"Strategies for Effective Engagement at the Nebraska Legislature" Presentation at the Stronger Nebraska Policy Institute on August 28, 2014.

1. Strategies for Effective
Engagement at the Nebraska
Legislature
Trevor Fitzgerald, Legislative Aide, State Senator Heath Mello
Kaitlin Reece, Legislative Aide, State Senator Sue Crawford
Jennifer Carter, Director of Public Policy, Nebraska Appleseed
Aubrey Mancuso, Policy Coordinator - Economic Stability &
Health,
Voices for Children in Nebraska

2. Unicameral 101 – “Rules of the Road”
• The Nebraska Legislature is the only Unicameral
(one house) legislature in the country, as well as
the only non-partisan one
• Each of the 49 Senators in the Legislature
represents between 30,000 and 35,000 people
• Term Limits in Nebraska limit Senators to two
consecutive four-year terms; After sitting out a
term, Senators can run again
• The Lieutenant Governor officially presides over
the Legislature, but can only vote to break a tie

3. The Legislative Process
• The Legislature operates in a two-year cycle, called a
Biennium
• Each Biennium, the Legislature reorganizes by electing
a Speaker and Committee Chairs, assigning Senators to
committees, and passing rules
• Legislative sessions last 90 days during odd-numbered
years (called a “long session”) and 60 days during even-numbered
years (called a “short session”)
• A Special Session may be called by the Governor or by
two-thirds of the Legislature

4. Bill Introduction
• The Legislature has 14 Standing Committees,
as well as a number of Select and Special
Committees
• Bill introduction takes place during the first 10
days of each session
• Bills are assigned bill numbers in order of
introduction (LB 1, LB 2, etc.)
• After bills are referred to committee, each bill
is required to have a public hearing

5. Committee Hearing Process
• Prior to public hearing, the Senator who introduces the
bill prepares a Statement of Intent that briefly
describes the bill and the reasons why it is being
introduced
• After the hearing, the committee can vote to advance
the bill for floor debate or move to indefinitely
postpone (kill) the bill
• The committee creates a Committee Statement for
each bill that is advanced or killed, summarizing the
bill’s contents and testifiers in support or opposition to
the bill
• A majority vote of the committee is required to take
action on a bill; if no action is taken, the bill is held by
the committee

6. Floor Debate
• There are three stages of floor debate –
General File, Select File, and Final Reading
• Between stages of debate, bills go through the
Enrollment and Review process where
technical and harmonizing changes are made
• In addition to amendments, a number of
different motions can be made to slow debate
or Indefinitely Postpone (“kill”) a bill

7. The Filibuster
• 25 votes are required to amend a bill or advance
it from one stage of debate to the next
• Opponents of a bill can prevent the advancement
of a bill by engaging in extended floor debate,
referred to as a Filibuster
• A motion to cut off debate, called Cloture,
requires 33 votes, allowing a minority of senators
to effectively kill bills that would otherwise pass

8. Vetoes and Overrides
• 25 votes are required to pass a bill on Final
Reading, unless the bill contains an
Emergency Clause, which requires 33 votes
• After the Legislature passes a bill, the
Governor has five days (not including Sundays)
to pass or Veto a bill
• The Legislature may Override the Governor’s
Veto (requires 30 votes)

9. Priority Bills
• Bills that are designated as Priority Bills are
scheduled for debate before all other bills
• Priority Bills must be designated by the Priority
Bill Deadline (usually about the 1/3 point of
session); After the Priority Bill Deadline, typically
only Priority Bills will be scheduled for debate
• Each senator can designate one personal Priority
Bill; Each committee can designate two
committee Priority Bills
• In addition, the Speaker can designate up to 25
bills as Speaker Priority Bills

10. Fiscal Notes and Appropriations Bills
• For each bill, a Fiscal Note is produced estimating
the cost to implement the bill or the impact it
would have on state revenue
• Bills that have a fiscal cost to implement have an
appropriations bill (referred to as an “A” bill) that
follows it (example: LB 359A follows LB 359)
• Bills with either a fiscal cost to implement or a
negative impact on state revenue cannot pass
until after the state budget

11. The Budget Process
• The state budget process begins in September
when state agencies submit their preliminary
budget requests
• The Governor must introduce his or her proposed
budget by January 15th (February 1st for a newly-elected
Governor); corresponding bills are also
introduced at that time
• The Appropriations Committee submits its
preliminary budget report 20-30 legislative days
after the Governor’s budget is introduced

