LB151, as originally introduced, would require state entities audited by the state auditor to provide a detailed written description of corrective actions taken in response to the auditor's recommendations. A Government Committee amendment, which was adopted before the bill advanced from the first round of debate, added elements from several other bills. LB89 would change the number of days before a public hearing on a proposed budget statement from five days to four calendar days. The day of publication would count as a day but the day of the hearing would not. LB90 would require public entities to provide suitable accommodations for the Auditor when he or she is conducting an audit. LB27 would create penalties of $20 per day for failure to report information requested annually from counties and other entities, including a list of participation in interlocal agreements. A 14 percent penalty would be assessed on delinquent payments for fees for services provided by the Auditor. State agencies and the state purchasing bureau could not extend contracts for more than 50 percent of the original contract term. The State Auditor would be allowed to share working papers with the Legislative Council, Attorney General, Internal Revenue Service and other listed investigatory agencies.

An amendment was offered by Senator John Stinner that would clarify that sealed or confidential court records could not be disclosed within the working papers exception. A second amendment by Senator Stinner would add an emergency clause to the bill. LB151 is a speaker priority.

LB339 would merge the Department of Aeronautics into the Department of Roads to form a unified Department of Transportation. The new department would be headed by the Director-State Engineer. A Director of Aeronautics would be appointed by the Director-State Engineer to head the aeronautics division. In an effort to ensure that funding for aeronautics would not be diverted for road projects, Senator Bob Krist has offered an amendment that will be debated on Select File that would make the new position subject to confirmation by the Legislature.

Political Party Recognition

Political parties would have an easier time remaining recognized in the state under LB34, Senator Laura Ebke's priority bill. Under existing law, parties maintain their officially recognized status if they receive at least 5 percent of the total votes in one of the two previous statewide elections. To reach these numbers, parties must spend the time and resources to periodically run a candidate. The bill would allow parties to maintain their status if at least 10,000 voters have registered as members of the party. Last fall, the Libertarian party hit this milestone.

Felon Voting Rights Restoration

LB75 is Senator Justin Wayne's priority bill. It would eliminate the two year waiting period between the completion of a felony sentence or probation and the restoration of an individual's voting rights. Prior to 2005, voting rights could only be restored by the Board of Pardons.

 

LB535 was introduced and prioritized by Senator Dan Hughes to eliminate an unnecessary filing of a Real Estate Transfer Statement (Form 521) on oil, gas and mineral leases. When these easements are filed, it does not reflect a change of ownership in the property. Last year NACO worked with the Property Tax Administrator and utility companies on legislation to eliminate the filing of 521's on other types of easements. Oil, gas and mineral leases were not exempted at that time.

A committee amendment was adopted to exempt subsequent assignments of such leases.

An amendment containing LB38, which was originally introduced by Senator Burke Harr, was also adopted before the bill advanced from first-round debate. The new language would specifically allow, but not require, registers of deeds to accept digital or electronic signatures. The authority already exists in Neb.Rev.Stat. §86-611(3). The amendment would add it to § 23-1503.01, which sets out document formatting requirements.

Last year legislation was enacted to create a Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) mechanism for municipalities to finance the up-front costs of energy efficiency improvements on commercial, industrial, and residential properties. Counties were required to collect the annual assessments in the same manner as property taxes. Because the notice and collection process would be cleaner and more efficient if the collections were treated as special assessments, NACO suggested technical amendments for collections on residential property that were not adopted before LB625 advanced from the first round of debate.

LB629 would extend current veteran's employment preferences in public employment to active duty service members and their spouses. The bill is intended to give more stability to military families who stay in Nebraska or move to the state after completing their service. The bill was introduced by Senator Bruce Bostelman and designated as a speaker priority.

Senators advanced a bill increasing penalties for human trafficking on Wednesday with amendments. As advanced, LB289, a Judiciary Committee priority bill, contains provisions from LB178 that would allow victims of sexual assault to file for civil protection orders and LB394 that would prohibit a person who is under a valid protection order from buying or possessing a firearm. Provisions from LB188 would allow the parent of a child born as the result of a sexual assault to petition to terminate the parental rights of the assailant. Provisions from LB191 would allow victims to renew protection orders before they expire and prohibit the withdrawal of a petition for a protection order except upon an order of the court.