June 27, 2025

Legislative Update Wrap-Up Edition
109th Legislature, First Session

The First Session of the 109th Nebraska Legislature is complete. This session brought in 16 new senators, and one returning senator, Dan Quick (Grand Island), who previously served in the Legislature. Additionally, 10 of the 14 standing committees were chaired by first-time senators. The Legislature convened on January 8, and adjourned sine die on June 2, one day earlier than initially planned. The 89-day session was reminiscent of 2023 based on the number of filibusters and stall tactics. The largest issue tackled this year was the biennial budget, with a nearly half-billion-dollar budget shortfall projected going into the beginning of the session.

Overall, there were 715 legislative bills and 18 proposed constitutional amendments introduced. The 109th Legislature was the first session where Senators had a self-imposed maximum number of bills they were allowed to introduce. The rule limiting each senator to 20 bills was enacted in 2024 and is aimed at limiting the total number of bills. For reference, there were 812 bills introduced in 2023 during the first year of the 108th Legislature and 684 bills introduced in 2021 during the first year of the 107th Legislature. Of the 715 bills introduced this year, 209 bills, including the biennial budget bills, and one constitutional amendment were passed by the Legislature and an additional 113 were amended into bill packages, for a total of 322 bills. This includes all four of the NBA’s affirmative legislative bills.

We have summarized only the major bills of direct interest to the banking industry, according to subject. Other non-banking legislative measures were disposed of early in the session and were previously covered in the weekly NBA Legislative Update narratives or Bill Summary emails.
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NBA Affirmative Legislation
NBA Legislation During this session, the NBA enjoyed great success with all of the bills on the NBA’s Affirmative Legislative agenda being enacted into law. These bills are detailed on pages 5 and 6 of this document. In addition to these four items, the Nebraska Legislature passed LB 559, introduced by Senator Carolyn Bosn (Lincoln), to modernize criminal statutes to combat fraud. LB 559 adds a new definition for “skimmer device” and creates a new criminal offense for the installation of a skimmer device and for use of a skimmer device. Additionally, LB 559 will enact a “kingpin” law for organized financial crimes, allowing an aggregation of transactions to increase punishment for those in leadership positions within criminal organizations. The bill also contains provisions to combat organized retail theft. Combatting fraud will continue to be a priority for the NBA.

Additionally, many other bills supported by the NBA were passed by the Legislature. Even more significant, the Legislature took no final action on any of the bills on which the NBA had established a position of opposition and were indefinitely postponed (IPP). The success of this session is in large part attributable to the excellent grassroots support provided by Nebraska bankers. When called upon to make contacts with legislators, Nebraska bankers responded promptly and effectively in communicating about the NBA’s position on issues of importance to the banking industry. Thank you to each and every Nebraska banker who took time to visit with their state senator during the 2025 Legislative Session.

2025 By the Numbers
As stated above, the 109th Legislature was often bogged down with filibusters and delays. According to the Clerk of the Legislature, 347 different motions were filed. That is the second highest ever, with 2023 holding that record. Likewise, a total of 24 bills were taken to cloture – a procedural motion to end filibusters and take a bill to an immediate vote, which requires a 2/3 vote, which is 33 of 49 senators. The 2025 session was also the second highest in cloture votes in history, with the 2023 session coming in first.

Biennial Budget
​The state of Nebraska entered the session in January with a projected revenue shortfall of $432 million. The Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board met again on February 28 and revised the forecast, shrinking the shortfall to approximately $198.8 million. This is in large part due to the projected increase in corporate income tax receipts. However, the budget took a hit when Senator Rob Clements (Elmwood) announced the following week that the Federal government announced a decrease in its contribution to state Medicaid costs, resulting in Nebraska being on the hook for an additional $90.3 million this budget cycle. The Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board met once again on April 25, adding $190 million to the projected budget deficit for the next two years. The Legislature dealt with this primarily by sweeping various state agency cash funds (LB 264), pulling from the Cash Reserve Fund and paring back recently enacted tax credits (LB 645 and LB 650). Some criticism came over the nearly $300 million swept from various state agency cash funds over the next two years in order to balance the budget.

Governor Pillen issued several line-item vetoes to the primary biennial budget bills. But, due to an apparent mix-up, the bills were not properly returned to the Clerk of the Legislature, as required by the Nebraska Constitution. The vetoes included $11.99 million in funding to the Nebraska Supreme Court, $2 million from public health departments, $511,972 from the State Fire Marshal for salary and health insurance premium increases, and $18 million on spending on Lake McConaughy. The Nebraska Legislature rejected the vetoes, and those items remain in the budget.

