OMAHA, NE – Progressive Oasis will be starting some new categories for the legislative session in 2013. Introducing the Legislative Grind, which I hope to use to cover legislation being introduced and debated in the Nebraska Unicameral, Omaha’s City Council and the US Congress. I also hope to cover some legislative news going on in neighboring states, especially Iowa and South Dakota. Here is the link for the Nebraska Legislature calendar.

The Omaha World-Herald reports 40 more bills being introduced in the Nebraska Unicameral, Friday, January 11th. The most prominent so far is a bill to end state health insurance coverage for the governor and other statewide elected officials, including the Nebraska Unicameral. This bill was introduced by state senator Jeremy Nordquist (LD7) and received national attention from the Huffington Post.

State senator Scott Lautenbaugh (LD18) introduced legislation that would make changes to the OPS school board. According the OWH, “Legislative Bill 125 calls for a nine-member board, with an election to be held this spring along with the city elections. The board now has 12 members.” I’m sure this bill will cause at least some controversy, the last bill Lautenbaugh proposed concerning the OPS board was also controversial. According to another OWH article, there is broad support for Lautenbaugh’s latest proposal.

Here is a list on the Nebraska Legislature website of all the bills introduced so far in Nebraska’s 103rd Legislature. If you have any questions about the legislation your state senator introduced you can find the contact information for their office here. This is the link to the Unicameral Committees and which state senator belongs to which committee.