[Lincoln] Three important bills introduced by Senator Ebke were signed into law today. Two of those bills expand the opportunity of people to work without undue government regulation; the third helps to ensure the integrity of law enforcement remains intact.



LB299, Senator Ebke's Occupational Licensing Reform Act, has been referred to by the Wall Street Journal as "occupational licensing reform that could be a national model." It provides for regular review of all occupational licenses in the state on a 5 year rotation, with 20% done each year by the committees of jurisdiction over the licensing.



L731, which was one of the Health and Human Services Committee's "priority bills", incorporated Ebke's LB790 in its final version. LB790 was introduced by Senator Ebke following a discussion with a constituent who owned a hair salon, and whose clients were aging, and not so eager to drive to the salon anymore. He decided to create a "mobile hair salon" and began work on renovating an RV to be used as the mobile salon, only to find out that mobile salons were not contemplated in statute. Ebke's bill (amended into LB790) now opens the doors to mobile hair salons, as well as mobile barber shops.



Finally, LB791, a bill carried by Senator Ebke on behalf of the Governor. LB 791 increases the level of transparency between law enforcement agencies and the Crime Commission, as officers move from agency to agency. The goal is to make sure that hiring agencies know of any negative reasons which resulted in the officer leaving their previous position. The bill also give the Crime Commission more authority to access State Patrol records. The Crime Commission is the licensing body for law enforcement, and has sometimes been stymied in its attempts to investigate whether licenses should be maintained for specific individuals.



Working for constituents. Working to stimulate job growth. Working for public safety. Senator Ebke is proud of these bills, as well as many others that she's passed over the course of 4 years.



Please contact Senator Ebke at 402-540-6510 (cell), 402-472-2711 (Lincoln office) or via email at lebke@leg.ne.gov, should you have any questions.