Sen. Ibach shares update on session at county GOP meeting

A special guest at the July 18 Chase County GOP meeting was Nebraska State Sen. Teresa Ibach.
Last week’s bi-monthly meeting was held at the Wauneta Senior Center.
Sen. Ibach of Sumner, who represents District 44 which includes Chase County, was the guest speaker to the meeting with an attendance of 26 citizens.  
Ibach spoke about the legislative bills she has been recently involved with and her positions on them.
Sen. Ibach served as vice chair on the business and labor committee, as well as being a member on the rules committee, the agriculture committee and judiciary committee.
LB 50 and LB 352, which dealt with criminal justice, involved a considerable amount of senatorial discussion due to compromises on issues like parole eligibility, but did pass 34-15, Ibach said.
LB 574, known as the Let Them Grow Act, restricts some gender affirming care to persons under 19 and limits abortions in the state to 12 weeks or earlier, also passed, she said.
The senator spoke of a study to determine if legislation is needed to entice large animal veterinarians to the rural areas, something similar to the Rural Lawyer Opportunity Program, where tuition cost incentives are offered for lawyers to practice in under-represented rural areas.
When Sen. Ibach opened the discussion to questions, the first raised hand asked about EPIC Option, which is LB 79, a proposal to replace all Nebraska income, property, corporate and inheritance taxes with a consumption tax.  
The bill was introduced by Senator Erdman in March  and has not yet passed, Ibach said.
Another raised hand did not have a question but a comment, thanking the senator for participating in the 41-0 vote of LB 138 to repeal the mandatory requirement to wear helmets while riding motorcycles in Nebraska. The implementation of that law takes effect in January 2024.
A question was posed to the senator, asking if there was any consideration being discussed to curtail the ongoing apparent abuse of the filibuster during the legislative sessions in Lincoln, this year in particular.  
Sen. Ibach explained the use of the filibuster this session, while it delayed some movement of legislation, was within the accepted guidelines of the law.
The next meeting of the Chase County GOP will be on Sept. 19 at the Imperial Senior Center, said County GOP Chair Tim Pore.  
“We are looking forward to seeing a better unity among Republican voters by becoming better informed on the issues, like single issue voting.  With the upcoming national election, we want to have local GOP candidate guest speakers,” he said.
Pore and his wife Tracy coordinated the reorganization of the Chase County GOP in 2020 because they wanted to be directly involved in the increasingly complex and contentious political process, he said.
Last week’s meeting opened with a prayer delivered by Tracy Pore for heavenly guidance to the citizens and government of Nebraska. Tim Pore then led the Pledge of Allegiance before the business meeting and speaker.