Legislative Update

At the Capitol: It’s the Final Week of Session!

Yesterday, Speaker John Arch announced that the final day of session will be tomorrow, Thursday, June 1, which will conclude the 2023 session a few days ahead of schedule!

Last week, Governor Pillen vetoed several portions of the state budget, including urgently-needed funds for affordable housing and Medicaid and child welfare provider reimbursement rates. There will be a number of override motions that the Legislature will consider today to reinstate various spending items the Governor line-item vetoed.

LB514: Voter ID Legislation on Final Reading

Our democracy is strongest when all eligible voters have access to the ballot and their voices are heard on election day. Adding additional voter identification requirements unnecessarily restricts every eligible voter’s constitutional right to freely and fairly cast their ballot and are particularly harmful to rural voters, BIPOC communities, students, and voters who are low-income or living with disabilities

When a voter ID ballot initiative was passed last November, it was left up to the Legislature to determine how exactly that requirement should work. 

Yesterday, on a 42-3-4 vote, senators advanced LB514 (Senator Tom Brewer) on to final reading. We were glad to see senators pass a version of this bill that would allow voters to use a variety of student, government, or tribal identification documents – including expired IDs – as long as the documents show the person’s name and a photo.

LB50: Criminal Justice Reform Package on Final Reading

LB50 (Senator Justin Wayne), a criminal justice reform package, advanced to final reading last week after being amended to include LB14 (Senator George Dungan), which ensures that youth with juvenile probation experience have access to Nebraska’s Bridge to Independence (B2I) program to support their transition into adulthood.

Take Action: Contact your senator and tell them to SUPPORT LB50. We expect this bill to be up for its final vote tomorrow, Thursday, June 1.

LB227: Health and Human Services Package Returned to Final Reading

Last week, LB227 (Senator Ben Hansen), a package of health and human service-related needs, was amended to include protections for maternal and child health and now awaits its final vote. 

LB227 now includes several provisions that we support, including:

  • LB35 (Senator Wendy DeBoer), which helps parents afford the child care they need by extending the sunset date on Nebraska’s current child care subsidy eligibility increase.
  • LB84 (Senator Jen Day), which ensures families have access to food by extending the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)’s upcoming eligibility provision sunset out to 2025.
  • LB419 (Senator Anna Wishart), which ensures that maternal health is more properly covered in Nebraska by extending Medicaid postpartum coverage from 60 days to at least 6 months.

Take Action: Contact your senator and tell them to SUPPORT LB227. We expect this bill to be up for its final vote tomorrow as well.

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