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A New Year, A New Legislature

Published by Dave January 3rd, 2007

I’ll be honest, I’m not much for covering the day-to-day workings of the legislature. That’s Kyle’s territory. I’m at my best when I’m focusing on national issues and federal officials, or when there’s an election going on. But there’s an interesting dynamic in the unicameral that’s been shaped by the last elections, or - more accurately - the 2000 elections. The entire makeup of the Nebraska unicameral changed thanks to term limits passed by the voters in 2000. Now, 22 new senators (20 elected to seats vacated by term limits) open the new session of the unicameral. Today in Lincoln, they were sworn in, and began the 100th Nebraska Legislature.

Nebraska’s unicameral is technically nonpartisan. Senators are elected without partisan affiliations, there are no party caucuses or official party organizations within the legislature. Of course, partisan influences come into play, and each party has an interest in electing members to the legislature. Still, partisan influence over the unicameral proceedings is generally kept to a minimum - that’s how we end up with a voter felon law one day and a concealed weapons law another, among other things. That’s not to say that there aren’t ideological coalitions, but the nonpartisan nature of the legislature does work to the advantage of progressive ideas in Nebraska.

There is one notable exception, however. Leadership positions favor the Republicans in the legislature greatly. Not unexpected in a chamber where they outnumber Democrats 2 to 1. And in any other legislature, this would be standard practice. Today, an inexperienced and politically ambitious Republican Senator, Mike Flood, was elected Speaker of the Legislature over an experienced Democrat, DiAnna Schimek. Flood, 31, was elected to the legislature only two years ago.

The next two years present an opportunity for the legislature to move this state forward, to work together to solve the problems that face this state, and to provide a measure of balance to Dave Heineman. I’m not sure if Heineman can manage to make things much worse in this state. I just hope the unicameral can make things a little bit better.

Tomorrow: Our New Democratic Congress convenes, a New Direction for America Begins, and we won’t forget about Lee Terry, Jeff Fortenberry, or Adrian Smith.

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