KNOWING AND UNDERSTAND THE LEGISLATIVE CALENDAR & PROCESS

• 60-Day Short Session (even years): January to mid April
• 90-Day Long Session (odd years): January to early June
• Bills are introduced the first 10 days of each Session
• Committee Hearings take place the first 30 days … this is your opportunity to be heard!
• NASB Legislation Committee Meeting /Legislative Issues Conference: late January
• Call for Resolutions and Standing Positions: Due July 1 for the following year
• NASB Legislation Committee Meeting: July
• Summer/Fall Lead-Up: NASB is working with Senators and organizations on potential bills, and following interim hearings
• NASB Legislation Committee Meeting/Delegate Assembly: November

The Nebraska Legislature is unique in that all of the business is conducted in one body.

The Unicameral provides a system by which a bill need only receive the support of the 49-member body to advance for the governor’s signature. This makes the committee hearings all the more vital to the future prospects of a bill.

At the beginning of the 90-day session, the Speaker and committee chairs are selected by secret ballot. These are two-year appointments, and are important selections because the Speaker controls the overall agenda of the Unicameral while the committee chairs control the activity within their appointed committees. The legislative agenda starts anew at the beginning of the 90-day session. Sometimes a bill introduced during the 90-day session will not be brought to closure either by the assigned committee or on the floor. In that case, it is possible for the bill to carry over into the following year’s 60-day session.

The NASB staff, as you might imagine, will be immersed in reading these bills early on to determine which have impacts on education.

STANDING COMMITTEES
Agriculture
Appropriations
Banking, Commerce and Insurance
Business and Labor
Education
General Affairs
Government, Military and Veterans Affairs
Health and Human Services
Judiciary
Natural Resources
Nebraska Retirement Systems
Revenue
Transportation and Telecommunications
Urban Affairs