Legislative oversight proposal gets first-round approval

By Fred Knapp , Senior Reporter/Producer Nebraska Public Media

21 de Mayo de 2025 a las 17:00 ·

Sen. John Arch during debate Wednesday (Photo by Fred Knapp, Nebraska Public Media News) — Sen. John Arch during debate Wednesday. (Photo by Fred Knapp, Nebraska Public Media News)

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The Legislature gave first-round approval Wednesday to a new division that would watch over state government agencies, despite criticism that it has given up power to other branches of government.

Sen. John Arch, speaker of the Legislature, is the lead sponsor of the bill to create a new Division of Legislative Oversight. It's in response to a 2023 opinion by Attorney General Mike Hilgers that said previous laws, creating inspectors general to oversee prisons and child welfare, were unconstitutional. In his opinion, Hilgers said the inspectors general were largely insulated from oversight or control by the Legislature.

The bill seeks to overcome that by creating a new division under direct control of a new legislative committee. It would combine oversight of prisons and child welfare with the ombudsman’s office, which handles citizen complaints about government agencies, and the Performance Audit Committee, which evaluates government efficiency.

Arch said a new law should be enacted to ensure the Legislature can exercise its oversight duties.

“Regardless of the other two coequal branches, it's time for this Legislature to move forward," he said. "When each of us came here on our first day, we raised our hand and took an oath of office. We swore to uphold the constitution, and one of our constitutional duties is to provide oversight. We need to get the information necessary to do what we are elected to do -- legislate and appropriate. One of the ways to get that information is to provide oversight. In my opinion, this bill gets us to where we should be."

Sen. Danielle Conrad opposed the proposal. She argued that after Hilgers issued his opinion, the Legislature should have sued, instead of negotiating temporary oversight ability and now trying to pass a new law.

“Our Legislature, at the direction of Speaker Arch, former Executive Board Chair -- my friend -- Ray Aguilar, and current Executive Board Chair -- my friend -- Senator Ben Hansen, instead of moving forward to stand in our power and protect our coequal branch of government from unwarranted and unfounded political attack, capitulated,” she said.

Sen. Wendy DeBoer expanded on the argument.

“An attorney general's opinion is just an opinion. So it is a bit of a concern that we have been acting as though the Attorney General can have a veto on our laws, including past laws. The governor doesn't even have that. That's giving the Attorney General more power than the governor,” she said.

Arch disputed that the Legislature had caved in response to the attorney general’s opinion.

“I disagree with the characterization of ‘capitulated’ at that time, and I think it has to do with the goal," he said. "What is the goal and what always has been the goal of our statutes? I believe that it is a robust legislative oversight function, constitutionally-compliant."

Sen. Terrell McKinney objected to part of the bill that would have imposed criminal penalties on employees of the oversight division who revealed information about any investigations that were conducted.

“If we're creating a more expansive amount of criminal exposure for employees of these offices, I think that is an issue, especially when communicating with senators and also communicating what's going on and how we need to respond to these things,” he said.

Arch initially defended the possibility of criminal charges, arguing that it would apply only to cases of intentionally disclosing confidential information. But he then agreed to an amendment that removed criminal penalties, while saying employees could still be dismissed for disclosures.

Senators then voted 39-3 to give the bill first round approval.

On another subject, Gov. Jim Pillen issued his second veto of the session, this one directed at a bill by McKinney aimed at cracking down on the Omaha Housing Authority for renting out apartments infested with bed bugs.

Clerk of the Legislature Brandon Metzler read from Pillen’s veto message.

“I believe that local government should possess the authority to enforce basic sanitation and anti-infestation standards for dwellings within their jurisdiction," he said. "Our communities, including the city of Omaha, already possess this authority. Moreover, this legislation imposes a redundant solution in pursuit of a problem that existing federal oversight is already legally equipped to address. The Omaha Housing Authority is already subject to rigorous federal oversight, including inspections conducted annually, biannually or as needed by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development."

McKinney defended his bill, LB287.

“LB287 was meant to assist and help people who've been living through horrible conditions, and nobody, no entity at no level has stepped up to try to address those issues," he said. "So it's really disappointing that the governor would veto that bill, and I did submit a veto override, because I think it should pass, because it did pass, and we'll have that conversation later."

As of Wednesday afternoon, McKinney said he did not know when the veto override attempt would take place.