The 105th Legislature, Second Session convened on Wednesday for a "short" 60-day session. Senators began bill introductions on the first day and will continue to introduce bills during the first ten days of the session. By the end of the third day, 208 bills and one constitutional amendment had been introduced.
Each bill is assigned to one of the Legislature's
standing committees for a public hearing. Because notice of hearings must be given at least seven days in advance, hearings will not begin until after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Jan. 15. Committee hearings will be held in the afternoon and floor debate will take place in the morning. Hearings will be completed on February 27.
Until bills are advanced from committees, senators will debate potential changes to the Legislature's rules for operation, 2018 priority bills, and carryover bills. One bill,
LB368, has been designated as a 2018 senator priority bill, and is scheduled for debate on Monday, January 8 at 1:30 p.m. The bill would repeal motorcycle helmet laws. The day's full agenda is available
here.
Bills that were not passed or killed in 2017 carried over at the same stage of debate. Speaker Jim Scheer has set out a process for determining the order in which 2017 priority bills will be debated based on whether there are enough votes for cloture, if needed, and other factors.
If a committee advances a bill to the full legislature, it is subject to three rounds of debate -- General File, Select File, and Final Reading -- before passage. Bills that pass will be sent to Governor Ricketts for a signature or veto. Adjournment is tentatively scheduled for April 18.
A Iist of
senators and their contact information is here. The membership of standing committees and committee meeting information is available
here. The membership of some committees has changed since last year due to the resignation of Senator Joni Craighead this fall and the subsequent appointment of Senator Theresa Thibodeau.