Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

LB1328                                                                                  LB1328
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                                   LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA
                             ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH LEGISLATURE
                                       SECOND SESSION
                         LEGISLATIVE BILL 1328
     Introduced by Murman, 38.
     Read first time January 17, 2024
     Committee: Education
 A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to schools; to amend sections 32-543, 32-811,
         79-474,    79-475,    79-520,    79-534,   79-549,    79-555,   79-589,   79-590,
         79-5,105,    79-5,106,     and    79-1093,    Reissue Revised Statutes of
         Nebraska,    and sections    32-405,   32-618,    79-102,   79-104,   79-407,
         79-413, 79-451, 79-458, 79-470, 79-473, 79-499, 79-4,108, 79-4,129,
         79-501,    79-524,    79-525,    79-526,   79-547,    79-550,   79-554,   79-559,
         79-564,    79-569,    79-570,    79-572,   79-576,    79-577,   79-578,   79-579,
         79-580, 79-581, 79-586, 79-587, 79-588, 79-594, 79-5,104, 79-611,
         79-1045,    79-1084,     79-10,114,      79-10,117,   and   79-10,118,    Revised
         Statutes Cumulative Supplement, 2022; to change provisions relating
         to classification of school districts; to harmonize provisions; and
         to repeal the original sections.
     Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,
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         Section 1. Section 32-405, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,
  2022, is amended to read:
        32-405 Any special election under the Election Act shall be held on
     the first Tuesday following the second Monday of the selected month
    unless otherwise specifically provided. No special election shall be held
    under the Election Act in   April,   May,   June,   October,   November,   or
    December of an even-numbered year unless it is held in conjunction with
    the statewide primary or general election. No special election shall be
    held under the Election Act in September of an even-numbered year except
     for a special election by a political subdivision pursuant to section
    13-519 or 77-3444 to approve a property tax levy or exceed a property tax
     levy limitation. A special election for a Class I, II, III, IV, or V
  school district which is located in whole or in part in a county in which
     a city of the primary or metropolitan class is located may be held in
 conjunction with the primary or general election for a city of the
    primary or metropolitan class which is governed by a home rule charter.
        Sec. 2. Section 32-543, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
    amended to read:
         32-543 (1) If a caucus is held for nominations under section 79-549
  for a Class I, II, or III school district, the board of education shall
 consist of six members to be elected by the registered voters of the
    school district at the statewide primary election. Two members shall be
    elected at each election for a term of six years. The members shall meet
    the qualifications found in section 79-543.
         (2) Except as provided in subsection (1) of this section, members of
     the board of education of a Class I, II, or III school district shall be
    nominated at the statewide primary election and elected at the statewide
    general election. The board of education of a Class I, II, or III school
     district shall have no fewer than five members and no more than nine
  members as provided in section 79-549 or 79-550, and the members shall be
     nominated and elected at large or by district or ward as provided in
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    section 32-554 or nominated by district or ward and elected at large as
    provided in section 79-550. The number of members to be nominated at the
    statewide primary election and elected at the statewide general election
     and the terms for which they will be nominated and elected shall be
     determined by the election commissioner or county clerk with the aid of
 the elected secretary of the board of education of the district. The
     terms of office of members of such board shall expire on the first
     Thursday after the first Tuesday in January. Terms shall be staggered so
     that approximately one-half of the members are elected to the board at
  each general election for terms of four years. When it becomes necessary
 to establish the staggering of terms by electing members for terms of
     different duration at    the same election,    candidates receiving the
    greatest number of votes shall be elected for the longest terms. The
    members shall meet the qualifications found in section 79-543.
         Sec.    3.   Section      32-618,     Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,
    2022, is amended to read:
         32-618 (1) The number of signatures of registered voters needed to
    place the name of a candidate upon the nonpartisan ballot for the general
    election shall be as follows:
         (a) For each nonpartisan office other than members of the Board of
    Regents of the University of Nebraska and board members of a Class I, II,
     or III school district, at least ten percent of the total number of
     registered voters voting for Governor or President of the United States
    at the immediately preceding general election in    the district or
     political subdivision in which the officer is to be elected, not to
  exceed two thousand;
         (b)    For members of   the Board of    Regents of    the University of
    Nebraska, at least ten percent of the total number of registered voters
    voting for Governor or President of the United States at the immediately
     preceding general election in the regent district in which the officer is
  to be elected, not to exceed one thousand; and
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         (c) For board members of a Class I, II, or III school district, at
  least twenty percent of the total number of votes cast for the board
  member receiving the highest number of votes at the immediately preceding
  general election in the school district.
         (2) The number of signatures of registered voters needed to place
     the name of a candidate for an office upon the partisan ballot for the
  general election shall be as follows:
         (a) For each partisan office to be filled by the registered voters
  of the entire state, at least four thousand, and at least seven hundred
  fifty signatures shall be obtained in each congressional district in the
  state;
         (b) For each partisan office to be filled by the registered voters
  of a county, at least twenty percent of the total number of registered
  voters voting for Governor or President of the United States at the
     immediately preceding general election within the county, not to exceed
     two thousand, except that the number of signatures shall not be required
     to exceed twenty-five percent of the total number of registered voters
  voting for the office at the immediately preceding general election; and
         (c) For each partisan office to be filled by the registered voters
  of a political subdivision other than a county, at least twenty percent
  of the total number of registered voters voting for Governor or President
  of the United States at the immediately preceding general election within
  the political subdivision, not to exceed two thousand.
