Restricting lawsuits and capping damages for certain civil cases, including when a commercial vehicle injures or kills a Nebraskan (LB 79, a Judiciary Committee package led by State Sen. Bob Hallstrom of Syracuse).
Increasing property tax relief by raising revenue through sales taxes and taxes on cigarettes and vapes (LB 170, from State Sen. Tom Brandt of Plymouth).
Endorsing religious 'release time' in schools and increasing a payroll tax on teachers to cover long-term substitutes and teacher retention or recruitment (LB 306, an Education Committee package led by State Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil, the committee chair).
Banning most tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) products (LB 316, from State Sen. Kathleen Kauth of Omaha and prioritized by State Sen. Jared Storm of David City).
Concealing certain workplace injury reports and modifying the current standard of paying judgments or settlements in certain workers' compensation cases (LB 455, from Hallstrom).
Lowering the minimum age for which juveniles could be detained from 13 to 11 and increasing speeding fines as part of a broad 'public safety' package (LB 530, a Judiciary Committee package led by Kauth and prioritized by Bosn).
Mandating E-Verify for certain workers and requiring recipients of unemployment benefits to respond to job offers and show up to job interviews (LB 532, a Business and Labor Committee package led by Kauth, the committee chair).
Requiring the burial or cremation of aborted fetal remains (LB 632, from State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair and prioritized by Dan Lonowski of Hastings).
Passing a medical cannabis regulatory system (LB 677, from Hansen and prioritized by State Sen. Rick Holdcroft of Bellevue as chair of the General Affairs Committee).
Lawmakers are also weighing what to do with a priority bill from State Sen. Jane Raybould of Lincoln, LB 258, to slow down annual voter-approved increases to the state minimum wage. The measure failed last week when one supporter missed the final vote to pass the bill. One possible path forward that some senators have discussed could be attaching it to LB 415, to weaken a minimum paid sick leave system for all state employees beginning Oct. 1.
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