Legislature approves committee assignments, avoids meltdown

Jan. 9, 2023, midnight ·

Sen. Jane Raybould speaks Monday (Photo by Fred Knapp, Nebraska Public Media News)
Sen. Jane Raybould speaks Monday (Photo by Fred Knapp, Nebraska Public Media News)

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After two days of arguing about committee assignments, the Nebraska Legislature avoided an early-session meltdown without making any changes.

Early in Monday’s debate, newly-elected Sen. Jane Raybould complained that more senior Democrats had been passed over for committee assignments they wanted.

“Incumbency is being ignored. The established precedent of seniority is being tossed aside. And political ideology and party affiliation is now the driver of this process,” Raybould said.

Raybould wasn’t the only Democrat to argue this. Sen. Lynne Walz said having unbalanced committees is a disservice to Nebraskans, some of whom drive hundreds of miles to attend committee hearings at the Capitol.

“By building committees -- manipulating committees -- in hopes of ensuring predetermined outcomes, we strip you Nebraskans of having an impact in the committee process,” Walz said.

Republicans outnumber Democrats 32-17 in the officially nonpartisan Legislature. But in the past, regardless of party affiliation, senators who have served on committees have usually been allowed to continue.

That wasn’t the case for Sen. Jen Day, a Democrat who was kicked off the Education Committee. Monday, Day tried to ask Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, a member of the Committee on Committees that recommends assignments, about a plan Linehan had been presented that would have kept Day on the committee.

When her turn came to speak, Linehan, a Republican from Elkhorn, said she didn’t want to add a third Omaha-area senator to the committee that could be deciding on big changes to schools in the largely rural Third congressional district.

“We have a new governor who has made it very clear that he is going to look at school funding. There's going to spend a lot of time looking at school funding. And the Third District caucus which has many, many schools that are not equalized is not going to give up a seat on Education when they know that is coming,” Linehan said.

Sen. Steve Erdman, a Republican, suggested senators stop complaining about committee assignments and vote.

“I don't know what all the whining and crying about is about – ‘I didn't get my preference when I got to be on this committee or that committee.’ We should all be working as a team. We should be working as a team to make this state better,” Erdman said.

Sen. Carol Blood, a Democrat, found that offensive.

“Senator Erdman talks about ‘whining and complaining.’ I've not heard anybody whine and complain. I've heard people express their truth,” Blood said.

Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh, a Democrat who didn’t get the assignment she wanted on the Appropriations Committee, warned rural Republicans that relying on partisan advantage wouldn’t always work for them.

“(The) urban and rural divide is just as big and just as strong as Republican – Democrat. And let me tell you those urban Republicans don't need you as much as you think they do,” Cavanaugh said.

After about five hours of debate, Speaker John Arch proposed suspending the rules to stop debate and vote on the committee assignments.

That set off another round of objections, with senators arguing that it was bad precedent to be suspending the rules on only the fourth day of the session. Arch eventually agreed to withdraw his motion, and promised more consultations in the future.

“We got together and we said ‘You know, none of us want to do this. How do we find a way forward?’ and we found it. We're going to work with each other. We're going to set up regular meetings every week, those types of things to make sure that we can keep this moving,” Arch said.

Not everyone thought the debate was futile. Sen. Danielle Conrad, another Democrat denied a spot on the Appropriations Committee, saw progress despite being on the losing end of the battle.

“One thing that was always important to me in this debate, that I was very clear about throughout, was ensuring that we have fidelity to the process in the institution. So I really appreciated and admired that Senator Arch pulled his motion to suspend the rules, which I think would have set a very poor precedent for this session moving forward,” Conrad said.

Whether Monday’s ending harmony continues will be tested later this week, when the Rules Committee holds a public hearing on 52 proposed rules changes. Those include switching procedures for electing committee chairs from holding a secret ballot to open elections, another issue that raises questions about the extent to which the Legislature will remain nonpartisan.