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Only six days remain in session
(Nebraska Chamber of Commerce Legislative Report) — The 2008 legislative
session is winding down as several important issues await final action. With the
Legislature’s last day scheduled for April 17, only six working days remain for
senators to push through their priority legislation. Time is even shorter for
legislation not yet on Final Reading, since the Legislature’s rules require that
a bill must sit on Final Reading for at least one day before it receives a third
and final vote. More than 75 bills are on, or in the process of being sent to,
Final Reading. Last week, the Legislature sent three dozen bills to Final
Reading through use of the consent calendar – a portion of the agenda in which
relatively non-controversial bills are quickly advanced to the next legislative
stage.
For a complete list of bills that NHA is following, check the bill summary on our
Web site.
Bills of interest to NHA members advance
The following "bills of interest" to NHA members
advanced March 31- April 3. Behind each bill number and description are the NHA's position and
the bill's current status.
LB 245 — Change provisions relating to fluoridation of drinking water
NHA position: Monitor Status: Select File
LB 765 — Change provisions relating to certificates of need
NHA position: Monitor Status: Final Reading
LB 889 — Provide construction alternatives for political subdivisions
NHA position: Support Status: Final Reading
LB 916 — Change sales tax provisions
NHA position: Monitor Status: Final Reading
LB 928 — Repeal the Hepatitis C Education and Prevention Act
NHA position: Monitor Status: Select File
LB
1154 — Change provisions relating to learning communities, schools,
education service units and job training grants
NHA position: Monitor Status: Final Reading
LB
1176 — Change provisions relating to Medicaid benefits and
departmental reports
NHA position: Oppose Status: General File
Nebraska legislators resolve major issues
(Omaha World-Herald) — With six working days left, all of the big issues
facing the Nebraska Legislature have been resolved or are well on their way to
resolution. Thursday will mark the last day for bills to advance from
first-round debate if they are to pass this year, barring exceptional
circumstances. The last day of the session is April 17. Legislators will meet
four days this week and three days next week. Only a handful of the 77 bills
designated as priorities by individual senators or by committees have not
received first-round debate.
Before the session started, the budget, roads funding, school aid, tax cuts,
the death penalty and the future of the Nebraska State Fair made it onto most
lists of major issues. The only required action in this 60-day session --
passing a budget -- has been done. Lawmakers are scheduled to consider
overriding the governor's lone line-item budget veto on Monday. Gov. Dave
Heineman took his red pen to a $14.5 million increase in Department of Roads
funding that would require a 1.2 cent per gallon increase in the gasoline tax.
Heineman also is expected to veto another road-funding measure (LB 846), if it
arrives on his desk. The bill has cleared two rounds of debate and awaits a
final vote. Lawmakers are on track to pass enhanced business incentives for
companies that add large numbers of high-paying jobs (LB 895). Among other major
issues, lawmakers passed a ban on smoking in workplaces and public buildings and
a "safe haven" bill allowing parents to abandon children at hospitals.
— Nebraska Chamber of Commerce Daily Update, April 7, 2008.
Workers' comp for mental injuries stalls in Legislature
Nebraska lawmakers likely won’t extend workers’ compensation benefits to
employees who witness violent acts and suffer mental illnesses as a result.
Senators voted down an amendment that contained the substance of the bill (LB
1082) from Sen. Abbie Cornett of Bellevue, even after a new estimate showed the
proposed law would likely cost the state far less than originally believed.
Original estimates were between $3.7 million and $26.7 million. But after the
Legislative Fiscal Office looked at data from other states, that amount was reduced to
about $130,500. But senators raised concerns about the breadth of the bill,
which could apply to any worker in the state.
— Associated Press, April 7, 2008.
Priority bills don’t automatically get debate
(Lincoln Journal Star) — Every year, senators, committees and the speaker of
the Legislature have a say in determining the agenda of bills to be heard —
especially for the second half of the session — with the practice of designating
priority bills. Each senator designates his or her choice of a priority bill,
whether the bills are their own or someone else’s. Priority bills have a good
chance of getting out of committee, but priority designation is not a guarantee,
said Speaker Mike Flood. This year, two priority bills failed to advance from
committee: LB 810 introduced by Omaha Sen. Lowen Kruse, that would make a
retailer who serves alcohol to an adult who is noticeably intoxicated liable for
resulting death, injury, or damage if the retailer was reckless or negligent;
and LB 843 by Sen. Dwite Pedersen of Elkhorn to prohibit a sentence of life
without the possibility of parole for teens under 18 who committed first-degree
murder. Another priority bill, LB 963 introduced by Omaha Sen. Mike Friend, was
killed in committee. The bill would have required that immigrants prove legal
status to get state and local benefits. In this session, there are also several
senator priority bills that have not yet been debated. And on the other end,
several that have been debated, passed and signed by the governor. Others are on
second reading or scheduled for Final Reading.
— Nebraska Chamber of Commerce Daily Update, April 1, 2008.
Bill that would force fluoridation gets 1st round OK
Twenty-nine senators indicated Tuesday, April 1, that they trusted the information on
fluoridated water supplies with a first-round vote to approve the mandatory
treatment of water in Nebraska cities or villages over 1,000 population. The
bill (LB 245) that advanced on a 29-4 vote would offer an opt-out clause for
city residents to vote on the issue in their cities — either by initiative
petition or by a vote of the city council or village board to place it on the
ballot. Sixty-four of the affected communities do not fluoridate their water.
Sen. Joel Johnson, the bill’s sponsor, reiterated his position — and that of the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — that fluoridation is a safe,
effective way to prevent tooth decay. The past five Surgeon Generals have
supported it and encouraged communities to fluoridate their water.
Read the full article.
— JoAnne Young, Lincoln Journal Star, April 2, 2008.
Lawmakers support Lathrop, nonpartisan legislature
Nebraska senators rallied last Wednesday to uphold the unique nonpartisan
structure of the nation’s only single-house legislature and to support a
colleague recently attacked by a flier and phone messages produced by the state
Republican Party. In sometimes emotional discussion, senators described the
value of a Legislature in which political parties don’t control the committee
structure or the agenda and where party labels make little difference on most
issues.
Coalitions form on some issues, but their members change, said Sen. Greg
Adams of York, a Republican. The coalitions may be urban and rural. They may be
Republican and Democrat, he said. “It is a culture of respect. It is a culture
of civility. It is a culture of transparency,” Adams said.
Sen. Pat Engel of South Sioux City, who switched his party affiliation from
Democrat to Republican a few years ago, also described the lack of party control
in the Legislature. “We don’t have an aisle here,” said Engel, who said he often
brags about the Nebraska system in meetings across the country.
Read the full article.
— Nancy Hicks and JoAnne Young, Lincoln Journal Star, April 2, 2008.
For more information about health-related legislative bills or resolutions, contact: Bruce Rieker, vice president, advocacy at (402) 742-8146 or brieker@nhanet.org.
NHA Rotunda Review is published by the Nebraska Hospital Association, 3255 Salt
Creek Circle, Lincoln, NE 68504. Phone (402) 742-8140, Fax (402) 742-8191. Visit our Web site at
http://www.nhanet.org. Christy Rasmussen, editor, at
402/742-8151, or email, crasmussen@nhanet.org.
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