APRIL 7, 2017
 
LB75 will be debated on select file (2nd round) by the Nebraska Legislature on April 10th (Monday). LB75 is the priority bill of Omaha Senator, Justin Wayne, it seeks to eliminate the 2-year waiting period for voting eligibility of returning citizens after discharging their felony conviction.
The debate is scheduled for the afternoon. As a recap to the voting on LB75 during the general file debate (March 31st), here’s how the voting went: 28 Yes, 8 No, 10 Present – Not voting and 3 Excused – Not voting. So, there’s potentially 21 votes that could still be cast for LB75.
LB75 needs 25 votes each round of voting to advance. It will need 30 votes to survive a governor veto. More votes are needed to make LB75 veto-proof. On a historical note, the current law (then LB53 the 2-year waiting period) 12 years ago was vetoed by Governor Dave Heineman only to be overrode by 36 votes of the Legislature. Will this ultimately be a case of de ja vu? Time will tell.
 
Urgent action is needed now to gather more votes for LB75. What can you do? Below are the 21 senators that hold the fate of LB75 in their collective votes. These senators either voted no, were present and didn’t vote or were excused from voting during general file.
 
All of the senators below, regardless of their initial vote or none vote, should be called, emailed and visited requesting their support for LB75.
 
Sen. Joni Albrecht (voting no)
District 17
Room #2010
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2716
Email: jalbrecht@leg.ne.gov
 
Sen. Bruce Bostelman (voting no)
District 23
Room #1118
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2719
Email: bbostelman@leg.ne.gov
 
Sen. Lydia Brasch (present – not voting)
District 16
Room #1022
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2728
Email: lbrasch@leg.ne.gov
 
Sen. Tom Briese (voting no)
District 41
Room #1120
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2631
Email: tbriese@leg.ne.gov
 
Sen. Robert Clements (voting no)
District 2
Room #1523
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2613
Email: rclements@leg.ne.gov
 
Sen. Joni Craighead (present – not voting)
District 6
Room #2107
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2714
Email: jcraighead@leg.ne.gov
 
Sen. Laura Ebke (excused – not voting)
District 32
Room #1103
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2711
Email: lebke@leg.ne.gov
 
Sen. Curt Friesen (excused – not voting)
District 34
Room #1110
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2630
Email: cfriesen@leg.ne.gov
 
Sen. Suzanne Geist (voting no)
District 25
Room #1115
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2731
Email: sgeist@leg.ne.gov
 
Sen. Mike Hilgers (excused – not voting)
District 21
Room #1404
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2673
Email: mhilgers@leg.ne.gov
 
Sen. Robert Hilkemann (present – not voting)
District 4
Room #2028
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2621
Email: rhilkemann@leg.ne.gov
 
Sen. Dan Hughes (present – not voting)
District 44
Room #1210
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2805
Email: dhughes@leg.ne.gov
 
Sen. John Kuehn (present – not voting)
District 38
Room #2000
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2732
Email: jkuehn@leg.ne.gov
 
Sen. Brett Lindstrom (voting no)
District 18
Room #1401
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2618
Email: blindstrom@leg.ne.gov
 
Sen. John Lowe (present – not voting)
District 37
Room #1528
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2726
Email: jlowe@leg.ne.gov
 
Sen. John Murante (voting no)
District 49
Room #1423
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2725
Email: jmurante@leg.ne.gov
 
Sen. Merv Riepe (voting no)
District 12
Room #1402
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2623
Email: mriepe@leg.ne.gov
 
Sen. Jim Scheer (present – not voting)
District 19
Room #2103
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2929
Email: jscheer@leg.ne.gov
 
Sen. Jim Smith (present – not voting)
District 14
Room #1116
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2730
Email: jsmith@leg.ne.gov
 
Sen. John Stinner (present – not voting)
District 48
Room #1004
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2802
Email: jstinner@leg.ne.gov
 
Sen. Dan Watermeier (present – not voting)
District 1
Room #2108
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2733
Email: dwatermeier@leg.ne.gov