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21:43

NEWS STORY

 * Government & Politics


MOST COMMENTING ON PROPOSED NEBRASKA LEGISLATIVE RULES OPPOSED DRASTIC CHANGES


SOME WANT CHANGES THAT ADDRESS FILIBUSTERS FROM LAST SESSION

BY: AARON SANDERFORD - JANUARY 8, 2024 9:43 PM



Winter weather limited the crowd size at Monday’s public hearing on potential
changes to legislative rules in Lincoln. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)

LINCOLN — Nebraska’s 2024 rules fight drew interest Monday over a foundational
issue: which senators could speak in what situations and for how long until a
majority votes.

A smaller-than-expected crowd attended Monday’s public hearing, in part because
of snowy weather. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)



The Rules Committee’s public hearing touched on several topics, including
whether the officially nonpartisan Legislature should continue the tradition of
voting for its leaders by secret ballot.

As expected, the future of the filibuster dominated discussions about 34
proposed changes after a 2023 legislative session marked by controversial bills
and a nearly session-long series of filibusters aimed at stopping them. 

Slippery roads across much of the state during Monday’s snowstorm likely limited
the number of in-person testifiers to about a dozen. The committee received
another 220 public comments online by midday.

MAJORITY RULES VS. MINORITY RIGHTS

Two themes emerged: Many of those commenting opposed wholesale changes to the
Legislature’s rules, urging senators to protect the unique traditions of the
Unicameral body.

And some argued for making it harder for a single senator or two to derail a
legislative session because they oppose a bill and using loopholes in the
Legislature’s rules to do so.

Nathan Leach of Kearney, representing himself and Nonpartisan Nebraska, which
advocates protecting the Legislature’s nonpartisan approach, spoke about the
need for measured changes. He warned of potential consequences of restricting
free and full debate.

Retired University of Nebraska-Lincoln journalism professor Charlyne Berens, who
wrote a book on the Unicameral, opposed changing the Legislature’s election of
leaders to a public vote. 

She wrote in an online comment that the secret ballot tradition “has worked well
for decades.” She said it lets senators make decisions about who would be the
best leaders above political considerations.

State Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard, at left, discusses rules changing proposals
during a public hearing Monday at the Capitol. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska
Examiner)



Allie French of Nebraskans Against Government Overreach and a legislative
candidate in District 23, argued the opposite. She said all votes should be
public so voters can hold state lawmakers accountable for votes that partisans
might dislike.

French and other testifiers supported a change to give the public access to more
digestible summaries of what bills would do at least five days before a public
hearing instead of the current one-day rule.

ERDMAN’S PROPOSALS

Nancy Finken, Nebraska Public Media’s chief content officer and a representative
of Media of Nebraska, defended reporters’ access to attend legislative
committees’ executive sessions.

State Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard, chairman of the Rules Committee, has been
trying to ban reporters from such sessions for seven years. He argued Monday
that reporters are not allowed to attend executive sessions at any other level
of government.

Erdman’s package of rules changes generated the most opposition Monday. Some of
those testifying expressed concerns that his proposals tilted too far toward
majority rule and away from minority rights.

His most controversial proposal would shift the number of votes required to
overcome a filibuster to a sliding scale based on how many senators vote on a
particular bill, to as few as 25 if only 37 senators vote. Under existing rules,
33 votes are needed. 

Erdman said the Legislature’s rulebook needs a fuller rewrite. He has said the
current rules let the minority stop too many bills proposed by the majority.

Unicameral experts have argued that the late Sen. George Norris, “father” of
Nebraska’s one-house Legislature, designed his system to cool the passions of
the majority and encourage moderating public policies so the results are
accepted by more Nebraskans and serve them better.

ARCH’S PROPOSALS

State Sen. Justin Wayne and Speaker John Arch discuss one of Wayne’s rules
proposals Monday in Lincoln. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)



No one testified in person against a rules package from Speaker John Arch.
Senators who spoke to the Nebraska Examiner last week praised Arch and Erdman
for sharing their proposals early.

A proposal by Arch to let a senator seek cloture votes (or end debate) on
motions as well as when bills are being debated received little public pushback
Monday.

Arch also proposed codifying limits that senators adopted last year limiting the
number of priority motions a senator can file and then withdraw from a single
bill during each round of debate.

State Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha proposed tweaking Arch’s proposal limiting
priority motions to make sure his Arch’s concerns about filibusters don’t limit
legitimate disagreements.

Arch said he and Cavanaugh would continue to talk. The committee has an
executive session set for 10 a.m. Tuesday to discuss the proposals and what they
took away from the hearing.

