Photos: Nebraska Legislature gavels in for first day of 2024 session

“I’m looking at this as an opportunity, 60 days of opportunity,” Speaker John Arch at the start of Nebraska Legislature's session on Wednesday. “That’s what we have in front of us.”

After an offseason defined by calls for the Nebraska Legislature to focus on kitchen table issues, there were early signs Wednesday that cultural clashes could once again rear their head.

Gov. Jim Pillen is floating a plan to trim property taxes by raising state sales taxes to a nation-leading 7.5 cents and boosting cigarette taxes by $2 a pack.

The Nebraska Association of Public Employees has filed a petition asking a judge to enforce a previous order providing temporary relief from Gov. Pillen's return-to-office mandate.

“If we need to build a new prison, we need to tear down the one (the state) said was old and dilapidated,” Omaha Sen. McKinney said.

At the request of Nebraska's attorney general, a state lawmaker will introduce a bill this week seeking to outlaw the sale of Delta-8 and similar THC products in the state.

A bill put forth Friday by Omaha Sen. Justin Wayne would put Nebraska's Legislature in charge of the state's prison system — a change that Wayne said is overdue.

Five Nebraska state senators have submitted a total of 34 proposed changes that will go before the Rules Committee at a public hearing at 1:30 p.m. on Monday.

Gov. Jim Pillen pledged Monday to reduce Nebraskans' collective property taxes by $2 billion this year while offering few details about how he might do so.

A Nebraska lawmaker is suggesting the Legislature amend the state's new 12-week abortion ban to include exceptions for fatal fetal anomalies.

Nebraska's commission responsible for settling labor disputes indicated Wednesday that some state departments violated the commission's prior order to pause return-to-office directives for state union members.

Omaha community advocate Preston Love Jr. plans to announce he will seek the Democratic Party nomination for the 2024 U.S. Senate special election in Nebraska. 

Nebraska state Sen. Carol Blood, who has for served in the Legislature for eight years and who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2022, said Tuesday that she will run for Congress.

Nebraska lawmakers scrutinized a proposal that would change the state's law governing texting while driving, questioning how police might go about enforcing it.

The state official responsible for weighing public comments on Nebraska's proposed regulations restricting access to gender-affirming care may not have reviewed every comment offered, state officials said Wednesday.

As she formally launched her campaign for Congress, Democrat Carol Blood pitched her campaign as one meant usher a true voice for Nebraskans to Washington, D.C.

Two proposals to tighten limits on property taxes collected by schools and other local governments drew more opposition than support at a public hearing Wednesday.

Testimony was divided Wednesday on a bill that would allow Nebraska parents to opt out of health screenings for newborns, which are currently mandatory. 

Nebraska's attorney general took his crusade against THC products to the Legislature's Judiciary Committee on Thursday, imploring lawmakers to ban the substances that, he maintains, are already illegal.

In a break with the Nebraska GOP, a group of 26 conservative state senators signed a letter endorsing Nebraska's incumbent federal delegates, some of whom face hard-right primary challengers.

Testimony was divided Tuesday on a bill that would allow Nebraska school boards to adopt policies authorizing certain staff to carry firearms on school grounds. 

Leaders of business groups and some organizations that push for lower taxes joined advocates for children, older Nebraskans and low-income families in arguing against the proposal.

The head of Nebraska's Department of Health and Human Services faced questions about controversial Twitter posts and his failure to disclose a previous job.  

Tesla quietly opened a service center in the former Sears auto shop at Gateway Mall in December. Then, by accident, a proposed law change threatened to close it.

Sen. Loren Lippincott said eliminating tenure would improve educational outcomes at the state's colleges and universities, but officials from those schools said the measure would have the opposite effect.

Lawmakers were warned that more counties could lose nursing homes and assisted living facilities if the state does not increase its Medicaid payment rates.

The renewed call for a special session to pass winner-take-all followed a pressure campaign that began last week when right-wing radio host Charlie Kirk first highlighted Nebraska's unique system.

Nebraska lawmakers gave final approval to more than 100 bills Thursday, sending more bills to Gov. Jim Pillen in a single day than they had in the previous 58 combined.

Nebraska lawmakers remained broadly skeptical of Gov. Jim Pillen's tax plan as they vowed to deliver property tax relief with or without elements of the governor's proposal.

A proposal that has emerged as a potential alternative to Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen's controversial property tax relief plan won cautious support from several key interest groups Monday.