Nebraska lawmakers seek to revive winner-take-all elections

Thursday was the first day of bill introductions for the 109th Legislature, and in all included 81 new bills. Bill introductions will continue for the next week and a half. The deadline for new bills on Jan. 22.

State Sen. Loren Lippincott of Central City revived a bill he first introduced in 2023 that would reinstate winner-take-all as the system Nebraska uses to award all five of its electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the state’s popular vote. Nebraska is one of two states, alongside Maine, that divides its electoral votes by congressional districts, although two of the five votes are distributed based on the statewide winner.

The bill in question, Legislative Bill 3, is largely identical to the bill Lippincott introduced in 2023, which went ignored through two sessions until Gov. Jim Pillen released a statement supporting the bill in the final weeks of the 2024 session, past the point when the bill had a serious chance of passing. LB 3 was introduced with the backing of Pillen’s request.

“I am grateful to Senator Lippincott for his leadership in restoring winner-take-all,” Pillen said in a press release. “Our experiment with the current system of electoral vote allocation has divided Nebraska and diminished our voice in the most important national exercise in democracy that we undertake — electing a Commander-in-Chief. The time is now to fix this, well in advance of the next presidential election cycle. Restoring winner-take-all has my full support and I look forward to signing it into law.”

Lippincott said winner-take-all is needed in order to better represent rural areas. Without it, he said urban population centers would cancel out the votes from rural states like Nebraska. When it comes to dividing electoral votes, Lippincott said there needs to be “uniformity and standardization.”

“All of us need to be the same,” Lippincott said.

Prior to the start of the session, Sen. Myron Dorn of Adams said he was planning to introduce an alternate approach to pass winner-take-all through a constitutional amendment, which would need to pass a vote of the people in 2026 if the Legislature approved it. But on Thursday, Dorn said he was uncertain whether he would actually introduce the proposal, though the legislation is drafted and ready to be dropped.

Dorn said he and a few other senators have met with the Governor’s Office, who have expressed concerns about Dorn’s alternative. While Dorn initially said he wanted to bring the constitutional amendment as a backup plan if LB 3 did not appear to have enough votes to pass, he said the governor’s staff are worried adding another option will hinder LB 3’s chance of passing.

Pillen previously told The World-Herald that he was firmly against passing winner-take-all through a constitutional amendment, because it would be more difficult to change Nebraska’s elections system in the future if it was locked into the state Constitution.

Also introduced Thursday was LB 81 from Sen. Brian Hardin of Gering, which aims to recover a so-called “lost credit” accidentally approved during 2024’s special session on property tax relief. A provision of the legislation frontloaded existing property tax credits, but because of its immediate implementation, backers of LB 81 say it created a gap where most taxpayers got no credit for their 2023 property taxes, unless they were among the roughly 15% of people who paid their property taxes in December 2023.

“We did the right thing. Now, it’s just a timing thing,” Sen. Jana Hughes of Seward said at a press conference on LB 81.

This lost credit is a point of dispute among lawmakers. Sen. Brad von Gillern of the Omaha area said the special session bill did not eliminate a year of tax credits, it just changed the timeline when taxpayers would receive the benefits. He also raised concerns about the cost of Hardin’s proposal since Nebraska is facing a $432 million budget shortfall. Hardin estimated Thursday that LB 81 would cost around $750 million.

Though LB 81’s supporters are hoping to pass the bill early so it takes effect before April’s tax deadline, Hardin acknowledged that the bill will likely require at least one amendment to ensure the 15% of people who paid their 2023 property taxes early won’t get extra credits. He said he introduced the bill primarily to get lawmakers talking about how to address the error.

Other bills that introduced Thursday included:

Omaha elections — LB 19, introduced by Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha, would put Omaha’s city elections for mayor, city council and other roles in the same year as presidential elections, starting in 2028. Such elections now take place in odd-numbered years, the year after a presidential election. Cavanaugh said his intent is to bring down election costs, and increase voter turnout in city elections, which is historically lower than general election turnout.

Pregnancy immunity — LB 53, introduced by Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha, would offer immunity from criminal or civil penalties to women who experience adverse pregnancy outcomes, including stillbirth, miscarriage or abortion. The bill is likely a response to the passage of Initiative 434 in November, which cemented Nebraska’s 12-week abortion ban in the state Constitution.

Contraceptive insurance — LB 68, introduced by Sen. Jane Raybould of Lincoln, would require insurance providers in Nebraska, including Medicaid, to cover prescriptions for contraceptives.

Narcan immunity — LB 5, introduced by Sen. Carolyn Bosn of Lincoln, would give immunity to health professionals or other authorized individuals who administer naloxone or other federally approved “opioid antagonists,” which are typically used to save victims of drug overdoses.

Statute of limitations — LB 12, introduced by Sen. George Dungan of Lincoln, would eliminate the statute of limitations in the State Tort Claims Act for civil penalties on offenses related to the sexual assault of a minor. A similar measure narrowly passed the Legislature last year, but Pillen vetoed it.

In-state sports betting — LB 63, introduced by Sen. Tom Brandt of Plymouth, would legalize betting on in-state collegiate sporting events, which is currently prohibited. The idea has been frequently discussed among lawmakers, most recently during the special session as a means of increasing state revenues to offset property tax relief.

Lottery tickets — LB 60, introduced by Sen. Dan Quick of Grand Island, would remove an existing restriction preventing lottery tickets from being sold via vending machines and similar dispensing devices.

Daylight saving time — LB 34, introduced by Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha, would signal Nebraska’s support for a year-round daylight saving time, effectively eliminating the practice of changing clocks twice a year. This idea has been proposed several times since 2021, but has yet to reach the finish line. If it passes this year, daylight saving time would only become permanent once federal law allowed it and three neighboring states also approved the same change.

Underserved youth — LB 45, introduced by Sen. Terrell McKinney of Omaha, would appropriate $20 million per year to distribute grants to programs that serve historically underserved youth. Under the bill, underserved youth is anyone 18 or younger who has been homeless, is in a low-income family or resides in an area of poverty or a qualified census tract, has been in foster care or the juvenile justice system, or is at risk of dropping out of school.

Student surveillance — LB 31, introduced by Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln, would require the State Board of Education to develop a policy regarding the use of student surveillance technology in schools by Dec. 1, 2025. Nebraska school districts would then have until May 1, 2026, to adopt written policies regarding the purchase and use of mass surveillance equipment.

School meals — LB 14, introduced by Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh, would establish a program requiring Nebraska K-12 schools that participate in certain federal school meal programs to provide free breakfast and lunches to all students. The program would also provide reimbursement plans to participating schools.

Restaurant meals — LB 46, introduced by McKinney, would allow elderly or disabled participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps, to use their SNAP benefits to pay for restaurant meals. Similar proposals have been attempted in the Legislature but have not succeeded.