Inside the Rotunda

Bills on the Move Two years ago at this time, during the first session of the two-year biennium, state senators were still mired in gridlock over the Legislature’s rules. There was little progress on the floor during those heated and tense days. It’s quite the contrast to this year as

A More Robust Debate Most of the legislation that has made its way onto the floor of the Legislature has thus far been without controversy and has received broad, often unanimous, support from the body. That changed somewhat at the end of last week as the Legislature began debating LB66 (Hansen, M.),

Sometimes there is Crying in Legislating With the Legislature’s quick adoption of permanent rules and all of this session’s bills having been introduced, most of the interesting events last week took place in the Capitol hearing rooms.  Senators and staff on the Judiciary Committee are already putting in late hours. Hearings lasted well into

A Sprint or Marathon? For legislative staff, the beginning of session always feels like a sprint as you work on last-minute bills, revise drafts and get organized for the hearing season. A number of staff, including our heroes in the Reviser of Statutes office, have put in long days and worked every

The Nonpartisan Unicameral A spirit of collegiality was present as the 106th Nebraska Legislature convened this week and elected several progressive or moderate committee chairs.  More favorable committee memberships will also give progressives increased opportunities to get legislation to the floor and keep unwanted bills from advancing. The environment couldn’t have been different from

Time to Fly The Capitol is abuzz with intrigue as session begins Wednesday. Your Capitol Fly on the Wall (which is me, if you are just tuning in), has been buzzing about the Capitol. I am ready to offer some wall-to-wall reporting. I will provide weekly updates throughout session to