March 24-27, 2014
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UNICAMERAL UPDATE Stories published daily at Update.Legislature.ne.gov Vol. 37, Issue 12 / Mar. 24 - 27, 2014 State prison reform Suicide measures advanced prevention training advancedchool staff members would receive annual training on sui- Scide awareness and prevention under a bill advanced from general file March 25. Under LB923, introduced by Lin- coln Sen. Amanda McGill, all public school nurses, teachers, counselors, school psychologists and administra- tors would receive at least one hour of training each year, beginning with the 2014-15 school year. McGill said 14 Sen. Brad Ashford responds to a question about the proposal from Sen. Sue Crawford of other states currently require similar Bellevue. training. he Legislature’s effort to initi- • provide $200,000 to establish “Our state really does nothing ate prison reform advanced the Nebraska Center for Justice when it comes to suicide prevention T from general file March 26. Research at the University of in our schools,” she said. “This is part Introduced by Omaha Sen. Brad Nebraska at Omaha; of a greater conversation happening Ashford, LB907 is intended to re- • create a reentry program coor- about mental health in Nebraska duce the recidivism rate of offenders dinator to advise corrections and across our country. This bill is released from prison. officials regarding programs intended to potentially save lives.” A Judiciary Committee amend- that transition inmates into The required training would be ment, adopted 36-0, replaced the communities; and included under the existing in-service initial draft of the bill and primarily • require the state Department of training framework required by the state would: Correctional Services to ensure Department of Education or as part • appropriate to the state Office that an inmate’s rehabilitation/ of required professional development of Probation Administration reentry program is complete activities. The department would be $5 million to expand mental or near completion upon the required to collaborate with appropriate health services and $3.8 mil- inmate serving 80 percent of organizations and experts to develop a lion to expand new reporting his or her sentence. list of approved training materials. centers; An Ashford amendment to the Cedar Rapids Sen. Kate Sullivan • appropriate $5 million to the committee amendment, adopted 36- said there are new issues facing school Nebraska Crime Commission 0, would create the Nebraska Justice districts. for the vocational and life skills Reinvestment Working Group, which “Ten or 15 years ago we never program; would comprise state senators, cor- thought we’d be talking about some (continued page 2) (continued page 3) INSIDE: Property tax relief approved • State airplane approved • Climate study change advanced March 24 - 27, 2014 Prison reform measures advanced (continued from front page) rectional and law enforcement officials, judges, attorneys, Mello said LB907 would save the state money by begin- community members and former inmates. The group would ning the process of diverting nonviolent offenders away assist the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice from prison. Center in producing a report that prescribes how to reduce “The process we have right now is very expensive, when prison overcrowding to 125 percent within five years. we put everyone in corrections,” Mello said. Ashford said the bill builds a platform from which Ne- Omaha Sen. Steve Lathrop said prison overcrowding braska and the CSG, with whom the state has contracted has led to conditions such as poor air quality and a lack to study its correctional system, can begin solving the of programs that put the state at risk for inmate lawsuits. problems of prison overcrowding and offender recidivism. LB907, he said, would show the courts that the state is “This will be successful,” Ashford said. “Working with making efforts to fix correctional system problems—pos- CSG and this Legislature … we will totally reform and sibly protecting Nebraska from mandated prisoner release revamp our prison system to reduce the prison population or prison construction. and keep our citizens safer.” The bill includes provisions of two other bills. Speaking in support of the bill, Omaha Sen. Heath LB808, introduced by Lincoln Sen. Danielle Conrad, would provide $500,000 to expand a student loan assistance program for attorneys who provide public legal service in rural Nebraska. Recipients would be eligible for $6,000 per year in loan forgiveness for practicing for at least three years in an area with a population of less than 15,000. Sen. Danielle Conrad LB932, introduced by Lincoln Sen. Bill Avery, would prohibit a public em- ployer from asking a job applicant to disclose their criminal history until the applicant has been determined to meet minimum employment qualifications. Law enforcement agencies would be exempt from the restriction. Sen. Bill Avery Judiciary Committee members Sens. Steve Lathrop (left) and Mark Senators advanced the bill on a 36-0 vote. g Christensen confer during the debate. UNICAMERAL