See all the 2025 JCRC Priority Bills below and see a recap of the 109th session here: Legislative Session Recap 2025

Bills: Education, Antisemitism, Separation of Church and State

LB 538 (Hardin) Require school boards and postsecondary institutions to adopt policies against discrimination and antisemitism

• Voted out of committee on May 21. Senator Paul Strommen from Sydney prioritized this bill. Attempted amendment on the Education Committee priority package (LB 306) lacked support to advance, so it was withdrawn. LB 538 will be carried over until next session.  Expect it to be revisited in 2026.

LB 691 (Holdcroft) Require schools receiving state funds to display the Ten Commandments

• Not prioritized. Did not advance out of committee. Will be carried over until next year.

LB 549 (Lippincott) Allow school boards to employ or accept a volunteer chaplain as a school counselor

• Not prioritized. Did not advance out of committee. Will be carried over until next year.

LB 122 (Meyer) Require display of the national and state motto in schools (In God We Trust; Equality Before the Law)

• Not prioritized. Did not advance out of committee. Will be carried over until next year.

LB 552 (Lippincott) Prohibit public secondary institutions from having a DEI office or requiring training or participation in DEI activities

• Not prioritized. Did not advance out of committee. Will be carried over until next year.

 

Bills: Elections

LB 3 (Lippincott) Winner-Take-All

• Failed to garner enough support to withstand a filibuster on April 8.

LR 24CA (Dorn) Winner-Take-All ballot initiative General File

• Will be carried over until next year.

LB 541 (Holdcroft) Eliminate online voter registration

• Not prioritized. Did not advance out of committee. Will be carried over until next year.

LB 659 (Andersen) Voter machine auditing

• Not prioritized. Did not advance out of committee.

LR 27CA (Hunt) Extend term limits for the legislature to 3 terms instead of 2

• Not prioritized. Did not advance out of committee. Will be carried over until next year.

LB 218 (Fredrickson) Implement a voter registration process with state IDs and drivers licenses at the DMV Not prioritized.

• Did not advance out of committee. Will be carried over until next year.

LB 237 (M. Cavanaugh) Permit counties with populations greater than 10,000 residents to conduct vote by mail

• Not prioritized. Did not advance out of committee. Will be carried over until next year.

 

Bills: Support for Families

LB 14 (Spivey) Hunger Free Schools

• Did not advance out of committee. Will be carried over until next year.

LB 505 (Prokop) Appropriate $20M over two years for food assistance nonprofits serving 10 counties or more

• Not prioritized. Did not advance out of committee. Will be carried over until next year.

Family Medical Leave Act (Article summarizing Paid Sick Leave legislation)

• LB 189 M. Cavanaugh
  • Did not advance/ provisions not adopted into master bill;
• LB 415 Ballard
  • This bill was amended to include provisions by Senator Strommen’s LB 689. As amended, this bill PASSED;
• LB 689 Strommen
  • Portions amended into LB 415 master bill.

LB95 (Fredrickson) Childcare employee subsidy pilot program

• Not prioritized. Did not advance out of committee. Will be carried over until next year.

LB153 (Guereca) Extend postpartum coverage for moms and babies under the Children’s Health Insurance Program to six months

• Not prioritized. Did not advance out of committee. Will be carried over until next year.

 

Bills: Immigration

LB181 (M.Cavanaugh) Extend Young Adult Bridge to Independence for young adults not lawfully present

• Not prioritized. Did not advance out of committee. Will be carried over until next year.

LB 301 (Ibach) Allows eligible aliens to serve as law enforcement officials.

• Not prioritized. Did not advance out of committee. Will be carried over until next year.

LB 299 (Ibach) Allows eligible aliens to access employment-related benefits such as retirement and unemployment benefits.

• This bill was prioritized by Sen. Juarez and advanced from Committee. However, due to a Presidential Executive Order issued February 19, this legislative bill cannot advance. Article 

LB 532 (Kauth) E-verify for new hires, imposes penalties for hiring unauthorized aliens, auditing and reporting

• General File; Will be carried over until next year. 

 

Bills: Juvenile Justice

LB 556 (Riepe) Allows law enforcement to detain children at a younger age (from 13 to 11); lowers the age for charging minors with certain serious offenses from 14 to 12

• Portions of this bill were amended into a public safety Judiciary Committee package found within LB 530.  As amended, it requires all appropriate placement options be exhausted prior to detaining juveniles ages 11 and 12 and requires more strict review and oversight by the Courts and probation for youth with intensive supervision needs. Article

LB407 (J. Cavanaugh) Juvenile court exclusive jurisdiction for minors aged 13-15)

• Not prioritized. Did not advance out of committee. Will be carried over until next year.