12. Budget Hearings
• After the preliminary budget report is submitted,
the Appropriations Committee holds a public
hearing on the Governor’s budget bills
• Each state agency’s budget also has its own public
hearing
• Other bills that are referred to the Appropriations
Committee are traditionally incorporated into the
budget bills rather than being voted out of
committee separately

13. Passing the Budget
• The Legislature is constitutionally-required to
pass a balanced budget
• Budget bills must be placed on General File by
the 70th legislative day and passed by the 80th
legislative day
• The Governor can Line-Item Veto individual
items in the budget, but the Legislature can
override the vetoes (requires 30 votes)

14. Interim to Committee Hearing

15. Interim
• Every piece of legislation starts with an idea.
• Interim studies are a good way to explore those
ideas
– can just be the start of a conversation on an issue to
raise awareness
– Or can be used to get the data and research you need
to support an issue
– It is also a great opportunity to educate senators on
the issue before a bill is brought
– It is also the time to figure out what a piece of
legislation really needs to look like to meet the need
identified.

16. Interim
• The interim is also the time to build relationships
and visit with senators on the issues you care
about
• Again, this can just be educational or you can
have a legislative goal in mind
• If you are interested in a particular piece of
legislation, or are just aware that one is being
developed, this is a good time to talk to the
senators and partners involved if you want to
help shape the direction that legislation.

17. Bill Introduction
• Bills are introduced in the first 10 days
• They can easily be reviewed on the legislative
website
• Advocacy organizations that lobby will be
reviewing them and prioritizing bills that are
relevant to their work
• One way to engage is to check in with coalition
members and organizations you partner with
about what their priorities are as a way of
plugging into issues that are key for your
organizations.

18. Bill Introduction
• There may be media around the introduction of
the bill you are interested in.
– Groups can help by speaking at a press conference or
simply coming to the press conference to show your
support.
• Stories, stories, stories!
– There is nothing more powerful than direct
experience with an issue.
– Understanding people’s experiences can really help
move good policy forward and in the right direction.

19. Bill Introduction
• After introduction, bills are referred to a committee and
eventually a hearing date will be set.
• This is another opportunity.
• It can be helpful to speak with committee members and
educate them on your issue before the hearing when a lot
of information will be presented to them at once.
– You may be educating them for or against the proposed bill
• This can be done in coordination with other coalition
members.
• This is also a good time to share stories from people who
are directly affected by the issue the legislation seeks to
address.

20. Preparing for the Hearing
• The hearing is an important moment to get on the record
the reasons to support (or oppose) the legislation.
• If supporting the legislation, talk with the office of the
Senator that introduced the bill to see if they are seeking
specific information or testifiers for the hearing.
– Depending on what the senator needs, organizations can help
coordinate with their coalitions and other groups on the
testimony to avoid repetition, etc.
• If you intend to oppose the legislation, you should also
contact the senator who introduced the bill to at least give
them the courtesy of letting them know you will be at the
hearing in opposition.
– You can also meet with them to talk more about your concerns
or suggest modifications to the bill

21. Hearing
• Stories, stories, stories!
• If organizations are not able to testify, letters of
support (or opposition) are also important and helpful.
• Monitoring the hearing to understand the arguments
and questions can be helpful to organizations even if
they cannot be more involved than that.
• If testifying, make sure you understand the hearing
process and the committee chair’s process.
– Always state and spell your name for the record
– Bring copies of your testimony
– Some committee’s use a light system so be prepared to
limit your comments to 3 – 5 minutes

22. Before Committee Action
• After the hearing the bill will not move without
committee action to either advance it or
indefinitely postpone (a.k.a. “kill”) it
• If there were questions at the hearing that need
to be answered, it is good to get that information
to Senators as soon after the hearing as possible.
• It is also important to continue to have people
engaged in communicating with the committee
members on the bill.
• Checking in again with the introducing senator to
see how they want to proceed is helpful.

23. Creating Momentum
• Organizations can help in an effort to create
momentum for (or against) a bill.
• Help engage your members or those you serve in
talking to their senators offices.
– Can do this through email action alerts, participating
in phone banks, letter writing campaigns
• Draft OpEds or Letters to the Editor to
demonstrate publicly the support or opposition
for a bill.
• Support other public efforts like rallies, vigils, etc.

