Sen. DeBoer urges fresh review of Legislature’s committee structure, pauses rules vote

Sen. DeBoer used a point of personal privilege on the floor of the Nebraska Legislature to urge colleagues to revisit the Legislature’s committee structure and to approach any rule changes incrementally rather than in a single omnibus reform. She said she and staff compiled historical bill-load data to support the recommendation and asked members to continue the work at Legislative Council later this year.

DeBoer argued lawmakers should ‘‘start small’’ to increase the chance of passage, citing a proposal that would merge the Agriculture and Natural Resources committees into an Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee and would split the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee into a two-day Transportation Committee and a one-day Telecommunications and Technology Committee. She said the intent of the telecommunications and technology committee would be to house bills where technology is the fundamental issue and to provide staff expertise on complex technical matters.

The senator cited comparative bill-load figures to explain the need for change, saying one-day committees averaged about 4.43 bills per hearing day over the past five long sessions while the Agriculture Committee averaged 1.61 bills and the Natural Resources Committee averaged roughly 1.09–1.35 bills per hearing day. ‘‘Both the agriculture and natural resources committee on average see three fewer bills per day than their peer committees,’’ DeBoer said, arguing the imbalance has institutional consequences.

DeBoer told members the rules she had proposed would not be a referendum on the value of any subject area and emphasized that quantity does not equal importance: ‘‘There was a bill I was asked to consider earlier this year that I was told was a very simple bill, a one-word bill… but it fundamentally alters the statute.’’

She said outreach with colleagues was insufficient this session and that the decision to delay formal debate on the rules change reflected that shortfall. DeBoer relayed that the Speaker may place committee-structure discussion on the Legislative Council agenda so new and returning senators can review the work and provide input. She said staff and her aide Brian Murray would continue to provide data and briefings for members who want more information.

The floor did not take a vote on the rule changes during the afternoon session; DeBoer encouraged senators to send ideas to her office and to Brian Murray, her staffer, and to engage in more one-on-one conversations before a future attempt to alter committee rules.

The Legislature reconvened other business after her remarks and proceeded to final-reading votes on multiple bills.