LB584 (Spivey) Removes life in prison and other sentencing provisions for minors

• Not prioritized. Did not advance out of committee. Will be carried over until next year.

LB700 (McKinney) Extends juvenile court jurisdiction to age 26, protections for minors during interrogation

• Not prioritized. Did not advance out of committee. Will be carried over until next year.

 

Bills: Equal Rights

LB 223 (Guereca) Prohibit discrimination; lawful source of income

• General File; Will be carried over until next year.

LB 89 ‘Stand with Women’ (Kauth)

• PASSED; Signed into law and LB 605, (Raybould) Inclusive athletics and youth programming Withdrawn LR5CA & LR6CA (M. Cavanaugh) Gender-neutral marriage certificates Not prioritized. Did not advance out of committee. Will be carried over until next year.

 

Bills: Reproductive Rights

LB 273 (Hunt) Medical Power of Attorney

• Not prioritized. Did not advance out of committee. Will be carried over until next year.

LB 655 (Murman) Medical conscience-based objections

• Not prioritized. Did not advance out of committee. Will be carried over until next year.

LB 669 (Storer) Informed consent; pre-abortion counseling

• General File; Will be carried over until next year.

LB 53 (M. Cavanaugh) Criminal and civil immunity for pregnancy outcomes

• Not prioritized. Did not advance out of committee. Will be carried over until next year.

LB 512 (Holdcroft) Adopt the Chemical Abortion Safety Protocol Act

• General File. Will be carried over until next year.

From Idea to Law – The Process Glossary (from information on nebraskaleigslature.gov)

Bill Referral refers to the process where the nine-member Reference Committee assigns bills to the appropriate standing committees for consideration. Once a bill is referred, the committee will hold a public hearing, and can then advance the bill, indefinitely postpone it (kill it), or hold it in committee. 

Here’s a more detailed breakdown:

1. Reference Committee: This committee, composed of nine members, determines which bills are assigned to which of the 14 standing committees. 
2. Standing Committee Public Hearing: Except for a few technical bills, most bills are assigned to a standing committee and require a public hearing. Citizens have the opportunity to testify and provide input at these hearings. 
3. Committee Action: The committee can take several actions:

• Advance the Bill: The committee can vote to advance the bill to the General File, which is the first stage of debate and potential amendment. 

• Indefinitely Postpone: The committee can choose to kill the bill. 

• Hold in Committee: The bill can be held in committee without further action. 

 

General File  is the first time the full Legislature has the opportunity to debate and vote on bills. At this stage, senators consider amendments, which may be proposed by committees and by individual senators. Many people consider General File to be the most crucial stage of the legislative process because it is where most compromises are reached. Bills on General File may be amended, returned to committee, indefinitely postponed or advanced to Select File. A majority vote of the Legislature (25 votes) is required to adopt amendments or move a bill from General File to the next stage of consideration.

Select File is the second debating and voting stage. This step allows another opportunity for amendment, compromise and reflection. Bills on Select File may be indefinitely postponed or advanced to the next stage. After Select File, bills are sent to E & R again to be rechecked. Bills then are reprinted for Final Reading.

 

Final Reading

Before final passage, all bills are constitutionally required to be read aloud in their entirety by the Clerk of the Legislature, unless three-fifths (30 members) of the Legislature votes to waive the requirement. A bill may not be amended or debated on Final Reading, but may be returned to Select File for a specific amendment. Bills may not be voted on for final passage until at least five legislative days after the bill is introduced, and one legislative day after it is placed on Final Reading.

 

A proposed constitutional amendment requires a three-fifths vote of the elected members (30) to place it on the general election ballot and a four-fifths vote (40) to place it on a primary or special election ballot. All other bills without an emergency clause require a simple majority vote before going to the governor. A bill with an emergency clause requires a vote of two-thirds (33 members) of the Legislature.

Governor (Line-Item, Veto, Override, Signature)

After the Legislature passes a bill on Final Reading, it goes to the governor for consideration. The governor has five days, excluding Sundays, to decide what to do with a bill. If the governor signs a bill or declines to act on it, the bill becomes a state law. The governor may veto a bill, and he or she has the authority to strike specific budget appropriations (line-item veto). The Legislature may override any gubernatorial veto, although it takes a vote of 30 senators to do so.