Hey, everybody… Hopefully this reaches everyone doing well in health and spirit. So, it’s all come down to an override vote on Monday (May 8th). As usual, I’d like to thank everyone for all their efforts great and small to help get LB75 on the razor’s edge of victory.
We’re so close but yet we must press forward through this last part of the challenge. Let’s hang tough and remain persistent we just need to convince a few senators to vote our way.
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LB478 was passed by the Nebraska Legislature on May 3rd during final reading. The vote was 46 yes, 0 no, 1 present – not voting, 2 excused – not voting and 0 absent. So, why does LB478 deserve attention?
LB478 is a bill sponsored by Senators Mike Groene (Dist. 42) and John Lowe (Dist. 37) it grants the right to ex-felons to possess and use archery equipment and knives for recreational purposes. This is a good thing. LB478 deserves attention for one reason i.e., consistency or the lack of it.
Through its 3 rounds of voting LB478 didn’t receive 1 no vote from any of the 49 senators. There were some senators that were present during voting and didn’t vote. Contrast this against the no votes LB75 received from the senators voting yes to allow ex-felons the right to possess and use a crossbow and knives for recreational purposes. Where’s the consistency?
It seems that senators voting yes for LB478 but voting no for LB75 are literally more comfortable with ex-felons possessing weapons and fearful of ex-felons voting upon discharge. If this were an issue of public safety ex-felons voting upon discharge appears to be more of a public safety concern than the possession and use of weapons by the same demographic.
There’s one other thing to note about LB478, is was passed with an emergency clause (“Since an emergency exists, this act takes effect when passed and approved according to law.”). Normally a bill becomes law 90 days after being signed by the governor. A bill passed with an emergency clause becomes effective immediately after being signed by the governor.
What emergency exists that requires putting weapons in the hands of ex-felons so quickly that wouldn’t necessitate putting a vote in the hands of ex-felons with the same immediacy? Where’s the consistency?
***CALL TO ACTION***
The override vote of the governor’s veto to LB75 will be on Monday, May 8th. There’s still time to hopefully get the needed votes for an override.
I suggest we email, phone call and visit those senators that voted yes for LB478 (http://www.nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_votes.php…) but voted no for LB75 or have been present and didn’t vote or were excused from voting (http://www.nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_votes.php…). Make sure to contact your senator, if he or she isn’t voting yes for LB75 try to persuade them to do so.
Your email, phone call or visit should be tailored to the senator’s last vote on LB75 (e.g., Senator you were present and not voting/voted no/excused not voting for LB75 but voted yes for LB478. I’m seeking your vote on Monday to override the governor’s veto because it would be consistent with your vote on LB478).
Senators voting no:
Sen. Joni Albrecht
District 17
Room #2010
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2716
Email: jalbrecht@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Tom Brewer
District 43
Room #1202
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2628
Email: tbrewer@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Robert Clements
District 2
Room #1523
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2613
Email: rclements@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Suzanne Geist
District 25
Room #1115
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2731
Email: sgeist@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Steve Halloran
District 33
Room #1306
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2712
Email: shalloran@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Robert Hilkemann
District 4
Room #2028
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2621
Email: rhilkemann@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Mike Hilgers
District 21
Room #1404
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2673
Email: mhilgers@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Brett Lindstrom
District 18
Room #1401
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2618
Email: blindstrom@leg.ne.gov
Sen. John Lowe
District 37
Room #1528
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2726
Email: jlowe@leg.ne.gov
Sen. John Murante
District 49
Room #1423
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2725
Email: jmurante@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Merv Riepe
District 12
Room #1402
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2623
Email: mriepe@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Jim Scheer
District 19
Room #2103
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2929
Email: jscheer@leg.ne.gov
Sen. John Kuehn
District 38
Room #2000
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2732
Email: jkuehn@leg.ne.gov
Senators Present not voting:
Sen. Bruce Bostelman
District 23
Room #1118
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2719
Email: bbostelman@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Lydia Brasch
District 16
Room #1022
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2728
Email: lbrasch@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Tom Briese
District 41
Room #1120
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2631
Email: tbriese@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Joni Craighead
District 6
Room #2107
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2714
Email: jcraighead@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Dan Hughes
District 44
Room #1210
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2805
Email: dhughes@leg.ne.gov
Sen. John Stinner
District 48
Room #1004
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2802
Email: jstinner@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Dan Watermeier
District 1
Room #2108
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2733
Email: dwatermeier@leg.ne.gov
Senators Excused not voting:
Sen. Curt Friesen
District 34
Room #1110
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2630
Email: cfriesen@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Mike Groene
District 42
Room #1107
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2729
Email: mgroene@leg.ne.gov
Florida Activists Push For Ex-Felon Voting Change
https://www.wuft.org/news/2017/04/14/activists-push-for-ex-felon-voter-rights-restoration/
APRIL 10, 2017 – The Nebraska Legislature advanced LB75 to final reading (3rd round). LB75, if passed, would eliminate the 2-year waiting period for returning citizens to gain voting eligibility after the completion of probation, parole or discharging a felony sentence.
