LINCOLN — Nebraska state senators headed home last week after a particularly brutal and bitter 2023 session. But one lawmaker isn’t packing up his office — he has packed his bag for a return trip to the war front in Ukraine. Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon, a decorated military veteran nearing his 65th birthday, has […]
The post As Nebraska state senators head home, one heads to the battlefield in Ukraine appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — A final push over Memorial Day weekend failed to result in a voter ID compromise acceptable to State Sen. Julie Slama of Dunbar and Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen, despite help from Gov. Jim Pillen, Speaker John Arch and Attorney General Mike Hilgers. The result Tuesday was another four-hour filibuster by a […]
The post Committee voter ID bill survives a second round of filibuster by Sen. Julie Slama appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — The months-long fight over the best flavor of voter ID for Nebraska spilled over onto the floor of the Legislature Monday, with State Sen. Julie Slama staging a one-woman filibuster against the proposal forwarded by the Government and Military Affairs Committee. But Slama failed to persuade the body to back her competing plan. […]
The post After a floor fight, legislative committee’s voter ID bill wins support over Slama’s appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — Immigrants and refugees contribute 8% of the state’s overall economic output and have potential to grow into what one policy expert called an “economic powerhouse” that helps fill unmet workforce demand felt more deeply in Nebraska than many states. “That’s a really sizable portion of our economy,” Rebecca Firestone, executive director of Nebraska’s […]
The post Foreign-born Huskers contribute 8% of state economic input, report says appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — After a rare do-over Thursday, members of the Legislature’s Government and Military Affairs Committee again endorsed an approach to voter ID in Nebraska that supporters called “focused” and an opponent called an “abomination.” State Sen. Julie Slama of Dunbar, who sponsored a competing proposal, pressed to have the committee vote again Thursday, challenging […]
The post Committee again backs Brewer on Nebraska voter ID; Slama pledges to kill the bill appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — Last-minute tweaks to a potential compromise amendment implementing voter ID in Nebraska ran up against a deadline for scheduling floor debate that forced members of the Legislature’s Government and Military Affairs Committee to take sides. On Wednesday, they decided to back a months-long push by State Sen. Tom Brewer, the committee chairman, to […]
The post Committee votes for Brewer’s voter ID proposal; Slama vows floor fight against ‘abomination’ appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — Citizens for Voter ID, which led the ballot initiative last year to add voter ID language to the Nebraska Constitution, released results from a new poll Tuesday aimed at steering a legislative compromise on implementing voter ID farther to the right. Poll results indicated that a majority of Nebraska voters surveyed wants every […]
The post Conservative group’s poll finds Nebraskans want photo ID and citizenship checks of voters appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — The Nebraska Legislature is inching closer to compromise legislation that may have found a middle ground between dueling amendments to implement voter ID. State Sen. Julie Slama, who did not immediately return messages seeking comment, and State Sen. Tom Brewer, the chair of the Government and Military Affairs Committee, sent the outlines of […]
The post Nebraska compromise on Voter ID appears near appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — Deadline negotiations this week over dueling plans to implement voter ID in Nebraska could decide whether the Legislature votes on a bill this session. County election officials who will carry out the plan have also weighed in, asking state lawmakers to keep things simple. State Sen. Julie Slama of Dunbar, who helmed the […]
The post Key state senators must resolve three questions on Nebraska voter ID bill appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — Gov. Jim Pillen on Tuesday celebrated signing a bill to allow Nebraskans to carry concealed handguns legally without a state permit or state-mandated gun safety training. Legislative Bill 77, the long-fought proposal championed by State Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon, passed April 19 on a 33-14 vote. The new law will strip the […]
The post Gov. Jim Pillen signs bill for concealed carry of handguns without permit or training appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — Nebraskans who want to carry concealed handguns in public will soon be able to do so legally without a state permit or state-mandated gun safety training. Once the bill becomes law, Omaha and Lincoln will lose the authority to enforce the stricter city gun ordinances, which local police chiefs and police unions have […]
The post Nebraska gives final passage to concealed carry of handguns without permit or training appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — Lawmakers gave first-round approval Monday to a proposal that would create a video archive of Nebraska legislative proceedings, an effort that has spanned multiple years. Legislative Bill 254, proposed by State Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon, would create this archive, bringing Nebraska to the same level of access to legislative proceedings as nearly every […]
The post Nebraska lawmakers advance proposal for video archive of legislative proceedings appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
Meet the state senators deciding policy and leading Nebraska’s legislative branch through 2024. Nebraska’s current 49 state senators are among the most diverse in the state’s history with 18 women, six senators of color and two openly LGBTQ senators. The median age of the Legislature, at the start of the session, was 61 — the youngest […]
The post Who’s who in the Nebraska Legislature: 2023-24 state senators appeared first on News Nebraska.