UPDATE The Unicameral Update is a free, weekly newsletter published during the legislative session. It is produced by the Clerk of the Legislature’s Office through the Unicameral Information Office. For print subscriptions, call 402-471-2788 or email [email protected]. Visit us online at Update.Legislature.ne.gov and follow us on Twitter.com/UnicamUpdate. Clerk of the Legislature: Patrick J. O’Donnell Editor: Heidi Uhing; Writers: Kate Heltzel, Ami Johnson, Jon Taylor; Photographer: Bess Ghormley Printed copies of bills, resolutions and the Legislative Journal are available by calling the 24-Hour Request Line at 402-471-2877. Subscriptions are available by calling 402-471-2271 or visiting Room 2108 in the State Capitol. For status of bills and resolutions, visit NebraskaLegislature.gov/bills or call the Legislative Hotline (during session) at 402-471-2709 or 800-742-7456. Live video of hearings and floor debate can be viewed on NET2 and at NetNebraska.org/capitol. Senators may be contacted by mail at this address: Senator Name, District #, State Capitol, P.O. Box 94604, Lincoln, NE 68509-4604 Assistance provided by the Clerk of the Legislature’s Office, the Legislative Technology Center, committee clerks, legal counsels, journal clerks, pages, transcribers, mail room and bill room staff and the State Print Shop. THE NEBRASKA LEGISLATURE’S OFFICIAL NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1977 PAGE 2 • UNICAMERAL UPDATE • 103RD LEGISLATURE March 24 - 27, 2014 Suicide prevention training advanced (continued from front page) of these topics,” she said. “These attacks on schools; and are real issues that school districts • overseeing suicide awareness are talking about. There is value and prevention training. in having someone look at what Kolowski said school safety the school districts are doing and continues to be an important pri- sharing best practices.” ority in the wake of recent school An Education Committee violence. amendment, adopted 28-1, would “We continue to hear in the add school social workers to the news of more acts of violence in list of school personnel to receive schools,” he said. “Families and the required training. schools are looking to their law- The amendment also incorpo- makers for leadership. [This bill] rated provisions of LB872, origi- is an important first step for our nally introduced by Omaha Sen. state to ensure Nebraska schools Rick Kolowski. It would create the have safe learning environments.” position of state school security di- A Kolowski amendment to the rector under the department. The committee director’s duties would include: amendment, • collecting safety and secu- adopted 28- rity plans from each school 1, would de- system; lay the imple- Sen. Amanda McGill said awareness is the first step in • recommending minimum preventing teen suicides. mentation of standards for school security; • establishing security awareness the school se- • conducting an assessment of and preparedness tools and curity director’s Sen. Rick Kolowski the security of each public training programs for public duties until Jan. 1, 2015. It also would school building; school staff; require that the director’s initial as- • identifying deficiencies in • establishing research-based sessment of state school security be school security based on the model instructional programs completed by Aug. 31, 2017. minimum standards adopted for staff, students and parents Senators advanced the bill to select by the state; to address causes for violent file on a 30-0 vote. g U.S. Congress contact information Senator Mike Johanns Congressman Jeff Fortenberry Congressman Adrian Smith United States Senate (District 1) (District 3) 404 Russell Senate Office Building 1514 Longworth House Office Building 2241 Rayburn House Office Building Washington D.C. 20510 Washington, D.C. 20515 Washington, D.C. 20515 Tel. (202) 224-4224 Tel. (202) 225-4806 Tel. (202) 225-6435 Senator Deb Fischer Congressman Lee Terry United States Senate (District 2) 383 Russell Senate Office Building 2266 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 Washington, D.C. 20515 Tel. (202) 224-6551 Tel. (202) 225-4155 103RD LEGISLATURE • UNICAMERAL UPDATE • PAGE 3 March 24 - 27, 2014 Dairy study bill passed The bill stems from LB583, adopt- Senators passed a bill March 24 ed in 2013, which directed the climate requiring the state Department of Ag- committee to produce an original riculture to provide the Legislature a report to the governor on the impact report about Nebraska’s dairy industry. of climate change on the state and Exotic animal regulations LB941, introduced by Ogallala Sen. to facilitate communication between passed Ken Schilz, calls for stakeholders to address those impacts Senators passed a bill March 24 the report to exam- and response strategies. that addresses the state’s authority ine Nebraska’s milk “This bill … will provide the state of to regulate exotic animal sales in Ne- production and Nebraska good, scientifically accurate braska. processing, market- information that can be put to use by LB884, introduced by North Platte ing and expansion our agriculture industry,” Haar said.