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The Legislature is now two-thirds of the way through this year’s 90-day legislative session.
One prominent topic of discussion this week was winner-takeall. Earlier this year, Sen. Lippincott introduced LB3 to reinstate the winner-take-all system for electing a presidential candidate. This system would award all of Nebraska’s votes to the candidate who received the highest number of votes throughout the state.
Today, only two states, Maine and Nebraska, allocate votes for a presidential candidate based on the congressional district method. Since 1991, there have been more than a dozen attempts to change our system back to winner-take-all, but all previous attempts have been unsuccessful.
During debate, proponents of LB3 argued Nebraska should speak with a unified voice in presidential elections and that we should return to the system used in 48 other states.
Opponents countered that our current system attracts more attention to Nebraska in the presidential race and changing it would signal to voters that their votes do not matter as much. Following a filibuster, LB3 fell two votes short of the 33-vote threshold needed to invoke cloture and advance the bill.
I was one of the 31 senators to vote in support of LB3 as the majority of my constituents who have reached out to me indicated they prefer a return to the winner-take-all system.
The Legislature also sent multiple bills to the Governor’s desk. Three bills that I voted for and were passed on Final Reading include: LB97 allows the Dept. of Motor Vehicles to issue multi-year vehicle registrations of two and three years in addition to the current one-year registration, allow the license plates and registration certificates to be delivered via the mail, and removes the requirement motor vehicles must have both front and rear license plates.
LB390 which requires that public schools by the start of the 2026-27 school year publicly catalog all library books by school building. Parents could opt-in to be notified via email of when their child checks out a book, including the title, author name and the book due date. This bill attempts to bring greater transparency in schools amid concerns of potentially obscene or explicit books being accessible to students; and LB457 which caps out-of-pocket costs for medically necessary epinephrine injectors, such as EpiPens, to no more than $60 for a two-pack.
The Revenue Committee continues their work on a property tax relief package that they hope to be debated in the coming days. Currently, the state is facing a budget deficit of $289 million based on the latest forecast from the Nebraska Economic Advisory Forecasting Board. The state budget still needs new revenue to be raised in order to ensure that both (1) the state’s budget is balanced and (2) that there is money available for additional property tax relief.
Some ideas being discussed include eliminating sales tax exemp tions on discretionary goods and services like candy and limousine services and raising taxes on tobacco and nicotine products to bring them more in line with surrounding states. I support fiscally responsible measures that broaden the tax base in order to balance the budget. Once we balance the budget as our state’s Constitution req uires, we can then shift focus on continuing to deliver on property tax r elief.
Looking ahead, the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board will meet again on April 29th to ev aluate income tax receipts to the state. The information presented to the Board will inform the L egislature’s debate on the budget bills.
The Appropriations Committee is set to release their budget rec ommendations to the full Legislature and the public on April 29.
The Legislature will then debate the budget bills through May 15, this year’s deadline to pass the budget in accordance with legislative rules. Senators will then continue debate on other bills through ad journment in June.
As floor debate continues, I would appreciate your input. You can call my Capitol office telephone number at (402) 471-2801 or se nd email to [email protected]. My mailing address is: Senator Barry DeKay, District #40, P.O. Box 94604, State Capitol, Lincoln, NE 68509.
