LB397 Advances after 90 minute Debate

The Nebraska legislature spent 90 more minutes debating LB 397 on Tuesday.  The bill from senator Mike Moser, would eliminate what are called obsolete labor laws which require safety committees. There hasn’t been funding for this requirement in 20 years. Grand Island Senator Dan Quick took to the floor three times against the bill.

Most of the floor debate was in opposition. However, the bill advanced on a 30-11 vote.

The so-called pink postcards are the subject of several bills at the Unicameral. 
One of those, LB384 advanced. It requires the county assessor and one voting member of the governing bodies of participating political subdivisions to attend joint public hearings under the Property Tax Request Act. Some legislators claimed having the assessor in attendance was not needed since they took part in valuation  protests.  District 41 Senator Fred Meyer of St. Paul gave his take.

A separate bill would require the pink postcards be sent earlier, since in many instances, the budget for those entities have already been set by the time the meetings are held.

At his request, the legislature passed over LB 353 from Hastings Senator Dan Lonowski. It would have mandated that teachers could join or terminate membership in a labor union at any time.  He worked with the unions to put a box on teachers’ contracts, reading they could end their union membership at their discretion. That agreement eliminated the need for this bill.