Hypertext

The Nebraska Legislature is the supreme legislative body of the State of Nebraska, in the Great Plains region of the United States. The Legislature meets at the Nebraska State Capitol in the City of Lincoln, Lancaster County.

Nebraska's Legislature is unusual in that it is unicameral and nonpartisan. No other state in the U.S. has a single-chamber legislative body, although the legislatures of two U.S. territories—the Virgin Islands and Guam—are unicameral, as is the Council of the District of Columbia. At 49 members it is also the smallest state legislature (the next smallest is the 60-member bicameral Alaska Legislature).

Contents 1 History 2 Selection, composition and operation 2.1 Chair 2.2 Executive Board 2.3 Caucuses 2.4 Appropriations Committee 2.5 General powers 3 Membership 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

History

The First Nebraska Territorial Legislature met in Omaha in 1855, staying there until statehood was granted in 1867. Nebraska originally operated under a bicameral legislature. However, over time, dissatisfaction with the bicameral system grew due to what many Nebraskans perceived as defects. Bills were lost because the two houses could not agree on a single version, and conference committees that were created to reconcile different versions of bills often met in secret, and were thus unaccountable for their actions. After a trip to Australia in 1931, George Norris campaigned for reform, arguing that the bicameral system was based on the inherently undemocratic British House of Lords, and that it was pointless to have two bodies of people doing the same thing and hence wasting money. He specifically pointed to the example of the Australian state of Queensland, which had adopted a unicameral parliament nearly ten years earlier. In 1934, voters approved a constitutional amendment which dissolved the House of Representatives and granted its powers to the Senate.

Campaigns to consolidate the Nebraska Legislature into a single chamber date back as early as 1913, meeting with mixed success. Many possible reasons for the 1934 amendment's victory have been advanced: the popularity of Nebraska's U.S. Sen. George Norris, a fervent proponent of single-chamber government; the Depression-era desire to cut costs; public dissatisfaction with the previous year's legislature; or even the fact that, by chance, it was on the ballot in the same year as an amendment to legalize parimutuel betting on horse races. This latter coincidence may have aided the measure's passage in Omaha, where the unicameral issue was not a pressing one but horse racing was. (Gambling interests campaigned for "yes" votes on all amendments in hopes of assuring the horse-racing amendment's passage.)

The new unicameral Legislature met for the first time in 1937. Though the name of the body is formally the "Nebraska Legislature", its members are commonly referred to, especially by themselves, as "Senators". In Nebraska, the Legislature is also often known as "The Unicameral" or simply "The Unicam".

Selection, composition and operation

The Legislature is composed of forty-nine members, chosen by a single-member district or constituency. Senators are chosen for four-year terms, with one-half of the seats up for election every second year. No person may be a senator unless he or she is a qualified voter, over the age of twenty-one, and a resident of his or her district for at least one year. Currently, senators are limited by law to two terms. However, a former senator is re-eligible for election after 4 years. Senators receive $12,000 a year.

Members are selected in nonpartisan elections. Rather than separate primaries held to choose Republican, Democratic, and other partisan contenders for a seat, Nebraska uses a single nonpartisan primary election, in which the top two vote-getters are entitled to run in the general election. There are no formal party alignments or groups within the Legislature. Coalitions tend to form issue by issue based on a member's philosophy of government, geographic background, and constituency. However, almost all the members of the legislature are known to be either Democrats or Republicans, and the state branches of both parties explicitly endorse candidates for legislative seats. As an illustration of how partisanship can intrude upon the non-partisan Legislature, in January 2010 it was reported that the Legislature debated whether or not there was partisanship in Legislature, and "then finished the talk with a vote that followed party lines." The unofficial partisan makeup of the Nebraska Legislature is 34 Republicans and 15 Democrats.

Sessions of the Nebraska Legislature last for 90 working days in odd-numbered years and 60 working days in even-numbered years.