LINCOLN — A bill allowing Nebraskans to carry concealed handguns without training or a state permit moved forward Tuesday despite concerns that it would reduce the ability to ban dangerous weapons from public places and would endanger schoolchildren. Legislative Bill 77, a so-called “constitutional carry” bill, advanced from second-round debate on a 31-10 vote during […]
The post ‘Permitless’ concealed carry of handguns in Nebraska advances to final-round debate appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — Students at the Nebraska State Capitol on Thursday demanded action on gun safety and called on the Legislature to halt efforts on a “permitless” concealed carry bill. Various organizations, including Nebraskans Against Gun Violence, Huskers Against Gun Violence and Students Demand Action, connected Thursday’s news conference to National Walkout Day on March 14, […]
The post Nebraska students demand more gun reform five years after national school walkouts appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — A Nebraska museum honoring Ponca Chief Standing Bear. A more complete telling of the history of Fort Robinson in the state’s Pine Ridge. And saving the Mayhew Cabin, the last remaining structure on the underground railroad through southeast Nebraska. Those are three projects State Sens. Justin Wayne of Omaha and Tom Brewer of […]
The post Millions sought for museums devoted to Standing Bear and history of Fort Robinson appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — Gun rights advocates flexed their legislative muscle Friday as a “permitless” concealed carry bill, which has failed to pass in previous years, was given first-round approval. Legislative bill 77, which would allow people to carry a concealed weapon without a state permit or passage of a gun safety course, overcame a filibuster and […]
The post Gun rights advocates flex muscles, advance constitutional carry bill appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — Day Two of the extended debate over a so-called “constitutional carry” handgun bill saw proponents of gun rights on Thursday pushing back on claims that the bill would increase gun-related deaths. State Sens. Justin Wayne of Omaha and Mike Jacobson of North Platte were among those maintaining that Legislative Bill 77 wouldn’t impact […]
The post Proponents of gun rights push back on criticism of concealed carry bill appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — Nebraskans on Wednesday packed a public hearing room and overflowed into another, waiting for a shot to weigh in on three proposals that will help shape the state’s final Voter ID law. The trio of bills that aired before the Legislature’s Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee represented different ends of the spectrum. […]
The post Voter ID public hearing stretches seven hours at the Unicameral appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — The debate over gun rights returned to the Nebraska Legislature on Wednesday, with proponents and opponents of a so-called “constitutional carry” bill differing on how far those rights should extend. Advocates for allowing people to carry concealed weapons without obtaining a state permit and passing a gun safety course said the Nebraska Constitution […]
The post ‘Constitutional carry’ bills have increased violent crime, opponents of gun bill say appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — A last-minute amendment to a controversial gun rights bill has resulted in the Omaha Police Officers Association dropping its opposition to the proposal. But Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer as well as Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert said Friday they remain opposed to the so-called “constitutional carry” bill because it would nullify the City […]
The post Omaha police union drops opposition to ‘constitutional carry’ gun bill after amendments proposed appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — Nurse Kathleen “Nene” DeRoos-Nolan watches a live feed on a Telegram channel of a Ukrainian soldier trudging along in the snow and later sleeping in a place that isn’t heated. It’s a sight different from the refugees she saw in person at a camp in Warsaw during the past year, where she provided […]
The post Nebraskans reflect on support for Ukraine one year after Russian invasion appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — A legislative bill would create two state wildfire response teams to help the hundreds of local volunteer and paid firefighters who fight Nebraska’s rising number of grassland, ag land and forest fires. But the bill’s hearing Thursday was dogged by questions over whether the state should hire its own wildfire response teams or […]
The post Bill would create two state teams to help fight Nebraska wildfires, but at whose cost? appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — Lawmakers on Friday set up a resumption of the hot-button debate over allowing Nebraskans to carry concealed handguns without a background check, training or a state permit. On a 5-0 vote, with two senators not present and one “present but not voting,” the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee advanced Legislative Bill 77. The measure, a […]
The post Committee advances permitless concealed carry bill, but some want amendments appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — An amendment to a proposed voter ID law, one that would require mail-in voters to see a notary, was among points that drew fire during a public hearing Wednesday that stretched nearly six hours. “It’s full of flaws and bureaucratic B.S.,” Jaden Perkins, a North Omaha community organizer with the Heartland Workers Center, […]
The post Nebraska voter ID bill revised before lengthy public hearing that draws mostly foes appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — The Nebraska Legislature likely won’t consider a Cherry County Republican’s allegation that her representative, State Sen. Tom Brewer, doesn’t live in his Sandhills district and should forfeit his seat. That was the consensus among more than a dozen state lawmakers contacted after Valentine resident Sherri Bacon filed a complaint with the Clerk of […]
The post Nebraska senators expect no action against Brewer on constituent’s residency complaint appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
After the introduction of two bills to address LGBTQ and transgender Nebraskans, State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln abruptly called for the Legislature to adjourn “Sine Die” on Tuesday, Jan. 17. The motion means to adjourn without a future date for reconvening and, if successful, would have ended the 90-day session abruptly on its ninth […]
The post Social issues defining first weeks of Legislature likely to dominate session appeared first on News Nebraska.
LINCOLN — Nebraska State Sen. Tom Brewer faced questions in 2014 and 2016 over whether he lived in the Sandhills district he aimed to serve. He won election and re-election despite those concerns. Now one of his constituents in Cherry County has filed a complaint with the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office and the Clerk of […]
The post Questions revived about whether Nebraska lawmaker lives in his district appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — On a day loaded with bill introductions, none packed more heat than Nebraska State Sen. Tom Brewer’s simplified new attempt to allow concealed carry of a handgun without a permit. Brewer, of Gordon, said Thursday that the more conservative bent of new GOP members in the Legislature, including some who replaced political moderates, […]
The post Nebraska Sen. Tom Brewer offers a ‘cleaner’ permitless concealed carry bill appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
LINCOLN — The 2023 session of the Nebraska Legislature opens Wednesday, and Day 1 will set the tone for a 90-day session focused on adopting a new, two-year budget and deciding how to use a record-high surplus of funds. Following the swearing-in of 13 newly elected state senators and 11 re-elected incumbents, lawmakers will dive […]
The post Things to watch for as Nebraska Legislature opens 90-day session on Wednesday appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.