Capitol Fly on the Wall

Another week is complete down at the Capitol! Senators and staff limped through the full schedule of hearings and finally made it to the first recess day of the session. On Thursday, Speaker Hilgers announced that most committees will wrap up hearings by March 4th (the Judiciary Committee will get

The slog of all-day committee hearings continued this week, filling five full days with over 150 bills heard in fourteen committees. In a normal year, morning floor debate breaks up the hearing monotony and gives senators a chance to chat and develop relationships with each other. Speaker Hilgers, however, chose

Even as COVID numbers decline in the Lincoln community, the virus continues to force the Legislature to adjust, disrupting longstanding norms and procedures. Senators trudged through the first week of all-day hearings, at times in near-empty hearing rooms. It seems, however, that the public is catching on to the new

This week, senators rushed to get their bills introduced amidst potential unrest surrounding the inauguration, a snowstorm, and an active COVID outbreak among some of their staff. In addition to the end of bill introduction, senators crammed several other agenda items into the third week of the legislative session, including

We made it through the first full week of the legislative session! The main focus of the week was the introduction of new bills, which continues over the first ten days of session and ends January 20th. Senators have introduced almost 500 bills so far. This number is similar to

Welcome back, dear readers! Your Capitol Fly on the Wall returns to report on the first session of the 107th Nebraska Unicameral Legislature. I look forward to continuing my weekly updates throughout session as I flit around the capitol. I may not have had quite the week my fly friends

An Unprecedented Session Are you sick of hearing the word “unprecedented” yet? Because last week the Legislature finished a truly unprecedented (sorry!) end to the 2020 legislative session. The 60-day session was supposed to adjourn by April but instead was put on hold for four months due to the COVID-19

Finally, seven strange months after this unprecedented session began, the legislature adjourned “sine die” Thursday after completing its 60th day of business. “Sine Die” is a Latin phrase meaning “without day” and is used when a legislative body adjourns without a specific day to return. It’s also used to reference