Nebraska lawmakers should hit ‘reset’ button to avoid last year’s rancor, legislative speaker says

LINCOLN, Neb.– Nearly a year after Nebraska lawmakers drew national attention to a bitter feud that saw left-wing senators filibuster nearly every bill, the Legislature’s chairman vowed Monday to do more to prevent another quagmire this session.

The chairman of the Legislature, Sen. John Arch, said he will still follow the timetable that allows several hours of debate over three rounds of votes, but if he determines a filibuster is “extremely obstructive” he will allow one vote puts an end to it sooner.

“I believe last year was an aberration, and we all need to hit the reset button for this session,” Arch said on the floor of the Legislature on the first full day of this session’s bill debate. “So far, I think we’ve done that.”

Nebraska has the nation’s only nonpartisan, unicameral legislature, although lawmakers identify themselves as Republican, Democratic or independent. Currently, 32 of the 49 lawmakers are Republicans, which is one short of the 33 votes needed to stop debate on a filibuster. That means Republicans can’t get past the filibuster to pass a bill unless one of the body’s fifteen Democrats or its only independent flaws are present.

Last session, Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha led an epic filibuster of nearly every bill debated — even those she supported — in an effort to derail a measure to ban gender-affirming medical care for minors. An amended version of that bill, which limited care for transgender people under the age of 19 in Nebraska and included a 12-week abortion ban, was ultimately passed and signed by the governor.

Filibusters are rare in most state legislatures, but it is a common tactic in Nebraska to force compromises on disputed bills, which must survive three rounds of debate to pass. Still, last year’s string of filibusters is the longest in state history.

Divisions over the majority’s push for conservative agenda issues last year — focused on LGBTQ+ rights and abortion access, as well as offering taxpayer money for private education and banning some books from public schools — led to one of the most bitter sessions of the Nebraska Legislature ever. . As the filibuster effort played out, lawmakers called each other “trash” and “trash,” traded accusations of unethical behavior and angrily vowed retaliation. That included a promise from Bayard Senator Steve Erdman, chairman of the body’s Rules Committee, to implement a series of changes to weaken the filibuster.

Although some rule changes were made last week, including one limiting lawmakers to 20 bill introductions per session, Erdman’s proposal to increase the number of votes needed to overcome a filibuster was not brought up before the time allotted for debate about the rule changes had passed.

Cavanaugh said Monday that she is not planning a repeat of last year. She said she will only filibuster bills she opposes, including a bill that would limit transgender students’ participation in high school sports and restrict trans students’ access to bathrooms and locker rooms.

“It makes no difference to me whether the vote happens sooner or later,” she said. “They still need to get enough votes to end the debate.”