Additionally, the Legislature considered, once again, various bills to enact new sales taxes or eliminate certain sales tax exemptions, along with new “sin taxes” to provide property tax relief. For the third time in just over one year, these bills failed to garner the support necessary to overcome a bipartisan filibuster. LB 170, introduced by Senator Tom Brandt (Plymouth), was one of the major revenue packages for the session. With the pending amendment, LB 170 would include LB 169 and additional sin taxes. The bill would have imposed new sales taxes on 18 so-called “luxury” items, soda and candy, and increased existing taxes on cigarettes, nicotine and vape products. The measure was projected to add $100 million per year to existing property tax relief funds. In the face of strong bipartisan opposition, the sponsor attempted to limit the bill to solely increase the cigarette, nicotine and vape product taxes. Nevertheless, even the largely pared-down version still failed to garner the necessary 33 votes to invoke cloture and end debate. This is the same result as LB 388 during the 2024 Legislative Session and LB 1 during the 2024 Special Session. Following adjournment, Governor Pillen has expressed continued interest in broadening the sales tax base, foreshadowing a likely renewed effort in 2026.

Ballot Initiatives
Much of the session focused on the five ballot initiatives that passed during the 2024 General Election and the minimum wage ballot initiative that passed during the 2022 General Election. LB 415, introduced by Senator Beau Ballard (Lincoln), as amended, includes LB 698, which was introduced by Senator Paul Strommen (Sidney). The combined measure amends the Nebraska Healthy Families and Workplaces Act, also known as Initiative 436 or the Paid Sick Leave Ballot Initiative, to provide significant “clean-up” language and a small business exemption for businesses with 10 or fewer employees. 

LB 258, introduced by Senator Jane Raybould (Lincoln), would amend the voter-approved minimum wage law to create a youth wage at $13.50 per hour and cap the annual increase at 1.75%. Under current law, the minimum wage is set to increase to $15.00 per hour on January 1, 2026, and increase annually thereafter by the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the Midwest Region. The bill needed 33 votes to advance and came up one short with a supporter absent. The Legislature took up the motion to reconsider during another heated and personal debate. Senators approved the motion on a vote of 33-16. However, Speaker John Arch (LaVista) did not schedule any further debate or votes on the bill and promptly moved on with the agenda. It is expected to be taken up in January after the increase to $15.00 per hour.

The Legislature also took up debate on medical cannabis following the passage of two medical cannabis ballot initiatives. Although there were multiple bills introduced, the Legislature focused on LB 677, introduced by Senator Ben Hansen (Blair). LB 677 was meant to add substance, “guardrails” and several other technical and substantive changes to the medical cannabis ballot initiatives. The bill was designated as a General Affairs Committee priority bill and was set to restructure the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission to, in large part, act as the Medical Cannabis Commission. Yet, the Legislature became deadlocked over a number of issues, including what medical conditions should be included for medical marijuana use, and whether patients should be able to smoke or “vape” medical marijuana. Proponents of LB 677 have argued that failing to act would result in a “wild west” with no real regulation, as the ballot initiatives were self-enacting. The bill faced stiff opposition from opponents of medical cannabis, and ultimately, the bill failed to overcome the filibuster. The motion to invoke cloture filed by Senator Hansen failed on a vote of 23-22. In the meantime, Governor Pillen has changed course from initial statements and decided to move forward with appointing two individuals to the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission and promulgating regulations related to the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Regulation Act.

Anti-ESG Legislation
This session saw the introduction of two “anti-ESG” bills targeting the banking industry (LB 686 and LB 687). This is in addition to the four measures introduced during the last biennium. The NBA was successful in defeating each of these proposals and will continue to lead the charge to preserve the free-market approach that has given our nation the strongest and most resilient financial industry in the world. Nebraska banks should be free to lend to or not lend to any entity, provided they do not violate statutory, regulatory, fair lending or other anti-discrimination laws. As part of this effort, the NBA has continued to engage and educate Senators on these issues.

Conclusion
Members of the NBA Government Relations Committee spent many hours reviewing potential legislation for introduction on behalf of the NBA and analyzed other legislation introduced throughout the session. The Committee makes recommendations regarding legislation to be introduced on behalf of the NBA and positions to be established by the NBA on legislation of interest. These recommendations are forwarded to the NBA Board of Directors for final action. Special thanks to Tim Sladek, Waypoint Bank, Cozad who served as Chair of the NBA Government Relations Committee this year, along with all of the members of the Government Relations Committee for their efforts on behalf of the banking industry. A listing of the 2024-2025 members of the Committee is included in the full NBA Legislative Update Wrap-Up edition linked below.

Legislative Wrap-Up