LINCOLN — Time is a precious resource in the legislature and something that Speaker John Arch wants to make sure isn’t being wasted in their 60 day session.
“Our agenda will be set by your priority bills. Choose them wisely to have the greatest impact on the greatest number of people, we only have 60 days,” said Arch.
One priority bill is targeting a popular alternative to cannabis that thousands of Nebraskans use.
“Delta 8 should not be for sale in Nebraska as it is in the current law. We can approach that through filing lawsuits and litigating like we have, but there are a lot of stores around the state,” said Attorney General Mike Hilgers.
The new effort to ban Delta 8 is coming from Theresa Ibach. The bill would modify the Nebraska Hemp Farming Act to prohibit the sale of Delta 8 and move regulatory authority from the state to the US Department of Agriculture.
Ibach says the bill is only targeting Delta 8 and not CBD, another product derived from hemp.
“We do not want to inhibit the sale of CBD products because they are legal products but we are capping it there. We only want CBD products to be sold,” said Ibach.
With nearly 200 bills already introduced it still remains to be seen which ones will take up the most time but there is some legislation that will be sure to grab lawmakers attention.
Senator Michaela Cavanaugh has introduced a bill to repeal the controversial “Let them Grow Act” which banned gender affirming care and introduced a 12 week abortion ban.
Senator Kathleen Kauth, the author of the “Let Them Grow Act”, has carried over a bill from last year, “The Sports and Spaces Act” which ban biological males from participating in K-12 sports designed for females, and require students to use bathrooms designated for their gender at birth.
Senator Terrell McKinney introduced LB919, a bill that would require the state to demolish the current Nebraska State Penitentiary within a year of completing their new prison in Lincoln.
Lawmakers aren’t done yet and even more legislation will be introduced on Friday.