         Sec. 4. Section 32-811, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
  amended to read:
         32-811   (1)(a)   If the names of   candidates properly filed for
  nomination at the primary election for directors of natural resources
  districts,      directors of    public power districts,   members of   airport
  authority boards elected pursuant to sections 32-547 to 32-549, members
  of the boards of governors of community college areas, members of the
 boards of Class I, Class II, Class III, or Class V school districts which
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 nominate candidates at a primary election, and officers of cities of the
 first or second class and cities having a city manager plan of government
 do not exceed two candidates for each position to be filled, any such
 candidates shall be declared nominated and their names shall not appear
 on any primary election ballots.
         (b) If the number of candidates properly filed for the nomination of
 a political party at the primary election for any county officer elected
 pursuant to sections 32-517 to 32-529 does not exceed the number of
 candidates to be nominated by that party for that office, any such
 properly filed candidates shall be declared nominated and their names
 shall not appear on any primary election ballots.
         (c) The official abstract of votes kept by the county or state shall
 show the names of such candidates with the statement Nominated Without
 Opposition. The election commissioner or county clerk shall place the
 names of such automatically nominated candidates on the general election
 ballot as provided in section 32-814 or 32-815.
         (2)    Candidates shall not appear on    the ballot in   the primary
 election for the offices listed in subsection (2) of section 32-606.
         (3)    If the number of    candidates for delegates to   a county or
 national political party convention are the same in number or less than
 the number of candidates to be elected, the names shall not appear on the
 primary election ballot and those so filed shall receive a certificate of
 election.
         Sec.    5.    Section    79-102,       Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,
     2022, is amended to read:
         79-102 School districts in this state are classified as follows:
         (1) Class I includes any school district embracing territory having
 a population of fewer than one thousand five hundred inhabitants that
 maintains both elementary and high school grades under the direction of a
 single school board;
         (2) Class II includes any school district embracing territory having
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 a population of one thousand five hundred or more but fewer than five
     thousand inhabitants that maintains both elementary and high school
  grades under the direction of a single school board;
        (3) (1) Class III includes any school district embracing territory
    having a population of five thousand or more but fewer than two hundred
    thousand less than one hundred fifty thousand inhabitants that maintains
     both elementary and high school grades under the direction of a single
     school board;
         (4) (2) Class IV includes any school district embracing territory
  having a population of one hundred thousand or more inhabitants with a
     city of the primary class within the territory of the district that
  maintains both elementary and high school grades under the direction of a
  single school board; and
         (5)     (3)   Class     V    includes any school district whose employees
  participate in a retirement system established pursuant to the Class V
 School Employees Retirement Act and which embraces territory having a
    city of the metropolitan class within the territory of the district that
     maintains both elementary grades and high school grades under the
  direction of a single school board and any school district with territory
  in a city of the metropolitan class created pursuant to the Learning
  Community Reorganization Act and designated as a Class V school district
  in the reorganization plan.
         Sec.     6.   Section       79-104,   Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,
  2022, is amended to read:
         79-104 (1)(a) Whenever any Class I, II, III, or IV school district
     attains the number of inhabitants which requires its reclassification as
     a Class II, III, IV, or V school district, respectively, the Commissioner
 of Education shall reclassify such district as a district of the next
    higher class.
         (b)     Any reclassification pursuant to   subdivision    (1)(a)        of this
 section shall become effective at the beginning of the next fiscal year
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 after the order of the commissioner.
         (2) On January 1, 2025 2019, the commissioner shall reclassify any
 school district to the classification required by the changes made to
 section        79-102      by this legislative bill Laws       2018,    LB377,      which
 reclassification shall be effective immediately.
         (3) Within fifteen days after the reclassification of any school
     district pursuant to   subsection            (1)   or     (2)    of this section,      the
 commissioner shall notify the county clerk or election commissioner, of
 the county in which the greatest number of legal voters in the school
 district reside, of such change in classification and the effective date
 of such change.
         Sec.    7.     Section       79-407,     Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,
     2022, is amended to read:
         79-407       The territory within the corporate limits of     each
 incorporated municipality in the State of Nebraska that is not in part
 within the boundaries of    a learning community,         together with such
 additional territory and additions to such municipality as may be added
 thereto, as declared by ordinances to be boundaries of such municipality,
 having a population of five thousand or more but fewer than two hundred
 less than one hundred fifty thousand inhabitants as determined by the
 most recent federal decennial census or the most recent revised certified
 count by the United States Bureau of the Census, including such adjacent
 territory as now is or hereafter may be attached for school purposes,
 shall constitute a Class III school district, except that nothing in this
 section shall be      construed to    change the boundaries of   any school
 district that is a member of a learning community. The school district
 shall be    a body corporate and possess all the usual powers of   a
 corporation for public purposes and may sue and be sued, purchase, hold,
 and sell such personal and real property, and control such obligations as
 are authorized by law.
         Sec.    8.     Section       79-413,     Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,
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    2022, is amended to read:
         79-413 (1) The State Committee for the Reorganization of School
  Districts created under section 79-435 may create a new school district
  from other districts or change the boundaries of any district that is not
 a member of a learning community upon receipt of petitions signed by
     sixty percent of the legal voters of each district affected. If the
  petitions contain signatures of at least sixty-five percent of the legal
  voters of each district affected, the state committee shall approve the
  petitions.
        (2) Petitions proposing to change the boundaries of existing school
     districts that are not members of   a learning community through the
 transfer of a parcel of land, not to exceed six hundred forty acres,
    shall be approved by the state committee when the petitions involve the
     transfer of land between Class I, II, III, or IV school districts or when
  there would be an exchange of parcels of land between Class I, II, III,
 or IV school districts and the petitions have the approval of at least
    sixty-five percent of the school board of each affected district.
         (3)(a) Petitions proposing to create a new school district or to
  change the boundary lines of existing school districts that are not
     members of a learning community, any of which involves the transfer of
  more than six hundred forty acres, shall, when signed by at least