Floor Debate March 14, 2018
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Transcript Prepared By the Clerk of the Legislature Transcriber's Office Floor Debate March 14, 2018 [LB158 LB299 LB741 LB760 LB773 LB803 LB807 LB845 LB861 LB873 LB923 LB944 LB945 LB950 LB994 LB1132 LB1135] PRESIDENT FOLEY PRESIDING PRESIDENT FOLEY: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the George W. Norris Legislative Chamber for the forty-third day of the One Hundred Fifth Legislature, Second Session. Our chaplain for today is Pastor Todd Bumgarner of the 2 Pillars Church in Lincoln, Nebraska, Senator Wishart's district. Please rise. PASTOR BUMGARNER: (Prayer offered.) PRESIDENT FOLEY: Thank you, Pastor Bumgarner. I call to order the forty-third day of the One Hundred Fifth Legislature, Second Session. Senators, please record your presence. Roll call. Mr. Clerk, please record. ASSISTANT CLERK: There is a quorum present, Mr. President. PRESIDENT FOLEY: Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Are there any corrections for the Journal? ASSISTANT CLERK: No corrections this morning. PRESIDENT FOLEY: Thank you, sir. Any any messages, reports, or announcements? ASSISTANT CLERK: No messages, reports, or announcements this morning. PRESIDENT FOLEY: Thank you, sir. (Doctor of the day introduced.) We'll proceed to the first item on the agenda, General File, 2018 Speaker priority bills. Mr. Clerk. ASSISTANT CLERK: Mr. President, first bill, LB741 introduced by Senator Lindstrom. (Read title.) The bill was introduced on January 3, referred to the Banking, Commerce and Insurance Committee. That committee placed the bill on General File with no committee amendments. [LB741] PRESIDENT FOLEY: Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Senator Lindstrom, you're recognized to open on LB741. [LB741] 1 Transcript Prepared By the Clerk of the Legislature Transcriber's Office Floor Debate March 14, 2018 SENATOR LINDSTROM: Thank you, Mr. President, and good morning, colleagues. LB741 was introduced on behalf of the Nebraska Real Property Appraiser Board. At its public hearing before the Banking, Commerce and Insurance Committee, LB741 had no opposition and was afterwards advanced without a dissenting vote. The purpose of the bill is to update the Real Property Appraiser Act for compliance with three things. First, Title XI, I want to repeat that, Title XI of the Federal Financial Institution Reform Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989. Second, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Act, we also call USPAP. And third, the policy statements of the Appraisal Subcommittee of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council. If the state of Nebraska is found to be out of compliance with Title XI by the Appraisal Subcommittee, the Appraisal Subcommittee may remove all Nebraska credentialed appraisers from the federal registry, resulting in there being no appraisers qualified to appraise real property in connection with federally-related transactions, which is approximately 80 percent of all loan activity in the state. Nebraska currently has about 700 certified or licensed real property appraisers. The bill makes a series of changes required for compliance with Title XI, USPAP, and the ASC policy statements such as changes to date references and definitions. LB741 also includes changes to lessen the burden on obtaining or maintaining a credential such as removing the required demonstration of general knowledge of Nebraska appraiser law. Simplifying the standards for evaluation of reciprocal applicants to jurisdiction of practice and removing the report writing update course for continuing education requirements. The bill would also repeal requirement that no more than 14 hours of continuing education activities, and each two continuing education period may be taken on-line or by correspondence. The bill would also repeal requirement that the seven hour national USPAP update course shall be taken in a classroom and not on-line or by correspondence. These changes will make things more convenient for our appraisers to keep their credentials up-to-date. Finally, LB741 includes minor changes to address administration of the Nebraska Real Property Appraiser Act and eliminates the provisions relating to the separate credential of real property associate. Currently there is nobody who holds this credential of real property associate. Thank you, colleagues, and I urge the body to advance LB741. Thank you, Mr. President. [LB741] PRESIDENT FOLEY: Thank you, Senator Lindstrom. Debate is now open on LB741. Senator Chambers. [LB741] SENATOR CHAMBERS: Thank you. Mr. President and members of the Legislature, I wonder if Senator