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ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH LEGISLATURE
FIRST SESSION
LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION 2CA
PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
Introduced by Erdman, 47; Halloran, 33; Wayne, 13.
Read first time January 05, 2023
Committee: Executive Board
1 THE MEMBERS OF THE ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA, FIRST
2 SESSION, RESOLVE THAT:
3 Section 1. At the general election in November 2024, the following
4 proposed amendment to the Constitution of Nebraska shall be submitted to
5 the electors of the State of Nebraska for approval or rejection:
6 To amend Article III, sections 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14,
7 17, 22, 24, and 27; Article IV, sections 1, 4, 7, 10, 12, 15, 16, and 27;
8 Article V, section 5; Article VII, sections 10 and 14; Article XIII,
9 section 1; and Article XVI, sections 1 and 2:
10 III-1 (1) Until the regular legislative session that begins in
11 January 2027, the The legislative authority of the state shall be vested
12 in a Legislature consisting of one chamber. Beginning with the regular
13 legislative session that begins in January 2027, the legislative
14 authority of the state shall be vested in a Legislature consisting of two
15 chambers: a House of Representatives and a Senate.
16 (2) The people reserve for themselves the power to propose laws and
17 amendments to the Constitution and to enact or reject the same at the
18 polls, independent of the Legislature, which power shall be called the
19 power of initiative. The people also reserve power at their own option to
20 approve or reject at the polls any act, item, section, or part of any act
21 passed by the Legislature, which power shall be called the power of
22 referendum.
23 III-2 The first power reserved by the people is the initiative
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1 whereby laws may be enacted and constitutional amendments adopted by the
2 people independently of the Legislature. This power may be invoked by
3 petition wherein the proposed measure shall be set forth at length. If
4 the petition be for the enactment of a law, it shall be signed by seven
5 percent of the registered voters of the state, and if the petition be for
6 the amendment of the Constitution, the petition therefor shall be signed
7 by ten percent of such registered voters. In all cases the registered
8 voters signing such petition shall be so distributed as to include five
9 percent of the registered voters of each of two-fifths of the counties of
10 the state, and when thus signed, the petition shall be filed with the
11 Secretary of State who shall submit the measure thus proposed to the
12 electors of the state at the first general election held not less than
13 four months after such petition shall have been filed. The same measure,
14 either in form or in essential substance, shall not be submitted to the
15 people by initiative petition, either affirmatively or negatively, more
16 often than once in three years. If conflicting measures submitted to the
17 people at the same election be approved, the one receiving the highest
18 number of affirmative votes shall thereby become law as to all
19 conflicting provisions. The constitutional limitations as to the scope
20 and subject matter of statutes enacted by the Legislature shall apply to
21 those enacted by the initiative. Initiative measures shall contain only
22 one subject. The Legislature shall not amend, repeal, modify, or impair a
23 law enacted by the people by initiative, contemporaneously with the
24 adoption of this initiative measure or at any time thereafter, except
25 upon a vote of at least two-thirds of all the members of each house of
26 the Legislature.
27 III-5 (1) The Legislature shall by law determine the number of
28 members to be elected to the House of Representatives, except that there
29 shall not be more than sixty-three representatives. The legislative
30 districts in effect on January 1, 2023, shall continue as the districts
31 for the House of Representatives until such districts are redrawn
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1 following the 2030 federal census as provided in this section. Members of
2 the unicameral Legislature elected or appointed to serve terms beginning
3 in the regular legislative session that begins in January 2025 shall be
4 representatives of the House of Representatives in January 2027 until
5 their terms expire, they are not reelected, or they are otherwise removed
6 from office in accordance with this Constitution.
7 (2) The Legislature shall by law and divide the state into
8 legislative districts for the House of Representatives. Any bill to draw
9 districts of the House of Representatives shall originate in the Senate.
