Senator Albrecht Provides Next Steps After Bills Were Introduced During Legislative Session

WAYNE – Just the opening three days of the 2020 legislative session saw 215 bills brought forward as bills can be introduced for the first 10 days of session which would be January 23.

According to the office of State Senator Joni Albrecht, the District 17 Senator stated after bills are introduced they are then assigned to committees for a hearing. Aside from some technical bills, every bill must receive a public hearing.

Hearings on bills for the 2020 Session will begin on Tuesday, January 21 and generally begin around 1:30 p.m.  For those who have an interest in the hearing on a particular bill, or want to follow the schedule of bill hearings, you can access the Legislature’s schedule of Committee hearings at https://nebraskalegislature.gov/calendar/hearings_range.php.

Debate began earlier this week on Monday for a pair of carryover bills from 2019. Those were LB 147 (introduced by Senator Groene) which allows teachers and school administrators to physically intervene in a reasonable manner in order to maintain order in the classroom should a student become violent and present a threat of harm to himself, herself, or others while debate on LB 153 (introduced by Senator Brewer and named by Senator Lowe as a priority bill) is to exempt 50% of military retirement benefits from individual Nebraska income tax.

Senator Albrecht introduced a bill on behalf of the Nebraska State Patrol to harmonize Nebraska Statute with federal regulations to avoid incompatibility. The bill adopts the Federal Motor Carrier Safety and Hazardous Material Regulations current as of January 1, 2019. The adoption of these regulations is required on an annual basis to incorporate new or revised federal regulations into State Statute. The State Statutes must remain current with the federal regulations to avoid jeopardizing Nebraska’s Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP), which is funded by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Senator Albrecht also signed on as a co-sponsor to LB 814 introduced by Senator Suzanne Geist, and LR288. LB841, introduced by Senator Geist, makes it unlawful for anyone “to purposely perform or attempt to perform a dismemberment abortion and thereby kill an unborn child” absent an emergency.

Senator Slama introduced Legislative Resolution 288 (LR288) in large part because of damages caused by this past year’s flooding in Nebraska. LR288 urges Congress and the United States Corps of Engineers to re-prioritize flood control and repair as a top priority for the management of water systems under their authority in the Missouri River Mainstream Reservoir System Water Control Manual. With reports of likely flooding again this spring, it is felt that moving flood control to the top of the priority list and updating 20 to 40 year old levy standards will enable the Corps to make needed levy and other repairs along the river that it feels are precluded by current priority designations.

There will be many other Legislative Bills (LB) and Legislative Resolutions (LR) that State Senators will be looking over in the days and months ahead.

For constituents of District 17 wanting to contact Joni Albrecht, may call 402-471-2716 or email at jalbrecht@leg.ne.gov.

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