Legislature finishes session with praise, caution

By Fred Knapp , Senior Reporter/Producer Nebraska Public Media

June 2, 2025, 5 p.m. ·

Gov. Jim Pillen greets senators Monday as Speaker of the Legislature John Arch looks on (Photo by Fred Knapp, Nebraska Public Media News) — Gov. Jim Pillen (center) greets senators Monday as Speaker of the Legislature John Arch (left) looks on. (Photo by Fred Knapp, Nebraska Public Media News)

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The Nebraska Legislature wrapped up its 2025 regular session Monday, with praise for what it accomplished mixed with caution about what comes next.

On the last day of this year’s session, there were no governor’s vetoes to attempt to override, and no debate on final passage of any bills. Instead, there was a closing speech by Gov. Jim Pillen, who praised lawmakers for their efforts over the last five months.

“It's an incredible honor to join you today as we celebrate our shared achievements of this session and our work to serve the people of this extraordinary state of Nebraska,” he said.

Pillen mentioned legislation including banning the use of cellphones in schools, merging government agencies dealing with water, improving pay for teachers by reducing their required retirement deductions, and requiring people representing the Chinese government to register. And he praised senators for passing a balanced budget in the face of what was at one time a projected shortfall of over $400 million.

“Together, we worked through and passed a balanced, historically conservative budget package that said ‘no’ when we needed to, that put idle pillow case money to work, invested in education and property tax relief and the safety of our state,” he said.

Sen. Danielle Conrad, a Democrat in the officially nonpartisan Legislature, faulted the Republican governor on that score.

“The governor touted the fact that we balanced the budget. We are constitutionally required to do so, and in fact, we did; however, what the governor neglected to mention is that we balanced the budget on the backs of low-income working families,” she said.

Conrad said families will pay more for everything from disposing of garbage to visiting state parks and going to college as a result of future increases in fees and tuition.

But Pillen indicated even more budget restraint is needed, to make room to lower property taxes.

“It is important that we keep focused on doing more with less, spending less serving Nebraskans so we can decrease spending and actually fix our tax system. We have to fix it because it's severely broken,” he said.

Speaker of the Legislature John Arch, a Republican, thanked senators for their hard work. Arch said they passed more than 200 of the more than 700 bills that were introduced, along with another 100 or so that were amended into what got passed.

“But we also come to the end of the session with mixed emotions, grateful for the work accomplished, but disappointed we couldn't do more," he said. "We all experienced that, but that is the motivation to return in January and pick up the work where we left off. There is always more work to do and more opportunity to make Nebraska an even better state in which to live our lives and build our dreams."

Arch predicted that next year’s session would once again be dominated by budget concerns.

“I will predict that our biggest challenge next year will be our budget," he said. "Once again, we sent a balanced budget to the governor, but we always face mid-biennium budget adjustments, and next year will be no different. And in fact, could be more challenging… There is considerable uncertainty in the world that could make accurately predicting our fiscal future more difficult. This uncertainty should be in your mind as you think about bills for next session, keep our budget in mind. Pay attention to what is happening in DC and the impact any action there can have on state funds."

Nebraska is projected to finish the two-year budget cycle that begins July 1 about $4 million above its legally required 3% budget reserve. But Congress is working on proposals, including cuts to Medicaid and SNAP benefits, that could add hundreds of millions in costs to the state, and require the Legislature to make further adjustments to balance the budget.