Top Tweets for #keepItNonpartisan

Last week wrapped up the 108th Session of the Nebraska Legislature. While there were certainly victories, a whole lot more was left on the table. The main reason we could not get important work for Nebraska done is because our "non-partisan" Unicameral form of government is broken. It is unfortunate that 17 of 49 members of the body can block legislation. Even worse, the seventeen can stop legislation by simply not casting a vote. Next year starts the 109th Session of the Nebraska Legislature. There will be at least fifteen new Senators sworn into office, with a possibility of up to five more should incumbents lose their bids for re-election. This body must finally take bold action to reform the rules and end the extreme minority rule of the Legislature. The needed rules change is simple and extremely fair: 𝐄𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩. Nothing good comes from hiding votes from Nebraskans. It is also unconstitutional and deserves a challenge. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝟔𝟎%. This would mean 30 YES votes are needed to end debate instead of the current 33. It only takes 30 votes maximum for nearly every other procedural vote. It should only take 30 to end debate. 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐣𝐨𝐛! When voting on cloture, ONLY "YES" or "NO" votes should be used to determine what the 60% majority will be. There is no way being absent or not willing to cast a vote should be included when determining how many votes are needed. Bills should not die just because some Senators are afraid to cast a vote. These three simple rules changes would help get our Unicameral back to a place where elections matter. It is wrong to have a majority fail because not enough Legislators could cast a vote. Heading into 2025, rules changes are the number one issue. Without them, everything else will stall. It is time we started fixing our broken system.