Nebraska Legislature

Nebraska State Capitol

The Nebraska Legislature is the highest legislature in the US state of Nebraska . Parliamentarians meet at the Nebraska State Capitol in the capital Lincoln , Lancaster County .

Nebraska is the only US state with a unicameral system in which no party membership is permitted ("nonpartisan"). No other state in the United States has a single Chamber of Parliament, but there are also unicameral systems in two US territories , Virgin Islands and Guam , and the Council of the District of Columbia .

historical development

The state of Nebraska originally also had a bicameral system . However, as time went on, the shortcomings of this system became apparent. Bills were lost because the two chambers could not agree on a common version. Furthermore, the advisory committees set up to bring the various versions under one roof had to meet in silence, which was unsustainable for their approach. After a brief trip to Australia in 1931, George W. Norris campaigned for reform. He argued that the bicameral system was basically based on the undemocratic British House of Lords and that it was nonsensical to have two chambers where people would do the same and consequently waste money. He referred specifically to the Australian state of Queensland , which had adopted a unicameral parliament nearly ten years earlier . In 1934 the voters approved a constitutional amendment, on the basis of which the House of Representatives was dissolved with the next elections in 1936 and its responsibilities were transferred to the Senate; this is the smallest in the United States with 49 members.

Campaigns to encourage the Nebraska Legislature to unite into a unicameral system go back to 1913, but were only moderately successful at the time. Many possible reasons have been blamed for the success of the constitutional amendment vote in 1934: the popular US Senator George Norris himself, who was an ardent supporter of the unicameral system; the Great Depression , which aroused the desire to cut costs; general dissatisfaction with the previous year's legislature; or even the fact that the change happened to be voted on in the same year as the change to legalize totalizator horse betting. This coincidence probably helped the voting success, as the horse betting legalization was a more pressing issue and its interested parties campaigned to vote for all new amendments in order to increase the success for the legalization.

The new unicameral legislature met for the first time in 1937. Although the House of Parliament's name is formally “Nebraska Legislature”, its MPs are commonly referred to as “ Senators ”. In Nebraska, the legislature is also often known as "The Unicameral".

Structure of the chamber

The Chamber of Parliament consists of 49 members, each representing an electoral district. The senators are each elected for four-year terms. Furthermore, the terms of office are staggered so that half of the MPs are re-elected every two years. Only people who are registered voters, are over the age of 21 and have lived in their electoral district for at least the last year may become senators. A senator's term of office is currently limited to two terms. A senator makes $ 12,000 a year.

The MPs are selected in non-partisan elections. Actually held as a stand-alone primary to select Republicans , Democrats, and other supporters for a seat, Nebraska uses a single primary in which the two strongest candidates for the race go to the general election . There is no formal party organization or group within the legislature. Instead, coalitions are formed by topic, based on the views of the MP with regard to the role of the government, the geographic background and the constituency. However, almost all members of the legislature are affiliated with either the Democratic or Republican party, and both parties clearly support candidates for legislative seats.

The Nebraska Legislature meets 90 working days in an odd year and 60 working days in an even year. In the absence of the Vice-Governor , the Speaker of the House ( Jim Scheer since 2017 ) chairs the plenary sessions, but the Executive Committee deals with day-to-day business. The committee consists of the speaker, a chairman, a deputy chairman and six other senators. The chairman and vice-chairman are elected by the entire legislature for a two-year term. The senators are classified into three geographic-based "caucuses", each of the caucus then electing two committee members. The chairman of the approval committee is not entitled to vote, but can speak about tax matters.

The legislature is responsible for making laws in the state, but the governor of Nebraska has the power to veto any bill . The legislature can then only revoke the governor's veto with a three-fifths majority, ie 30 MPs must agree to this. Furthermore, the legislature has the power to propose constitutional amendments through a three-fifths majority, who then decide in a referendum .

Unofficial composition after the 2010 election

Political party		MPs
	Republican Party	34
	Democratic Party	15th
total		49
majority		25th

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Queensland Parliament: History of Parliament House  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ Michael S. Dulaney, JD, Ph.D., Executive Director, Nebraska Council of School Administrators: A HISTORY AND DESCRIPTIONOF THE NEBRASKA LEGISLATIVE PROCESS . September 2, 2002. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
3. ^ Charlene Berens: Power to the People: Social Choice and the Populist / Progressive Ideal . University Press of America, Lanham, Maryland 2004, ISBN 9780761827634 , p. 252.

Web links

• The official site of the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature (Engl.)
  • History of the Nebraska Unicameral (Engl.)
• Project Vote Smart - Nebraska Legislature (Engl.)