Lawmakers churn out new laws in Ag, Education, Health, Workforce Development
The last day of this year’s session of the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature is officially April 17, but all action on legislative bills wrapped up last week.
Clay County News followed 1,000-plus measures through the lawmaking process since January. While all bills were given a committee hearing, only a few advanced out of committee to be considered by the full Legislature as potential laws.
Here are the last few bills that we have been following that made it through floor debate to be delivered to Gov. Jim Pillen for signing into law:
AGRICULTURE & NATURAL RESOURCES SIGNED INTO LAW
Pillen signed LB759 into law, raising private well registration and permit fees from $40 to $200 and raise livestock waste control facility permit fees to cover 30 percent of the previous year’s program costs.
PASSED THE FINAL VOTE & HEADED TO GOVERNOR: LB525, which passed its final vote at 49-0, adopts the Agricultural Data Privacy Act to protect information regarding private agricultural operations such as land acquisition and management details from public knowledge and adopts the Conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI) Safety Act to require that AI systems disclose that interactions are not with a human, cannot take the place of professional counseling, and refer users to crisis services as needed while also allowing parents of youth younger than age 13 to manage their child’s account.
LB815, which passed its final vote at 49-0, eliminates the Ethanol Development Act and Ethanol Production Incentive Cash Fund and require tax on diesel fuel.
LB823, which passed its final vote at 49-0, requires burn permits to differentiate prescribed burning from controlled burning.
LB977, which passed its final vote at 49-0, requires vehicles to yield to a person herding livestock on or along a highway, has advanced from Select File to be eligible for its final vote before becoming law.
LB1096, which passed its final vote at 35-14, adopts the Preventing Lethal Agricultural and National Threats Act to prohibit the permit-less importation of high-risk agricultural pathogen or pest capable of significant harm to crops, livestock, or agricultural ecosystems and adopts the Critical Infrastructure Protection Act to prohibit use of cameras, communication systems, and laser technologies made by foreign adversaries.
LB1187, which passed its final vote at 39-9, increases cattle brand inspection fees and restructures the Brand Committee to add seats representing Clay and other Eastern Nebraska counties.
EDUCATION
PASSED THE FINAL VOTE & HEADED TO GOVERNOR: LB937, which passed its final vote at 49-0, requires public schools to recognize dyslexia as a reading deficiency requiring special education services.
LB940, one of Glenvil Sen. Dave Murman’s bills, passed its final vote at 47-0 to prohibit certain color additives in public school meals.
LB966, which passed its final vote at 38-11, adopts the Hunger-Free Schools Act to provide reduced-price school meals to qualifying students at no cost.
LB1022, another Murman bill, passed its final vote at 37-12 to remove the requirement of human relations training for teachers.
LB1216, which passed its final vote at 49-0, requires prisons to offer education to any inmate under age 21 who has not earned a high school diploma.
HEALTH & SAFETY
Signed into Law Pillen signed LB1235 into law, establishing regulation of medical cannabis use including a directory of patients and caregivers.
PASSED THE FINAL VOTE & HEADED TO GOVERNOR: LB727, which passed its final vote at 49-0, authorizes law enforcement to use an epinephrine auto-injector to respond to an anaphylaxis event.
LB762, which passed its final vote at 45-4, requires insurance coverage of pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder associated with a streptococcal infection (PANDAS).
LB955, which passed its final vote at 47-2, allows a physician assistant to prescribe medication.
ADOPTED
The Legislature adopted LR293, a resolution to urge the United States Congress to enact legislation to improve military veteran access to traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder treatments.
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
PASSED THE FINAL VOTE & HEADED TO GOVERNOR: LB912, which passed its final vote at 49-0, adopts the Community Health Worker Training Endorsement Act to develop the community health worker career field, adopts the Respiratory Care Interstate Compact to allow licensed respiratory care therapists to practice across state lines, adopts the Athletic Trainer Compact to allow athletic trainers to practice across state lines, allows accredited pharmacy programs to determine the date of pharmacy student exams and clarify that certified pharmacy technician requirements do not apply to pharmacist interns under the supervision of a pharmacist, aligns state law with federal background check regulations for licensed child care center and allow certain volunteers to be counted toward staff-to-child ratios, requires massage therapists to practice in a licensed massage therapy establishment, allows nurse practitioners and licensed medical radiographers to use fluoroscopy, allows a physical therapist to file a medical lien for damages awarded to an injured patient, and allows licensed pharmacies to operate automated pickup kiosks that securely store and dispense prescription medications to patients and caregivers.
LB1212, which passed its final vote at 49-0, provides for licensure of internationally trained medical doctors.