HANDFUL OF OTHER IDEAS

State Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha explained why he proposed requiring senators to
vote yes or no during the final reading of bills, pointing to the Nebraska
Constitution. He also poked fun at himself, because he has sometimes voted
“present, not voting.” 

State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair faced questions from lawmakers about his proposal
to limit senators to introducing no more than 14 bills a year and letting
senators select a second priority bill when they propose five or fewer bills.

Speaker John Arch discusses his package of legislative rules proposals. (Aaron
Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)



“The question I ask is, are we sacrificing quality for quantity?” Hansen said.

State Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Bennington and State Sen. Eliot Bostar of Lincoln,
who sit on the Rules Committee, asked what Hansen would do about productive
lawmakers who pass double-digit bills in a given year.

Hansen said some would be able to pass off some of their “technical clean-up”
bills to committees. DeBoer wondered aloud whether his idea might encourage more
combined bills to skirt the limit.

Clerk of the Legislature Brandon Metzler spent much of the day testifying in a
neutral capacity, answering lawmakers’ questions about the impacts of specific
proposals and possible changes.

Heidi Uhing of Civic Nebraska praised Erdman, the Rules Committee and staff for
making it easier to comment publicly online. She applauded their efforts to
publicize all the proposals in one place on the Legislature’s website.

She also warned senators about the risks of tinkering with the cloture process.
She said a rural state that is growing more urban and suburban might want to
maintain an opportunity for members in the minority to slow legislation down
they disagree with.

“Nebraskans continue to believe that the Unicameral’s nonpartisan structure
makes it more effective at problem-solving than a partisan Legislature,” Uhing
said.

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Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license
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AARON SANDERFORD

Political reporter Aaron Sanderford has tackled various news roles in his
20-plus year career. He has reported on politics, crime, courts, government and
business for the Omaha World-Herald and Lincoln Journal-Star. He also worked as
an assignment editor and editorial writer. He was an investigative reporter at
KMTV.

MORE FROM AUTHOR

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DEIJ Policy | Ethics Policy | Privacy Policy
© Nebraska Examiner, 2024
1
X



