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Dist. 40 Report
With the holidays now fast approaching, final preparations are being made ahead of next year’s regular legislative session. Pursuant to the Nebraska Constitution, the Legislature will convene its shortened 60-day legislative session at 10:00 A.M. on Wednesday, January 7.
In the latest memo provided by Speaker of the Legislature John Arch to senators and staff, public hearings on bills and resolutions will begin on Tuesday, January 20 and continue through the month of February. Full day floor debate will begin on Tuesday, March 3. The Legislature is tentatively scheduled to adjourn for the year on Friday, April 17.
Additionally, the Speaker announced that he will not recognize the priority designations for any bills and resolutions that were carried over from the 2025 session. What this means is that any bill or resolution that was prioritized in 2025 will likely not be scheduled for debate again unless a senator or committee chooses to reprioritize the bill in 2026. Furthermore, any carryover bills and resolutions from the 2025 session that are currently pending on Select File or Final Reading will also not be scheduled for debate again unless there is a new priority designation conferred by a senator or committee next session.
Heading into the session, the state has a projected deficit of $471.5 million below the minimum reserve for the current biennial budget (FY202526 and FY2026-27).
Addressing this deficit will likely be the dominant issue facing the Legislature next year.
Given the size of this projected shortfall, I anticipate the Legislature will be devoting a significant amount of time to making adjustments to the state budget to reestablish a 3% General Fund minimum reserve that is required by statute.
In addition to the budget bills, this will likely mean any bills dealing with raising revenue, such as increases to taxes or fees, or cutting expenses to the state will likely take precedence over all other bills and resolutions when it comes to scheduling by the Speaker.
A number of other issues may also be on the horizon.
Landowners will be looking for additional relief on property taxes.
Several proposals that are on the table in the Legislature for possible consideration include LR12CA which limits taxable valuations. The Governor and a number of senators are also considering their own separate proposals for next year.
Additionally, there is considerable pressure to extend state child care subsidies. A concern among groups like the Chamber of Commerce is that an end of the subsidy will result in more people leaving the workforce to become stay-at-home parents. However, a pending bill to extend the subsidies, LB304, would cost the state between $10 million to $14 million each year.
It is also expected that a bill will be introduced to require public schools and state agencies to designate bathroom and locker room spaces as “male” or “female” only.
I also anticipate that legislation will be brought to try to close or modify the McCook Work Ethic Camp, which currently operates as a state-owned federal immigration detention facility.
Legislation relating to the policy changes made by the passage of H.R.1 by Congress, ballot measures, education funding, and judicial matters like tort reform are likely upcoming as well.
I invite you to let me know your thoughts or concerns. My Capitol office telephone number is (402) 471-2801 while my email is [email protected]. My mailing address is: Senator Barry DeKay, District #40, P.O. Box 94604, State Capitol, Lincoln, NE
