Nebraska Legislature

Nebraska State Legislature

Type
Type	Unicameral
Term limits	2 consecutive terms
History
New session started	January 4, 2017
Leadership
Speaker of the Legislature	Jim Scheer Since January 4, 2017
Structure
Seats	49
Political groups	Nonpartisan (49)
Length of term	4 years
Authority	Article III, Nebraska Constitution
Salary	$12,000/year + per diem
Elections
Last election	November 8, 2016 (25 seats)
Next election	November 6, 2018 (24 seats)
Redistricting	Legislative control
Website
Nebraska State Legislature

The legislature convenes at the Nebraska State Capitol.

The Nebraska Legislature (also called "the Unicameral")^[1] is the supreme legislative body of the state of Nebraska. Its members are "senators." The legislature is officially unicameral and nonpartisan, making Nebraska unique among U.S. states; no other state has either a unicameral or a nonpartisan legislative body. With 49 members, it is also the smallest legislature of any U.S. state.

History

The First Nebraska Territorial Legislature met in Omaha in 1855, staying there until statehood was granted in 1867.^[2] Nebraska originally operated under a bicameral legislature, but over time dissatisfaction with the bicameral system grew. Bills were lost because the two houses could not agree on a single version. Conference committees that formed to merge the two bills coming out of each chamber often met in secret, and thus were unaccountable for their actions. Campaigns to consolidate the Nebraska Legislature into a single chamber date back as early as 1913, meeting with mixed success.^[3]

After a trip to Australia in 1931, George Norris, then U.S. Senator for Nebraska, campaigned for reform, arguing that the bicameral system was based on the non-democratic British House of Lords, and that it was pointless to have two bodies of people doing the same thing and hence wasting money. He specifically pointed to the example of the Australian state of Queensland, which had adopted a unicameral parliament nearly ten years before. In 1934, voters approved a constitutional amendment to take effect with the 1936 elections, abolishing the House of Representatives and granting its powers to the Senate. The amendment was based on a bill to establish a unicameral legislature that had been introduced years earlier by Nebraska legislator and later U.S. Congressman John Nathaniel Norton.

Many possible reasons for the 1934 amendment's victory have been advanced: the popularity of George Norris; the Depression-era desire to cut costs; public dissatisfaction with the previous year's legislature; or even the fact that, by chance, it was on the ballot in the same year as an amendment to legalize parimutuel betting on horse races.^[4] This latter coincidence may have aided the measure's passage in Omaha, where the unicameral issue was not a pressing one but horse racing was. (Gambling interests campaigned for "yes" votes on all amendments in hopes of assuring the horse-racing amendment's passage.)

The new unicameral Legislature met for the first time in 1937. Though the name of the body is formally the "Nebraska Legislature", its members are commonly referred to as "senators". In Nebraska, the Legislature is also often known as "the Unicameral".

Selection, composition and operation

The Legislature is composed of forty-nine members, chosen by a single-member district or constituency. Senators are chosen for four-year terms, with one-half of the seats up for election every second year. In effect, this results in half the chamber being elected at the same time as the President of the United States, and the other half elected at the same time as other statewide elections. Senators must be qualified voters who are at least 21 years old and have lived in the district they wish to represent for at least one year. A constitutional amendment passed in 2000 limits senators to two consecutive terms. However, a former senator is re-eligible for election after four years. Senators receive $12,000 a year.

Members are selected in nonpartisan elections. Rather than separate primaries held to choose Republican, Democratic, and other partisan contenders for a seat, Nebraska uses a single nonpartisan primary election, in which the top two vote-getters are entitled to run in the general election. There are no formal party alignments or groups within the Legislature. Coalitions tend to form issue by issue based on a member's philosophy of government, geographic background, and constituency. However, almost all the members of the legislature are known to be either Democrats or Republicans, and the state branches of both parties explicitly endorse candidates for legislative seats.^[5] As an illustration of how partisanship can intrude upon the officially nonpartisan chamber, in January 2010 it was reported that the Legislature debated whether or not there was partisanship in Legislature, and "then finished the talk with a vote that followed party lines."^[6]

Sessions of the Nebraska Legislature last for 90 working days in odd-numbered years and 60 working days in even-numbered years.

Chair

The Lieutenant Governor is the official presiding officer. However, the highest position among the actual members is the Speaker, who presides over the Legislature in the absence of the Lieutenant Governor.

