Capitol Fly on the Wall

Spending and Taxation Week The past week, full of long debates over measures related to taxation and state spending, left Senators and staff very ready for a long weekend, with the Arbor Day state holiday on Friday and a recess day on Monday.  To start the week, Senators approved some

State biennial budget approved, sent to Governor Members of the Legislature gave the final round of approval to the state’s two-year budget this week unusually early, leaving more time for the body to debate priority bills in the remainder of the session.  The $9.7 billion budget appropriates funding for the

Budget Advances, Food Assistance Eligibility Expanded, and Student Journalist Protections Filibustered Believe it or not, Legislature Watchers, we are officially over two thirds of the way through the ninety-day session!  With a recess day for Senators on Monday, we’ll reconvene on Tuesday for the 63rd day of session.  Before Senators

Debate Drama, Budget Debate Begins and Priority Bills Advance After a long Easter weekend, Senators came back to Lincoln on Tuesday, kicking off the week with mostly “non-controversial” consent calendar priority bills while awaiting the release of the Appropriations Committee’s biennial budget proposal. A procedural note for you watchers: the

Child Welfare Investigative Committee, Debate on Governor Appointees and Budget Bills Headed to Floor Senators continue to debate priority bills and are gearing up to debate the budget, one of their major tasks for this legislative session. That along with some fireworks over a governor’s appointment to the Board of

Housing Protection Bill Advances, Student Restraint Bill Stalls and Debate Highlights With all-day floor debate well underway, we’re finally getting to the juicy parts of the legislative session. A lot happened this week as priority bills got their time on the agenda, and we finally got to see whether bills

Virtual Meetings Bill Advances, First Filibuster, Speak Priority Bills Announced On Thursday, senators completed their first week of all-day floor debate. Most of the week’s debate was taken up by a filibuster of a bill to protect student journalists’ freedom of speech. The rest of session began to take shape,

Priority Bill Selections, Tension-Filled Executive Session, and Final Hearings Wow, time flies! We’ve already reached the midpoint of the 90-day legislative session. Friday marked the last committee hearing date and the deadline for senators and committees to designate their priority bills. Those milestones along with a couple of substantive floor