Legislative Round-Up: Week of Jan. 12

LINCOLN – In its second week of the 2025 session, the 109th Nebraska Legislature hosted Gov. Jim Pillen for the State of the State address where he outlined his priorities for the upcoming 90 days, alongside a week’s worth of bill introductions.

Pillen addressed the Legislature Jan. 15, outlining his main priorities for the upcoming session, adopting a winner-take-all system for the Nebraska Electoral College, minimizing government expenditures and reevaluating public school funding.

In his speech, Pillen announced his priority to back LB3, which proposes changing Nebraska from a split-vote system to one where all five electoral votes go to the state's winner. Since 1991, Nebraska has been one of two states to split their votes for the electoral college, where each congressional district casts one vote for their winner, with two votes going to the overall winner of the state. 

“With no presidential election right around the corner, there is no better time to dispassionately deliver on the will of a majority of the people of this state, honor our constitutional founding and unify our voice in our most important exercise of national democracy,” Pillen said. 

Pillen previously attempted to pass the measure in September, prior to the 2024 presidential election, but could not get support from the required 33 state senators necessary for the legislation, opting not to call a special session.

He additionally backed proposals intended to lower government spending, including one to combine Nebraska’s Department of Environment and Energy and Department of Natural Resources into a new organization called the Department of Water, Energy and Environment. Pillen said this move would save costs, eliminate duplicative overhead and streamline the protection of natural resources. 

“We needlessly divide our focus on water quality and quantity,” Pillen said of the DEE and DNR. “Given the interrelatedness of these two things, this makes no sense.”

In the first hearing of the legislative session, the Rules Committee heard testimony Jan. 16 pertaining to 22 proposed rules changes.

Sen. Kathleen Kauth of Omaha proposed a change that would change the requirements necessary for the Senate to invoke closure or end debate on a measure. Currently, a closure motion needs 33 votes, or a two-thirds majority of the Legislature, to pass. Kauth’s recommendation would shift the two-thirds requirements to apply only to the number of senators who were present and voted.

Sen. Loren Lippincott of Central City proposed changing the process of electing chairpersons for the legislative committees from a secret ballot to a public roll-call vote.

Senators proposed other rule changes, including ones that would remove party affiliation stipulations to join the legislative redistricting committee, remove the current 20 bill maximum for individual bill introduction each session and eliminate the ability to reconsider a failed motion if at least 40 senators voted against the motion.

The committee took no action on any proposed rule changes, and debate on these changes are expected to begin on the floor Jan. 22, according to the Unicameral Update. Read the full list of the 22 proposed rule changes here.

From Jan. 13 to 18, state senators introduced 383 new measures. The last of the 10 days for senators to introduce bills for the session will be Jan. 22, and public hearings for bills will begin on the same day.

LB383, introduced by Sen. Tanya Storer of Whitman at the request of Pillen, would adopt the Parental Rights in Social Media Act, which would require social media platforms to only allow Nebraskans to create accounts if they can confirm they are over the age of 18. Those under 18 would need parental approval, which would require parents to input their legal identification, along with a signed consent form, which the bill states must be able to be retracted at any time. 

LB156, introduced by Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln, would allow families to sue public schools for some cases of sexual assault. The legislation would hold schools liable if an assault occurred on school grounds, in a school vehicle, in a vehicle driven for a school event by an employee, or at a school-sponsored activity or athletic event.

Conrad proposed this legislation in the 2024 session and successfully gained enough votes for it to pass, but Pillen vetoed it, stating the bill would erode sovereign immunity and was overly broad. By specifying school locations as the only place of assault, Conrad narrowed the current bill.

LB285, introduced by Sen. Dan Lonowski of Hastings, would prohibit the sale of flavored vape devices in Nebraska. Additionally, LB431, introduced by Lippincott, would reclassify kratom as a controlled substance, therefore prohibiting its sale in Nebraska.

LB151, introduced by Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha, would adopt the First-Time Homebuyers Savings Account Act, which would offer tax incentives to Nebraskans buying a home for the first time.

The bill would allow individuals to offset $4,000 for married taxpayers in a joint tax return and $2,000 for others of gross income into a savings account. Account holders could make tax-deductible contributions for up to 10 years.

LB258, introduced by Sen. Jane Raybould of Lincoln, would establish a new youth minimum wage, which would be below the current minimum wage.

Currently, employers must pay employees who are minors the same minimum wage, which currently sits at $13.50 per hour, but will rise to $15 on Jan. 1, 2026. Under Raybould’s proposal, employers would be able to indefinitely pay employees between ages 14 and 16 $13.50. Additionally, employers could pay employees between ages 16 and 18 a training wage for up to 180 days, which would be $13.50 until 2027, where it will change to a rate of 75% of the minimum wage of the time.

LB367, introduced by Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha, would prohibit medical providers from providing conversion therapy to minors. It would also require that no state funds be expended for such type of treatment. 

LB222, introduced by Sen. Terrell McKinney of Omaha, would narrow reasons law enforcement could pull over a vehicle and require written consent for an officer to conduct a search.

The proposal would prevent officers from stopping vehicles due to non-moving traffic violations or because of equipment failures that are not immediate threats to those in and around the vehicle. It would require officers to digitally log a reason for a stop, immediately inform the driver of the reason for the stop, and prevent the officer from questioning anything other than the specific reason for the stop, unless observing evidence that establishes reasonable suspicion of criminal behavior.

Additionally, it would require a member of law enforcement to obtain written consent from a person before searching their vehicle.