Lindstrom would respond to a question or two. [LB741] PRESIDENT FOLEY: Senator Lindstrom, would you yield, please? [LB741] SENATOR LINDSTROM: I will. [LB741] 2 Transcript Prepared By the Clerk of the Legislature Transcriber's Office Floor Debate March 14, 2018 SENATOR CHAMBERS: Senator Lindstrom, I tried to follow what you were saying and in a nutshell, what does this bill do now? Does it reduce the requirements that a person has to meet to...well, just tell me. [LB741] SENATOR LINDSTROM: What does it do. So, there's a couple of provisions. One, it just puts us in compliance with several of the federal regulations. Basically if we don't pass this, 80 percent of the loans will not...mortgages in the state of Nebraska will not be able to take place. The other part of it is to lessen the burden on individuals for continuing education to be able to do some of these CE credits on-line versus going to a classroom. [LB741] SENATOR CHAMBERS: Thank you. Members of the Legislature, I would like to ask Senator Lowe if he would respond to a comment or two. [LB741] PRESIDENT FOLEY: Senator Lowe, would you yield, please? [LB741] SENATOR CHAMBERS: Senator Lowe, I want to thank you on the mike for the way you came to my assistance last night and I thought I would...before you came, I don't know whether you were an answer to prayers. But I decided that since these people pray every morning and I don't see any results from it, that maybe since I'm not in their swim, I would try one and just see what happened. So I was saying in my mind, what verse might fit? Oh, thine is the power. Thinking of OPPD, NPPD, and the other companies, and what to my wondering eyes should appear but this light from out of nowhere. And then I thought of another one. Let there be light. And there was light. Senator Lowe, you were the bringer of light to me last night. It was a great help and I do appreciate it and I want to acknowledge it and let you know that I appreciate it. So thank you for that. And I want to give my usual critique of the prayer. I listen to what is uttered by the person who prays over you all and tries to give you advice under the guise of praying to God. These preachers know that God knows what is going to be asked before they ask it. So they're trying to give you all a hint. The things that you ought to be doing. And I think there are ministers who will watch what we do and they are well-aware of the fact that there is a lot more we could do without any supernatural intervention. But because you all are superstitious and whatever else it is that leads to you pray every morning, maybe if he addressed you in that context, it would take, and you would do better. He said that God placed us, meaning senators, in a position of authority. I don't think that's true. Now, if the God you say believe in exists, that God has to have better sense than what would be indicated by suggesting that this is the best God could do. Now, there are 1,900,000 people in Nebraska, not all of them of age where they could be members of the Legislature. But of that great number, when God is calling, you think this is the best that God could do? Why, I happen to know as I've told you, that the Governor is not a man of righteousness. He can say he's a man of God. Anybody can say that. But he carries out... [LB741] 3 Transcript Prepared By the Clerk of the Legislature Transcriber's Office Floor Debate March 14, 2018 PRESIDENT FOLEY: One minute. [LB741] SENATOR CHAMBERS: ...and demonstrates why Jesus said it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God, but the Governor is not interested in that. But he put people here and I see that he controls those people. He pops his finger and they know what they're supposed to do. They snap to attention. They carry out his will as far and to the extent that they can, and God doesn't have anything to do with it, from my perspective. But since I don't converse with the God that you all say you believe in in the same way, and the God of whom I am a surrogate, what you're saying and what the minister said does not make sense and does not compute. The gentleman said God sets up kings and removes kings. [LB741] PRESIDENT FOLEY: Time, Senator. [LB741] SENATOR CHAMBERS: Thank you, Mr. President. [LB741] PRESIDENT FOLEY: Thank you, Senator Chambers. You're next in the queue, you may continue. [LB741] SENATOR CHAMBERS: I don't believe that either. If you read history, you'll see how various kings were removed and you'll see how various people became kings. So if God does have a hand in all of this, there is a kind of symmetry and consistency because many of the kings, in fact, the majority of them are no better stuff than members of the Legislature.