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Dist. 40 report
Last week, the Legislature continued to hold public hearings on bills.
Three bills by Senator Kauth relating to social issues garnered significant interest from across the state. LB730 would require schools and state agencies to designate restrooms and locker rooms based on sex. LB731 would adopt the Gender Transition Malpractice Accountability Act and allow for civil actions relating to gender-altering procedures. LB732 would prohibit health care practitioners from providing cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers to minors.
All three bills were the subject of hundreds of written comments submitted online and lines of people waiting to testify at the public hearings. Senator Kauth has designated LB730 as her personal priority bill for the year, meaning this bill has a greater chance of reaching the floor and being debated this year.
Additionally, three of my bills received a public hearing. LB869 would modernize the newspaper publication requirement that the Unclaimed Property Division of the State Treasurer’s Office must follow when publishing the annual notice of property presumed abandoned.
The bill is the result of negotiations that occurred between the State Treasurer’s Office and the Nebraska Press Association and makes changes to the law aimed at ensuring that more individual owners of unclaimed property across the state are able to be notified about how to reclaim their unclaimed property.
LB827 would clarify that Natural Resource Districts have the authority to establish or participate in programs to educate agricultural producers and the public about, and research practices to improve, water quality, water quantity management, and soil health practices.
LB828 would eliminate a long-standing prohibition in Nebraska which makes it illegal for non-profit organizations to conduct a sweepstake. It was noted at the hearing that Nebraska is only one of two states where it is illegal for a non-profit organization to conduct a sweepstake.
Additionally, the Legislature continued to make progress on moving bills that carried over from the 2025 legislative session and advancing the first set of new bills introduced during this current 2026 session. Bills that advanced to Select File this past week include: LB203 which would require elected officials to approve community-wide directed health measures before such measures can be imposed by county or regional health departments; LB437 is my 2025 personal priority bill, which was amended to extend the time a new or modified certificate of need is valid from one year to three years.
A certificate of need is required for certain healthcare facilities, such as hospitals and nursing homes, to obtain licensed beds.
This bill would extend the time for small communities to find the financial capital necessary to obtain the licensed beds required under Nebraska’s certificate of need law and go through the other hurdles necessary to try to keep a nursing home or assisted living facility open in their community; and LB794, one of my bills, which would repeal the statutes relating to the Healthy Soils Task Force.
This organization was terminated by law in 2021 and superseded by LB925 (2022).
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 68509.
