Thread by @RachelMGibsonNE

First day post 626 & 574 being voted out of committee. Apparently neither was discussed at all. None of the opposition was addressed. The 3+hrs on both or almost 1,000 comments.

Not even discussed. @senatormachaela is telling us all about it.

Listen here:nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/series-medi…

Senator @senatorblood takes the opportunity to talk about medical marijuana, sharing the story of a recent info gathering visit to CBD store. She says in the time that the #NELeg has been fighting MM, the CBD industry has run rampant with legitimately dangerous products

Her point: the Legislature has been so focused on the political perception of an issue that they've totally missed and/or ignored real problems.

I think that about sums up this session. Maybe even the whole institution post last election.

Back to @senatormachaela who clarifies that 626 (abortion bill) DOES NOT ACTUALLY MAKE EXCEPTIONS! It is "performative at best."

LOUDER FOR THOSE IN THE BACK

Sen MCav makes the observation that there were a lot of bills that came out really quick and were very simple and were introduced by freshmen Republicans.

(I noticed this as well but thought I was maybe being paranoid but apparently its a conscious decision)

She mentions "worksheet order" which is this document where bills are listed in the order they will be taken up until priority bills start taking over the schedule because priority bills can hop the worksheet line.nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/108/…

Those don't have description so you can find what they are and who introduced them here:
nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/search_b…
To make it a touch easier, here are screen shots of what is on General Right now:

Senator @BenWHansen gets up to clarify:

1) That he had actually given enough space for discussion (and it wasn't just taken) - MCav agrees

2) That while @senatormachaela and @JenDayforNE raised serious personal concerns, those were just concerns he and the rest of the committee "didn't share" and that the bill as is "is adequate to us."

I'll repeat that:

Chair of HHS committee & 4 of its members after hearing 3+ hrs of doctors & citizens explaining explicitly the potential for harm & literally how women would die, felt the bill was "adequate to us" & "didn't share those concerns."

So dead women = not a concern

I've heard wild and upsetting things in this #NELeg and other NE governmental entities, previously the most shocking was the man who yelled "How many Jan 6ths do you need?!" to the school board while in regard to curriculum guidelines.

This surpasses that interaction by MILES

"Didn't share those concerns"

Doctors unable to do their work in helping, healing, and saving lives, and women dying.

Didn't share those concerns. Wow. Unbelievable. Unacceptable.

Trying to get past HHS Chair "not sharing the concern" of dead women, but here's to trying.

Earlier convo about who's bills have moved forward, I did a little quick pivot table magic.

Red=no bills moved
Green=bills on General and/or Select
Yellow=hi # intros w/ no movement

Senators who introduced +15 bills but have not had a single one moved to General:

Arch (Speaker)
Blood
M Cavanaugh
Conrad
Hunt
Murman (Chair)
Raybould
Vargas

Only 2 that aren't Democrats are in leadership roles that allows them to intro bills under role instead of personally

Senators who have one or more bills on General and/or Select:

Ballard (1st yr)
Brewer
Dover (1st yr)
Kauth (1st yr)
Lippincott (1st yr)
Sanders
Slama
Von Gillern (1st yr)
Walz

One of these is a Democrat. 5 of them are first year Republicans.

It's not illegal, it's not against the rules, but it is playing dirty. I suppose folks will say "that is politics."

Politics or not, it's not serving our state well and it's defiantly not reflecting the will, needs, or wants of the majority of Nebraskans.