10 In the creation of such districts, any county that contains population
11 sufficient to entitle it to two or more representatives members of the
12 Legislature shall be divided into separate and distinct legislative
13 districts, as nearly equal in population as may be and composed of
14 contiguous and compact territory. One representative member of the
15 Legislature shall be elected from each such district. The basis of
16 apportionment shall be the population excluding aliens, as shown by the
17 next preceding federal census. The Legislature shall redistrict the state
18 for the House of Representatives after each federal decennial census. In
19 any such redistricting, county lines shall be followed whenever
20 practicable, but other established lines may be followed at the
21 discretion of the Legislature.
22 (3)(a) The Senate shall consist of thirty-one members. Each senator
23 shall represent a district composed of three contiguous counties.
24 (b) On or before May 1, 2025, the Legislature shall by law divide
25 the state into legislative districts for the Senate. Thereafter, the
26 Legislature may by law redistrict such districts whenever deemed
27 appropriate, except that such districts shall always consist of three
28 contiguous counties and such districts shall not be redrawn more often
29 than once every ten years. Any bill to redistrict such districts shall
30 originate in the House of Representatives.
31 III-6 The Legislature shall consist of not more than fifty members
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1 and not less than thirty members. The sessions of the Legislature shall
2 be annual except as otherwise provided by this constitution or as may be
3 otherwise provided by law.
4 III-7 (1) The members of the House of Representatives from even-
5 numbered districts shall be elected for terms of four years at the
6 statewide general election in November 2026 and each four years
7 thereafter. The members of the House of Representatives from the odd-
8 numbered districts shall be elected for terms of four years at the
9 statewide general election in November 2028 and each four years
10 thereafter.
11 (2) The members of the Senate from even-numbered districts shall be
12 elected for terms of four years at the statewide general election in
13 November 2026 and each four years thereafter. The members of the Senate
14 from odd-numbered districts shall be elected for a term of two years at
15 the statewide general election in November 2026. The members of the
16 Senate from odd-numbered districts shall be elected for a term of four
17 years at the statewide general election in November 2028 and each four
18 years thereafter.
19 (3) The At the general election to be held in November 1964, one-
20 half the members of the Legislature, or as nearly thereto as may be
21 practicable, shall be elected for a term of four years and the remainder
22 for a term of two years, and thereafter all members shall be elected for
23 a term of four years, with the manner of such elections shall election to
24 be determined by the Legislature.
25 (4) When the House of Representatives or Senate Legislature is
26 redistricted, the members elected prior to the redistricting shall
27 continue in office, and the law providing for such redistricting shall
28 where necessary specify the newly established district which they shall
29 represent for the balance of their term.
30 (5) Each member shall be nominated and elected in a nonpartisan
31 manner and without any indication on the ballot that he or she is
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1 affiliated with or endorsed by any political party or organization. Each
2 member of the Legislature shall receive a salary of not to exceed one
3 thousand dollars per month during the term of his or her office. In
4 addition to his or her salary, each member shall receive an amount equal
5 to his or her actual expenses in traveling by the most usual route once
6 to and returning from each regular or special session of the Legislature.
7 Members of the Legislature shall receive no pay nor perquisites other
8 than his or her salary and expenses, and employees of the Legislature
9 shall receive no compensation other than their salary or per diem.
10 III-10 (1) Regular Beginning with the year 1975, regular sessions of
11 the Legislature shall be held annually, commencing at 10 a.m. on the
12 first Wednesday after the first Monday in January of each year. The
13 duration of regular sessions held shall not exceed ninety legislative
14 days in odd-numbered years unless extended by a vote of four-fifths of
15 all members elected to each house of the Legislature, and shall not
16 exceed sixty legislative days in even-numbered years unless extended by a
17 vote of four-fifths of all members elected to each house of the
18 Legislature.
19 (2) Bills and resolutions under consideration by the Legislature
20 upon adjournment of a regular session held in an odd-numbered year may be
21 considered at the next regular session, as if there had been no such
22 adjournment.
23 (3) Neither house of the Legislature shall adjourn for more than
24 three days without the consent of the other house.
25 (4) The Lieutenant Governor shall preside in the Senate, but shall
26 vote only when the Senate Legislature is equally divided.