24. General File
• Once a bill is out of committee, the next step is floor
debate, the first stage of which is called General File
• Bills are generally heard in the order they are voted out
of committee, but scheduling of bills is at the discretion
of the Speaker
• An Agenda of bills to be considered is posted daily
(usually the night before) on the Legislature’s website
• General File is typically the most difficult stage to
advance a bill from, with the longest period of debate

25. General File
• 25 votes are required to amend a bill or
advance a bill from General File
• Bills that have a fiscal cost to implement have
an appropriations bill (aka “A” bill) that follows
it (example: LB 359A follows LB 359)
• If a bill is being filibustered, debate on General
File is typically limited to 8 hours
• In order to stop a filibuster, a cloture motion
to cease debate requires 33 votes

26. Select File
• Between stages of debate, bills go through the
Enrollment and Review process where technical
and harmonizing changes are made
• The second state of floor debate is called Select
File
• As with General File, 25 votes are required to
amend a bill or advance it from Select File
• At any point during General File or Select File,
various motions can be made to slow debate or
indefinitely postpone (kill) the bill

27. Final Reading
• The final stage of floor debate is Final Reading,
although technically no debate is allowed at this
stage
• In order to amend a bill on Final Reading, a
motion must first be made to return the bill to
Select File
• 25 votes are required to pass a bill on Final
Reading, unless the bill contains an Emergency
Clause, which requires 33 votes
• If a bill with an Emergency Clause fails to receive
33 votes, it can still be passed without the
Emergency Clause

28. Priority Bills
• Bills that are designated as Priority Bills are
scheduled for debate before all other bills
• Priority Bills must be designated by the Priority
Bill Deadline (usually about the 1/3 point of
session); After the Priority Bill Deadline, typically
only Priority Bills will be scheduled for debate
• Each senator can designate one personal Priority
Bill; Each committee can designate two
committee Priority Bills
• In addition, the Speaker can designate up to 25
bills as Speaker Priority Bills

29. Supporting a Bill on the Floor
• If you are working closely on a bill and want to be
directly involved, you can help the Senator gauge
support and opposition to a bill
• Members of the public and lobbyists can be
present in the Rotunda outside the legislative
chamber to help the Senator address questions
that come up during floor debate
• It is also helpful to arm supporters with additional
information that might be helpful for floor debate
like data, talking points, personal stories and
responses to anticipated opposition

30. Supporting a Bill on the Floor
• Right before and during General File debate can
be a good time for Senators to receive emails and
calls about a bill
• Fact sheets for all Senators can be helpful
• Sending out an “action alert” asking followers of
your organization to contact their own Senator
can be helpful
• It is always a good idea to thank Senators who
voted for something that you support on General
File or Select File, especially if there was
prolonged debate or a filibuster

31. Supporting a Bill on the Floor
• Positive Media during bill debate can be
helpful: Op-eds, LTEs, personal stories
• Social media is still only used by a minority of
Senators, although younger Senators tend to
rely on it more heavily
• Activities like press conferences and rallies can
be useful both for generating press and
showing public support

32. How a Bill Finally Becomes a Law
Once a bill is passed by the full Legislature there are
three possible ways for it to become law:
1) The Governor signs the bill
2) The Governor takes no action on the bill after
five days (not including Sundays)
3) The Governor vetoes a bill and the Legislature
overrides the veto (requires 30 votes)

33. What if my bill didn’t get prioritized or
didn’t move this year?
• Bills can be amended into other bills that are
germane (generally related to the same subject)
• All bills in the first session of a legislative cycle
(aka “long session”) will carry over to the next
session (aka “short session”)
• You can use the time between now and next
session (the “interim”) to generate support for a
bill using the public, the media, meetings, interim
study hearings etc.

34. Questions?

35. Break Time…Then Lunch Time.
• Please take a break, grab a lunch, and return
to your seat
• Our lunch panel discussion will begin at 11:45.

36. Examples of Successful
Non-Profit Advocacy
Elizabeth Donner, Community Outreach Director, Goodwill Industries, Inc.
Becky Gould, Executive Director, Nebraska Appleseed
Jim Grotrian, Executive Vice President, Metropolitan Community College
Anne Hindery, Chief Executive Officer, Nonprofit Association of the Midlands
Aubrey Mancuso, Policy Coordinator - Economic Stability and Health, Voices for
Children in Nebraska
Sergio Sosa, Executive Director, Heartland Workers Center
Moderated by: Tiffany Seibert Joekel, Coalition for a Strong Nebraska