Everything about The Nebraska Legislature totally explained
The
Nebraska Legislature is the
U.S. state of
Nebraska's
legislative branch. The Legislature meets in the
Nebraska State Capitol at
Lincoln. It is unique in that it's the only American
state legislature that's
unicameral and
nonpartisan. However, territorial legislatures such as the
Legislature of the Virgin Islands, the
Legislature of Guam, and the
Council of the District of Columbia are similarly unicameral.
History
Nebraska originally operated under a
bicameral legislature. Over time, defects in the bicameral system became apparent. Bills were lost because the two houses couldn't agree on a single version, and conference committees that were created to reconcile different versions of bills often met in secret, and were thus unaccountable for their actions. After a trip to
Australia in 1931,
(External Link
) George Norris campaigned for reform, arguing that the bicameral system was based on the inherently undemocratic
British House of Lords, and that it was pointless to have two bodies of people doing the same thing and hence wasting money. He specifically pointed to the example of the Parliament for the Australian state of
Queensland, which had adopted a unicameral parliament nearly ten years earlier.
(External Link) In 1934, a
constitutional amendment was passed revoking the House of Representatives and adding all its former duties to the Senate (the amendment was on the same ballot as an amendment that legalized betting on horse races. Some historians speculate that this coincidence may have aided its passage in Omaha, where the unicameral issue wasn't a pressing one, but horse racing was. It is speculated that gambling interests campaigned for yes votes on both to assure that the horse racing amendment would pass). The new unicameral Legislature met for the first time in 1937. Though the name of the body is formally the "Nebraska Legislature," its members are commonly referred to as "
Senators". In Nebraska, the Legislature is also often simply known as "The Unicameral".
Selection, composition and operation
The Legislature comprises forty-nine members, chosen by a single-member district or constituency. Senators are chosen for four-year terms, with one-half of the seats up for election every second year. No person may be a senator unless he or she's a qualified voter, over the age of twenty-one, and a resident of his or her district for at least one year. Currently, senators are limited by law to two terms. Senators earn $12,000 a year.
Members are selected in
nonpartisan elections. Rather than separate
primaries held to choose
Republican,
Democratic, and other
partisan contenders for a seat, Nebraska uses a single nonpartisan
primary election, in which the top two vote-getters are entitled to run in the
general election. There are no formal party alignments or groups within the Legislature. Coalitions tend to form issue by issue based on a member's philosophy of government, geographic background, and constituency. However, almost all the members of the legislature are affiliated with the state affiliate of either the Democratic or the Republican party and both parties explicitly endorse candidates for legislative seats. The unofficial partisan makeup of the Nebraska Legislature is 31 Republicans, 15 Democrats, and 3
Independents
Sessions of the Nebraska Legislature last for 90 working days in odd-numbered years and 60 working days in even-numbered years. The
Speaker presides over the Legislature in the absence of the Lieutenant Governor, but the day-to-day matters of the body are dealt with by the Executive Board. The Board includes the Speaker, a chairperson, a vice-chairperson, and six other senators. The chairperson and vice-chairperson are chosen for two-year terms by the Legislature as a whole. Senators are classified into three geographically-based "caucuses"; each
caucus elects two board members. Finally, the chairman of the Appropriations Committee serves, but can't vote on any matter, and can only speak on fiscal matters.
General powers
The Legislature is responsible for law-making in the state, but the
Governor has the power to
veto any bill. The Legislature may override the governor's veto by a vote of three-fifths (30) of its members. The Legislature also has the power, by a three-fifths vote, to propose constitutional amendments to the voters, who then decide upon it through a
referendum.
Membership
Note: The Nebraska Legislature is nonpartisan; members' party affiliations are for informational purposes only.
Each member represents about 35,000 people.
*Speaker of the Nebraska LegislatureFurther Information
Get more info on 'Nebraska Legislature'.
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