The Nebraska Legislature is in full swing as we transition into the last couple of weeks of March. All 14 committees are done hearing testimony for this legislative session and will be holding private meetings to decide which bills will advance to the floor. Out of the 10 bills I introduced, four have made it out of committee thus far, and I am patiently waiting for the rest to be voted on so I can bring them to the floor for a complete discussion.
As much as there are some legislative bills that I support and will fight for, I will equally fight against bad bills on the floor. One of those bills is LB 88, which claims to protect the free speech of student journalists and student media advisers. Under this bill, student journalists in high school will be able to print articles and stories without administrative oversight, leading to our school newspapers to be more like a blog on social media. We want to give our students the ability to question and investigate in order to learn about the honorable profession of journalism, however, I feel there should also be some form of control as to what is published. For this reason, and others, I did not support this bill.
In addition to the 10 bills that I have already introduced, I have also co-sponsored an additional 28 bills. One I am especially proud of is LB 387 introduced by Sen. Tom Brewer, which will exempt military retired pay from Nebraska income tax. The purpose of this bill is to attract retiring military veterans eligible for a military pension to settle in Nebraska after they are discharged from the service such that Nebraska may stop losing these potential citizens to other states with friendlier tax policy. This change also helps demonstrate to the federal Department of Defense that Nebraska is a "military friendly state," which helps protect the future continuation of active military installations in Nebraska.
Last week was a busy week for our office in Lincoln, filled with meetings with lobbyists, constituents, industry leaders and even my fellow senators. But no matter how busy we may be, I still encourage everyone in my district to call my office or stop by in person for any updates or assistance you may need.
You're welcome to contact our office at 402-471-2728 to speak with my Administrative Assistant and Committee Clerk Ellie Stangl or my Legislative Aide Christopher Prosch. You can also email me at bhansen@leg.ne.gov. To follow along with the session, please visit nebraskalegislature.gov, or you may watch the live stream when available at netnebraska.org.