Chair

The Lieutenant Governor is the official presiding officer. However, the highest position amongst the actual members is the "Speaker of the Nebraska Legislature". The Speaker presides over the Legislature in the absence of the Lieutenant Governor.

Executive Board

The day-to-day matters of the body are dealt with by the Executive Board. The Board includes the Speaker, a chairman, a vice chairman, and six other senators. The chairman and vice chairman are chosen for two year terms by the entire legislature.

Caucuses

Senators are classified into three geographically-based "caucuses"; each caucus elects two board members.

Appropriations Committee

The chairman of the Appropriations Committee serves, but cannot vote on any matter, and can only speak on fiscal matters.

General powers

The Legislature is responsible for law-making in the state, but the Governor has the power to veto any bill. The Legislature may override the governor's veto by a vote of three-fifths (30) of its members. The Legislature also has the power, by a three-fifths vote, to propose constitutional amendments to the voters, who then decide upon it through a referendum.

Membership

Note: The Nebraska Legislature is nonpartisan; members' party affiliations are for informational purposes only.

Each member represents about 37,000 people.

*Speaker of the Nebraska Legislature

See also

• History of Nebraska
• Nebraska state elections, 2010

References

External links

• The official site of the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature
  • History of the Nebraska Unicameral

v t e Members of the Nebraska Legislature 102nd Legislature (2011-2012) Speaker of the Legislature: Mike Flood     Lavon Heidemann Paul Lambert Scott Price Pete Pirsch Heath Mello John E. Nelson Jeremy Nordquist Burke Harr Gwen Howard Bob Krist Brenda Council Steve Lathrop Tanya Cook Jim Smith Charlie Janssen Lydia Brasch Dave Bloomfield Scott Lautenbaugh Mike Flood Brad Ashford Ken Haar Paul Schumacher Chris Langemeier Greg L. Adams Kathy Campbell Amanda McGill Colby Coash Bill Avery Tony Fulton Norm Wallman Rich Pahls Russ Karpisek Les Seiler Annette M. Dubas Mike Gloor John Wightman Galen Hadley Tom Carlson Beau McCoy Tyson Larson Kate Sullivan Thomas Hansen Deb Fischer Mark R. Christensen Abbie Cornett Danielle Nantkes Ken Schilz John N. Harms LeRoy J. Louden Nebraska Legislature

v t e Legislatures of the United States United States Congress United States House of Representatives United States Senate State legislatures Alabama (H, S) Alaska (H, S) Arizona (H, S) Arkansas (H, S) California (A, S) Colorado (H, S) Connecticut (H, S) Delaware (H, S) Florida (H, S) Georgia (H, S) Hawaii (H, S) Idaho (H, S) Illinois (H, S) Indiana (H, S) Iowa (H, S) Kansas (H, S) Kentucky (H, S) Louisiana (H, S) Maine (H, S) Maryland (H, S) Massachusetts (H, S) Michigan (H, S) Minnesota (H, S) Mississippi (H, S) Missouri (H, S) Montana (H, S) Nebraska Nevada (A, S) New Hampshire (H, S) New Jersey (GA, S) New Mexico (H, S) New York (A, S) North Carolina (H, S) North Dakota (H, S) Ohio (H, S) Oklahoma (H, S) Oregon (H, S) Pennsylvania (H, S) Rhode Island (H, S) South Carolina (H, S) South Dakota (H, S) Tennessee (H, S) Texas (H, S) Utah (H, S) Vermont (H, S) Virginia (H, S) Washington (H, S) West Virginia (H, S) Wisconsin (A, S) Wyoming (H, S) Territorial legislatures American Samoa (H, S) District of Columbia Guam Northern Mariana Islands (H, S, YC) Puerto Rico (H, S) U.S. Virgin Islands Obsolete Philippine Islands (1907–16: A, C; 1916–35: H, S) Philippines (1935–41) Philippines (1945–46: H, S)