MOST COMMENTING ON PROPOSED NEBRASKA LEGISLATIVE RULES OPPOSED DRASTIC CHANGES

by Aaron Sanderford, Nebraska Examiner
January 8, 2024

<h1>Most commenting on proposed Nebraska legislative rules opposed drastic
changes</h1> <p>by Aaron Sanderford, <a
href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com">Nebraska Examiner</a> <br />January 8,
2024</p> <p>LINCOLN — Nebraska’s 2024 rules fight drew interest Monday over a
foundational issue: which senators could speak in what situations and for how
long until a majority votes.</p> <figure><a
href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/IMG_1223-scaled.jpeg"></a><i></i>
A smaller-than-expected crowd attended Monday’s public hearing, in part because
of snowy weather. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)</p></figure> <p>The Rules
Committee’s public hearing touched on several topics, including whether the
officially nonpartisan Legislature should continue the tradition of voting for
its leaders by secret ballot.</p> <p>As expected, the future of the filibuster
dominated discussions about 34 proposed changes after a 2023 legislative session
marked by controversial bills and a nearly session-long series of filibusters
aimed at stopping them. </p> <p>Slippery roads across much of the state during
Monday’s snowstorm likely limited the number of in-person testifiers to about a
dozen. The committee received another 220 public comments online by midday.</p>
<h4>Majority rules vs. minority rights</h4> <p>Two themes emerged: Many of those
commenting opposed wholesale changes to the Legislature’s rules, urging senators
to protect the unique traditions of the Unicameral body.</p> <p>And some argued
for making it harder for a single senator or two to derail a legislative session
because they oppose a bill and using loopholes in the Legislature’s rules to do
so.</p> <p>Nathan Leach of Kearney, representing himself and Nonpartisan
Nebraska, which advocates protecting the Legislature’s nonpartisan approach,
spoke about the need for measured changes. He warned of potential consequences
of restricting free and full debate.</p> <p>Retired University of
Nebraska-Lincoln journalism professor Charlyne Berens, who wrote a book on the
Unicameral, opposed changing the Legislature’s election of leaders to a public
vote. </p> <p>She wrote in an online comment that the secret ballot tradition
“has worked well for decades.” She said it lets senators make decisions about
who would be the best leaders above political considerations.</p> <figure><a
href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/IMG_1207-scaled.jpeg"></a><i></i>
State Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard, at left, discusses rules changing proposals
during a public hearing Monday at the Capitol. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska
Examiner)</p></figure> <p>Allie French of Nebraskans Against Government
Overreach and a legislative candidate in District 23, argued the opposite. She
said all votes should be public so voters can hold state lawmakers accountable
for votes that partisans might dislike.</p> <p>French and other testifiers
supported a change to give the public access to more digestible summaries of
what bills would do at least five days before a public hearing instead of the
current one-day rule.</p> <h4>Erdman’s proposals</h4> <p>Nancy Finken, Nebraska
Public Media’s chief content officer and a representative of Media of Nebraska,
defended reporters’ access to attend legislative committees’ executive
sessions.</p> <p>State Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard, chairman of the Rules
Committee, has been trying to ban reporters from such sessions for seven years.
He argued Monday that reporters are not allowed to attend executive sessions at
any other level of government.</p> <p>Erdman’s package of rules changes
generated the most opposition Monday. Some of those testifying expressed
concerns that his proposals tilted too far toward majority rule and away from
minority rights.</p> <p>His most controversial proposal would shift the number
of votes required to overcome a filibuster to a sliding scale based on how many
senators vote on a particular bill, to as few as 25 if only 37 senators vote.
Under existing rules, 33 votes are needed. </p> <p>Erdman said the Legislature’s
rulebook needs a fuller rewrite. He has said the current rules let the minority
stop too many bills proposed by the majority.</p> <p>Unicameral experts have
argued that the late Sen. George Norris, “father” of Nebraska’s one-house
Legislature, designed his system to cool the passions of the majority and
encourage moderating public policies so the results are accepted by more
Nebraskans and serve them better.</p> <h4>Arch’s proposals</h4> <figure><a
href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/IMG_1215-scaled.jpeg"></a><i></i>
State Sen. Justin Wayne and Speaker John Arch discuss one of Wayne’s rules
proposals Monday in Lincoln. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)</p></figure>
<p>No one testified in person against a rules package from Speaker John Arch.
Senators who <a
href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/01/07/public-can-weigh-in-on-nebraska-legislatures-rules-including-how-filibusters-work/">spoke
to the Nebraska Examiner last week</a> praised Arch and Erdman for sharing their
proposals early.</p> <p>A proposal by Arch to let a senator seek cloture votes
(or end debate) on motions as well as when bills are being debated received
little public pushback Monday.</p> <p>Arch also proposed codifying limits that
senators adopted last year limiting the number of priority motions a senator can
file and then withdraw from a single bill during each round of debate.</p>
<p>State Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha proposed tweaking Arch’s proposal limiting
priority motions to make sure his Arch’s concerns about filibusters don’t limit
legitimate disagreements.</p> <p>Arch said he and Cavanaugh would continue to
talk. The committee has an executive session set for 10 a.m. Tuesday to discuss
the proposals and what they took away from the hearing.</p> <h4>Handful of other
ideas</h4> <p>State Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha explained why he proposed
requiring senators to vote yes or no during the final reading of bills, pointing
to the Nebraska Constitution. He also poked fun at himself, because he has
sometimes voted “present, not voting.” </p> <p>State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair
faced questions from lawmakers about his proposal to limit senators to
introducing no more than 14 bills a year and letting senators select a second
priority bill when they propose five or fewer bills.</p> <figure><a
href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/IMG_1225-scaled.jpeg"></a><i></i>
Speaker John Arch discusses his package of legislative rules proposals. (Aaron
Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)</p></figure> <p>“The question I ask is, are we
sacrificing quality for quantity?” Hansen said.</p> <p>State Sen. Wendy DeBoer
of Bennington and State Sen. Eliot Bostar of Lincoln, who sit on the Rules
Committee, asked what Hansen would do about productive lawmakers who pass
double-digit bills in a given year.</p> <p>Hansen said some would be able to
pass off some of their “technical clean-up” bills to committees. DeBoer wondered
aloud whether his idea might encourage more combined bills to skirt the
limit.</p> <p>Clerk of the Legislature Brandon Metzler spent much of the day
testifying in a neutral capacity, answering lawmakers’ questions about the
impacts of specific proposals and possible changes.</p> <p>Heidi Uhing of Civic
Nebraska praised Erdman, the Rules Committee and staff for making it easier to
comment publicly online. She applauded their efforts to publicize all the
proposals in one place on the Legislature’s website.</p> <p>She also warned
senators about the risks of tinkering with the cloture process. She said a rural
state that is growing more urban and suburban might want to maintain an
opportunity for members in the minority to slow legislation down they disagree
with.</p> <p>“Nebraskans continue to believe that the Unicameral’s nonpartisan
structure makes it more effective at problem-solving than a partisan
Legislature,” Uhing said.</p> <a href="/donate"> <div class="donateContainer">
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