LB75 must survive final reading with at least 25 votes. LB75 would then go to Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts to be signed into law. Governor Ricketts has indicated that he’d veto LB75 if the Legislature passes it. It will require 30 votes from the Legislature to override a seemingly imminent veto by the governor. Here’s how the voting for LB75 has gone through the prior two rounds of voting: http://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_all_votes.php?DocumentID=30782
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
MARCH 31, 2017 – The Nebraska Legislature on Friday had first round (general file) debate on LB75. 28 Yes, 8 No and 10 Not voting was the outcome. Two votes short of being veto-proof, LB75 will need other votes if Governor Pete Ricketts decides to veto the bill.
In 2005, then LB53 (which is Nebraska’s current law requiring a two-year waiting period for returning citizens to exercise their right vote after parole or discharge form the felony sentence) was vetoed by then Governor Dave Heineman. The veto was short live and quickly overrode by a Legislature vote of 36 Yes, 11 No. History may repeat itself some 12 years later.
See a Unicameral article on LB75 and how the Nebraska Senators voted on LB75 in the links below.
http://update.legislature.ne.gov/?p=215 http://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_votes.php?KeyID=1753
March 31, 2017 – The Nebraska Legislature debated LB75 on general file today. LB75 seeks to eliminate the 2-year waiting for returning citizens to exercise their right to vote after discharging their felony sentence. If passed, LB75 would restore the right to vote upon discharge.
With very limited debate, LB75 advanced to the next round (select file) of voting. The tally of votes cast were: 28 Yes, 8 No and 10 present but not voting. It was over and done quickly. LB75 must survive 2 more rounds of voting (25 votes needed per round to advance). If it survives to the 3rd round of voting (final reading) it could face possible veto from Governor Pete Ricketts. It will take 30 votes to override a veto from the governor.
LB75 had a very strong showing. There are 18 votes i..e., the 8 no and 10 not voting, that can possible added to the 28 yes votes to make LB75 veto proof. J15! See how the Nebraska Senators voted on Friday: http://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_votes.php?KeyID=1753
March 9, 2017 – All priority bills were designated in the Nebraska Legislature. Each of the 49 state senators get to designate one priority bill during the session. A priority bill, as the name suggests, is given priority over other bills that aren’t a priority. A priority bill can scheduled for floor debates faster than other none priority bills. Newly elected State Senator Justin Wayne, District 13, took the bold step of designating LB 75 as his first priority as a senator. LB 75 seeks to eliminate the 2-year waiting period that returning citizens must wait after parole or discharging their felony sentence to exercise their right to vote.
LB 75 has been placed on general file or 1st round of floor debates. It will have to survive 3 rounds of voting and needing 25 votes per round to advance. LB 75 has very long way to go to become a new law, but it’s needed.
Check out this link for an update of today’s events surrounding LB 75.
justus15vote 