27 (5) A majority of the members elected to each house of the
28 Legislature shall constitute a quorum for each house. Each house ; the
29 Legislature shall determine the rules of its proceedings; and be the
30 judge of the election, returns, and qualifications of its members; and ,
31 shall choose its own officers, including a Speaker to preside when the
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1 Lieutenant Governor shall be absent, incapacitated, or shall act as
2 Governor.
3 (6) The Senate shall choose a President pro tempore to preside when
4 the Lieutenant Governor is absent, incapacitated, or acting as Governor.
5 (7) The House of Representatives shall choose a Speaker. Beginning
6 in 2027, the Secretary of State shall call the House of Representatives
7 to order at the opening of each regular session of the Legislature and
8 preside over the house until a Speaker is chosen.
9 (8) No member shall be expelled except by a vote of two-thirds of
10 all members elected to such member's house of the Legislature, and no
11 member shall be twice expelled for the same offense. The House of
12 Representatives or Senate Legislature may punish by imprisonment any
13 person not a member thereof who is shall be guilty of disrespect to the
14 House of Representatives or Senate Legislature by disorderly or
15 contemptuous behavior in its presence. No , but no such imprisonment
16 shall extend beyond twenty-four hours at one time, unless the person
17 persists shall persist in such disorderly or contemptuous behavior.
18 III-11 The House of Representatives and Senate Legislature shall
19 each keep a journal of its proceedings and publish them, except such
20 parts as may require secrecy, and the yeas and nays of the members on any
21 question shall at the desire of any one of them be entered on the journal
22 of the respective house. All votes shall be viva voce. The doors of the
23 Legislature and of the committees of the Legislature shall be open,
24 except when the business shall be such as ought to be kept secret. The
25 yeas and nays of each member of any committee of the Legislature shall be
26 recorded and published on any question in committee to advance or to
27 indefinitely postpone any bill.
28 III-12 (1) No person shall be eligible to serve as a member of the
29 House of Representatives for four years next after the expiration of two
30 consecutive terms in the House of Representatives regardless of the
31 district represented.
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1 (2) (1) No person shall be eligible to serve as a member of the
2 Senate Legislature for four years next after the expiration of two
3 consecutive terms in the Senate regardless of the district represented.
4 (2) Service prior to January 1, 2001, as a member of the Legislature
5 shall not be counted for the purpose of calculating consecutive terms in
6 subsection (1) of this section.
7 (3) For the purpose of this section, service in office for more than
8 one-half of a term shall be deemed service for a term.
9 III-13 (1) The style of all bills shall be, Be it enacted by the
10 people of the State of Nebraska, and no law shall be enacted except by
11 bill. No bill shall be passed by the Legislature unless by the assent of
12 a majority of all members elected to each house and the yeas and nays on
13 the question of final passage of any bill shall be entered upon the
14 journal of each house.
15 (2) All bills passed by one house may be amended by the other house.
16 No amendment to a bill by one house shall be concurred in by the other
17 house and no conference committee report as to any bill shall be adopted
18 by either house, except by the assent of the same number of members as is
19 required for the passage of the original bill. Any bill may originate in
20 either house, except that bills appropriating money shall originate only
21 in the House of Representatives and except as provided in section 5 of
22 this article.
23 III-14 Every bill and resolution shall be read by title when
24 introduced, and a printed or electronic copy thereof provided for the use
25 of each member. The bill and all amendments thereto shall be made
26 available in printed or electronic form printed and presented before the
27 vote is taken upon its final passage and shall be read at large in each
28 house unless three-fifths of all the members elected to such house the
29 Legislature vote not to read the bill and all amendments at large. No
30 vote upon the final passage of any bill shall be taken until five
31 legislative days after its introduction nor until it has been on file for
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1 final reading and passage for at least one legislative day. No bill shall
2 contain more than one subject, and the subject shall be clearly expressed
3 in the title. No law shall be amended unless the new act contains the
4 section or sections as amended and the section or sections so amended
5 shall be repealed. The presiding officer of each house Lieutenant
6