Ibach against removal of one-house legislature

During her March 14 morning call-in with District 44 constituents in southwest Nebraska, Senator Teresa Ibach took an opposing position on proposed constitutional amendment LR2CA.
Introduced March 9 by Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard, the amendment would do away with the Nebraska’s one-house legislative system, or Unicameral, and establish a bicameral legislature, like every other state in the nation.  
Ibach said she is not a fan of the proposal for the simple fact that she thinks the Unicameral is unique and that it works.
“Even though it (Unicameral) has its days—like the recent filibuster issues—I still don’t want to do away with it,” Ibach said.  
According to the Unicameral Update publication, LR2CA would create a House of Representatives and a Senate within the Nebraska Legislature, beginning with the January 2027 legislative session.
If approved by 30 senators, LR2CA would be placed on the ballot for voter approval at the November 2024 general election.
Membership in the proposed House of Representatives would be capped at 63 members and the Senate would contain 31 members. Each Senate district would comprise three contiguous counties, according to the Unicameral Update.  
During his testimony, Sen. Erdman said he proposed the amendment because he feels the current lawmaking system isn’t working and that states with a two-house legislature have better tax systems and other policy outcomes, according to the Unicameral Update.  
Also according to the story, Erdman stated the addition of a second chamber with membership based on geography rather than population would more fairly reflect the interests of the rural parts of the state.
Due to eastward population shifts, Erdman said Douglas, Sarpy and Lancaster counties currently contain 58% of Nebraska’s population.
During the hearing, there were more people testifying against changing the one-house legislature to two houses than those who were for the proposed change.  
Other business
• LB 562, which creates the E15 Access Standard Act and was introduced by Sen. Myron Dorn of Adams, was discussed last week. The proposed bill would transition Nebraska’s E10 base ethanol blend to E15. Beginning Jan. 1, 2024, fuel retailers would have to offer E15 from at least 50% of their dispensers. There is a waiver if the storage and dispensing infrastructure are incompatible with E15 gasoline. A grant program is also established to help with upgrades to their pumps, hoses, tanks, etc.
“I believe that Sen. Dorn is working on an amendment to that proposed bill,” Ibach said.
She also stated that Nebraska Congressman Mike Flood is also discussing E15 at the national level.
• Sen. Erdman introduced his EPIC consumption tax, LB 79, earlier this month. EPIC stands for Eliminates Property, Income and Corporate Taxes, and would eliminate Nebraskans from having to pay income or property taxes while sales taxes would be increased and include more taxable items.
Ibach said she hasn’t heard enough on the bill to make a decision yet. She welcomed comments from the public on the bill.  
• Ibach commented on her priority bill, LB 249 that was introduced by Sen. Tom Briese and deals with workforce housing.
“I want to keep this bill on the foremost of people’s minds,” Ibach said. “It is a huge issue that benefits rural communities.”
Ibach said she is also following LB 534, proposed by Sen. Julie Slama, which will appropriate federal funds to the Department of Environment and Energy for Community water systems. The bill appropriates $150,000,000 of federal funds awarded through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to the Department of Environment and Energy in FY2022-23.  
She said the funds would provide grants to rural communities to construct drinking water infrastructure projects that are eligible under the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund in community where drinking water test levels are above 10 parts per million of nitrate in drinking water pumped from public wells.
Other legislation
LB 764, introduced by Sen. Loran Lippincott, proposed a winner take all in the Electoral College.
LB 274, introduced by Sen. Tony Vargas, eliminates the basic skill test requirement for entry-level teachers.     
LR23CA, introduced by Sen. Merv Riepe, provides a constitutional amendment to prohibit the levying of an inheritance tax.
Sen. Ibach encourages constituents to contact her concerning the 2023 legislative process. She can be reached at Room 12th Floor, P.O. Box 94604, Lincoln, NE 68509, 402-471-2805, email: tibach@leg.ne.gov.
Ibach’s next call-in program with Dist. 44 constituents in SW NE will be Tuesday, March 28, 7 a.m. MT. To receive a link to the call-in show, email Kevin Poppe at kpoppe@gp com.com.