Executive Board

The day-to-day matters of the body are dealt with by the Executive Board. The Board includes the Speaker, a chairman, a vice chairman, and six other senators. The chairman and vice chairman are chosen for two year terms by the entire legislature. The chairman of the Appropriations Committee serves, but cannot vote on any matter, and can only speak on fiscal matters.

Caucuses

Senators are classified into three geographically based "caucuses"; each caucus elects two board members.

General powers

The Legislature is responsible for law-making in the state, but the Governor has the power to veto any bill. The Legislature may override the governor's veto by a vote of three-fifths (30) of its members. The Legislature also has the power, by a three-fifths vote, to propose a constitutional amendment to the voters, who then pass or reject it through a referendum.

Membership

Note: The Nebraska Legislature is legally nonpartisan; members' party affiliations are for informational purposes only.
Republican-affiliated: 32 members
Democratic-affiliated: 15 members
Libertarian-affiliated: 1 member
No political affiliation: 1 member

District	Representative	Party affiliation	Residence	Took office
1	Watermeier, DanDan Watermeier	Republican	Syracuse	000000002013-01-01-00002013
2	Clements, RobertRobert Clements	Republican	Elmwood	000000002017-01-01-00002017^{[lower-alpha 1]}
3	Blood, CarolCarol Blood	Democratic	Bellevue	000000002017-01-01-00002017
4	Hilkemann, RobertRobert Hilkemann	Republican	Omaha	000000002015-01-01-00002015
5	McDonnell, MikeMike McDonnell	Democratic	Omaha	000000002017-01-01-00002017
6	Craighead, JoniJoni Craighead	Republican	Omaha	000000002015-01-01-00002015
7	Vargas, TonyTony Vargas	Democratic	Omaha	000000002017-01-01-00002017
8	Harr, BurkeBurke Harr	Democratic	Omaha	000000002011-01-01-00002011
9	Howard, SaraSara Howard	Democratic	Omaha	000000002013-01-01-00002013
10	Krist, BobBob Krist	Republican	Omaha	000000002009-01-01-00002009^{[lower-alpha 2]}
11	Chambers, ErnieErnie Chambers	Independent	Omaha	000000002013-01-01-00002013^{[lower-alpha 3]}
12	Riepe, MervMerv Riepe	Republican	Ralston	000000002015-01-01-00002015
13	Wayne, JustinJustin Wayne	Democratic	Omaha	000000002017-01-01-00002017
14	Smith, JimJim Smith	Republican	Papillion	000000002011-01-01-00002011
15	Walz, LynneLynne Walz	Democratic	Fremont	000000002017-01-01-00002017
16	Brasch, LydiaLydia Brasch	Republican	Bancroft	000000002011-01-01-00002011
17	Albrecht, JoniJoni Albrecht	Republican	Hoskins	000000002017-01-01-00002017
18	Lindstrom, BrettBrett Lindstrom	Republican	Omaha	000000002015-01-01-00002015
19	Scheer, JimJim Scheer	Republican	Norfolk	000000002013-01-01-00002013
20	McCollister, John S.John S. McCollister	Republican	Omaha	000000002015-01-01-00002015
21	Hilgers, MikeMike Hilgers	Republican	Malcolm	000000002017-01-01-00002017
22	Schumacher, PaulPaul Schumacher	Republican	Columbus	000000002011-01-01-00002011
23	Bostelman, BruceBruce Bostelman	Republican	Wahoo	000000002017-01-01-00002017
24	Kolterman, MarkMark Kolterman	Republican	Seward	000000002015-01-01-00002015
25	Geist, SuzanneSuzanne Geist	Republican	Lincoln	000000002017-01-01-00002017
26	Hansen, MattMatt Hansen	Democratic	Lincoln	000000002015-01-01-00002015
27	Wishart, AnnaAnna Wishart	Democratic	Lincoln	000000002017-01-01-00002017
28	Brooks, Patty PansingPatty Pansing Brooks	Democratic	Lincoln	000000002015-01-01-00002015
29	Bolz, KateKate Bolz	Democratic	Lincoln	000000002013-01-01-00002013
30	Baker, RoyRoy Baker	Republican	Lincoln	000000002015-01-01-00002015
31	Kolowski, RickRick Kolowski	Democratic	Omaha	000000002013-01-01-00002013
32	Ebke, LauraLaura Ebke	Libertarian	Crete	000000002015-01-01-00002015
33	Halloran, SteveSteve Halloran	Republican	Hastings	000000002017-01-01-00002017
34	Friesen, CurtCurt Friesen	Republican	Henderson	000000002015-01-01-00002015
35	Quick, DanDan Quick	Democratic	Grand Island	000000002017-01-01-00002017
36	Williams, MattMatt Williams	Republican	Lexington	000000002015-01-01-00002015
37	Lowe, JohnJohn Lowe	Republican	Kearney	000000002017-01-01-00002017
38	Kuehn, JohnJohn Kuehn	Republican	Heartwell	000000002015-01-01-00002015
39	Linehan, Lou AnnLou Ann Linehan	Republican	Omaha	000000002017-01-01-00002017
40	Larson, TysonTyson Larson	Republican	O'Neill	000000002011-01-01-00002011
41	Briese, TomTom Briese	Republican	Cedar Rapids	000000002017-01-01-00002017
42	Groene, MikeMike Groene	Republican	North Platte	000000002015-01-01-00002015
43	Brewer, TomTom Brewer	Republican	Hyannis	000000002017-01-01-00002017
44	Hughes, DanDan Hughes	Republican	Venango	000000002015-01-01-00002015
45	Crawford, SueSue Crawford	Democratic	Bellevue	000000002013-01-01-00002013
46	Morfeld, AdamAdam Morfeld	Democratic	Lincoln	000000002015-01-01-00002015
47	Erdman, SteveSteve Erdman	Republican	Ogallala	000000002017-01-01-00002017
48	Stinner, JohnJohn Stinner	Republican	Gering	000000002015-01-01-00002015
49	Murante, JohnJohn Murante	Republican	Gretna	000000002013-01-01-00002013

