LINCOLN, Neb (KMTV) — It's been slowed down, but the weeks-long filibuster effort by progressive senators isn’t dead in the water just yet.
“We are not standing in the way of the legislature doing business. You are doing that," said Senator Machaela Cavanaugh. "By choosing to dig in, by choosing to prioritize this egregious government overreach; that if it were any other issues than trans kids' medical care, everyone would be up in arms.”
On Tuesday the five main senators behind the filibuster, Senators Megan Hunt, John Cavanaugh, Machaela Cavanaugh, Jen Day and Danielle Conrad were faced with their second major setback after the body voted to suspend, then adopt new rules regarding priority motions.
To know the impact of this, it's important to know how priority motions work.
There are three priority motions: a senator can motion to bracket a bill, indefinitely postpone debate, or recommit it to committee. Each time a motion is introduced it's sent to the top of the speaking queue and senators get 10 minutes to speak on the motion.
Before the rules change, any senator could introduce as many of these motions as they wanted. It was a never-ending string of motions last week that kept supporters of LB 574 from testifying before a cloture vote — a vote to end the debate — was held on the last day of debate.
Now, the body as a whole can only introduce each of these motions once per debate, effectively ending the previous strategy of neverending priority motions.
“Let's debate them on this floor. Let’s get over this hump, let’s withdraw all these amendments that have just been dropped and let’s debate the bills on their merits,” said Senator John Lowe.
A day after the rules change came into effect debate was still glacially slow, compared to normal years, but it was moving more than it has in recent days.
But senators will need to move quickly to catch up to the number of bills normally passed in a regular session.
In 2021, the last regular session, 215 bills were passed for the entire session. To match that number in 2023 a little over five bills would need to be passed, every day, for the rest of the session.
One set of bills that senators won’t be able to run the clock out on is those pertaining to voter ID.
Because it was passed as a ballot initiative, the legislature is constitutionally mandated to pass laws governing voter ID.
If they fail to do that in the next 38 days, they will have to return for a special session, which would likely take place this summer.
That could be an expensive proposition for the state; in years past special sessions have cost as much as $10,000 a day.
RELATED: Nebraska Legislature adopts rule change for rest of session
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