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Dist. 40 Report
Dist. 40 Report
Last week marked the final full week of the 109th Legislature’s first session.
Since the beginning of April, senators have been spending four days a week in session and also having debate go into the evening three days a week. Late night debate can take its toll on senators who spend many hours trying to pass legislation or stop bills from reaching the Governor’s desk.
One example occurred in Select File debate of LB306, a bill which would create the School Financing Review Commission tasked with providing the Legislature with annual recommendations to adjust school funding to ensure stable state aid to schools while also reducing property taxes.
During debate, Sen. Lippincott made two attempts to attach his bill LB550 to LB306. LB550 would have clarified existing law that school districts may adopt a policy that excuses students so they may attend a course for religious instruction. However, a threat by several Democrats to filibuster LB306 led Sen. Lippincott to give up his attempt.
The Legislature also sent over 30 bills to the Governor’s desk.
Bills I voted for on Final Reading include: LB77 which improves transparency and accountability in health-plan prior authorizations. LB77 places more restrictions on insurance companies requiring prior authorizations for emergency medical care and prohibits denials made solely by artificial intelligence; LB89 — the Stand with Women Act— defines the terms “male” and “female” and requires school sports to be restricted based on a student’s sex assigned at birth. There is an exception if the sport is (1) coed or mixed or (2) there is no female equivalent team. The intent is to preserve fairness, opportunities, and safety for women and girls by ensuring biological males cannot compete in female-designated sports; LB192 eliminates the Oct. 1, 2025 sunset on Nebraska’s current eligibility level for SNAP food assistance, which is currently set at 165% of the Federal Poverty Level. If no legislation had passed, Nebraska’s SNAP eligibility was set to go down to 130% of the Federal Poverty Level. I was willing to support LB192 after Sen. Andersen’s bill LB656 was included into this measure.
As amended, LB192 includes language that gives the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services the authority to impose work requirements, thereby better aligning state law with ongoing efforts in Congress to ensure beneficiaries of government assistance are contributing to the workforce; LB346 which combines or outright repeals over 35 boards and commissions. Over the years, the Legislature has created more than 240 legislatively created entities. This bill eliminates duplicative entities and eliminates approximately 370 positions; LB380 which would better ensure that state-hired insurance companies reimburse Medicaid mental health providers at the rates posted by Nebraska’s Department of Health and Human Services. This bill is intended to stop aggressive audits that are inconsistent with state and federal laws or best industry practices and has resulted in mental health providers being asked to repay tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars or leave Nebraska; LB382 which appropriates $4 million to help sustain senior center and home delivered meal programs, such as Meals-On-Wheels, that are provided for and overseen by the state’s area agencies on aging; LB504, otherwise known as the Age-Appropriate Online Design Code Act, which requires online technology companies, including social media companies, to better protect the data and personal information of minor users.
Additionally, the bill would require online technology companies to provide parents with more tools to help protect and support minors using websites or apps; and LB521 which makes a number of changes to election procedures, including (1) requiring that a voter be notified if their voter registration is canceled and (2) allowing political parties to appoint watchers to monitor county election officials’ already mandatory three independent tests of vote-counting devices, the results of which would be published online.
The Legislature is scheduled to adjourn sine die on Monday, June 2, You can reach my office at (402) 471-2801 or send email directly to me at [email protected]. My address is: Sen. Barry DeKay, Dist. 40, P.O. Box 94604, State Capitol, Lincoln, NE 68509. mailto:[email protected]