↑ Appointed Feb. 2017 by Gov. Pete Ricketts, following Sen. Bill Kintner's (R-Papillion) resignation amidst controversy. Will serve a short term that will last until after the 2018 statewide elections.^[7]
↑ Appointed in 2009 to fill vacancy from Mike Friend's resignation. Krist's short term from this appointment does not count towards the term limit.
↑ Second legislative stint. Chambers previously served from 1971–2009, prior to the introduction of term limits.

References

↑ LTC. "Nebraska Legislature - About the Legislature".
↑ "More about Nebraska statehood, the location of the capital, and the story of the commissioner's homes", Nebraska State Historical Society. Retrieved 12/14/08.
↑ Michael S. Dulaney, J.D., Ph.D., Executive Director, Nebraska Council of School Administrators. "The Nebraska Legislature: A Brief History". Retrieved 2008-09-07.
↑ Berens, Charlene (2004). Power to the People: Social Choice and the Populist/Progressive Ideal. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America. p. 252. ISBN 978-0-7618-2763-4.
↑ See, e.g., lists of endorsed candidates for the Legislature on the webpages of both the Nebraska Democratic Party and the Nebraska Republican Party.
↑ "Is There A Partisan or Non-Partisan Legislature in NE?", wowt.com, 2010-01-28.
↑ Nohr, Emily (February 7, 2017). "Cass County banker Robert Clements appointed to seat left open with Kintner's resignation". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved April 1, 2017.

External links

The official site of the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature
- History of the Nebraska Unicameral

Members of the Nebraska Legislature
105th Legislature (2017–2018) Speaker of the Legislature: Jim Scheer
Dan Watermeier Robert Clements Carol Blood Robert Hilkemann Mike McDonnell Joni Craighead Tony Vargas Burke Harr Sara Howard Bob Krist Ernie Chambers Merv Riepe Jusitn Wayne Jim Smith Lynne Walz Lydia Brasch Joni Albrecht Brett Lindstrom Jim Scheer John McCollister Mike Hilgers Paul Schumacher Bruce Bostelman Mark Kolterman Suzanne Geist Matt Hansen Anna Wishart Patty Pansing Brooks Kate Bolz Roy Baker Rick Kolowski Laura Ebke Steve Halloran Curt Friesen Dan Quick Matt Williams John Lowe John Kuehn Lou Ann Linehan Tyson Larson Tom Briese Mike Groene Tom Brewer Dan Hughes Sue Crawford Adam Morfeld Steve Erdman John Stinner John Murante
Nebraska Legislature

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