Last week, progress in the Nebraska Legislature continued at a very slow pace, although a major Senator priority bill was advanced on the first of three votes toward passing. Opponents of some bills continued their filibusters of unrelated bills with the stated goal of slowing things down in…

The majority of this week has been spent debating Senator Brewer’s priority bill, Constitutional Carry (LB77), which has moved on to the Enrollment and Review process. We will have four more hours of debate once it reaches Select File.

We are now past the one-third mark of this 90-day legislative session but still have a great deal of work to do. The various standing committees are busy holding public hearings on the 820 bills and 22 substantive resolutions that were introduced in January. We have around four more weeks of…

While weather last week cancelled events and caused snow days across the state, the business at the Nebraska State Legislature continued as normal. I had one bill up for a hearing that was heard by the Business and Labor Committee.

Over the coming weeks, we will have many four day work weeks to follow along with three day weekends. Over the past three weeks we have heard over 300 bills. As we move forward in the legislative session, we will move into floor debate in the mornings for bills that have moved from their res…

This week I’d like to talk about two of my bills that were heard in committee, one dealing with school safety and the other with prescription refills. The first bill, which pays for schools to update their infrastructure maps, comes from an idea I got from other states.

This week found me very busy with my first committee hearings. I serve on the Education Committee which has hearings on Monday and Tuesday followed by the Revenue Committee hearings on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Committee hearings began at 1:30 p.m. and three bills were heard on each d…

With committee hearings beginning last week, the hallways were full of testifiers holding opinions on topics like the 2nd Amendment, scope of practice in healthcare, insurance, gubernatorial appointments and more.

Since my last column, much has happened in the Legislature. The deadline to introduce new bills is always the 10th legislative day, and that day was Wednesday, January 18th. Over 800 bills were introduced, as well as more than a dozen proposed constitutional amendments. Among these pieces of…

Late last week I learned of my appointment to three special committees: Justice Reinvestment Oversight, State-Tribal Relations, and Statewide Tourism and Recreation Water Access and Resource Sustainability (STAR WARS). I am pleased to both be the Vice-Chair of State-Tribal Relations and be a…

The 108th Legislature presents a new adventure for me after being elected Chair of the Health and Human Services Committee. Previously, I was chairman for the Business and Labor Committee so I have experience in leadership positions at the capitol. It was much more of a streamlined committee…

Last week was a busy week at the legislature, with hundreds more bills introduced, a very long hearing on proposed rule changes, and much work and planning going on behind the scenes. I introduced several bills, some of which I will address in this week’s column.

Happy New Year from Lincoln, NE. Last week the 108th session began with voting for Committee Chairs where I was selected to be the Chair of Committee on Committees. This is a position where I oversee Standing Committees and the members from the three caucuses to fill those committees. There …

I’d like to introduce myself. I am Senator Barry DeKay, newly elected to represent District 40 in the Nebraska Legislature. District 40 consists of Antelope, Cedar, Dixon, Holt, Knox, and Pierce counties. I am a lifelong resident of rural Niobrara, a fourth-generation rancher, and a long-tim…