LINCOLN- Abortion, voting rights, critical race theory, and vaccine mandates. In the upcoming legislative session, issues that have commanded national political conversations and highlighted party divisions this past year are likely to surface at Nebraska’s Capitol in Lincoln. In most cases, it’s unclear what form specific legislation might take.
But there’s little doubt among political observers that the issues will play some role in the 60-day session that starts Jan. 5 — a session that is already slated to be jam-packed with legislative action, including the allocation of $1 billion in federal COVID relief money. One policy area that states have been testing: restrictions on abortion. Anti-abortion advocates in Nebraska have been watching other states and court activity with interest. Meanwhile, proponents of abortion access have been preparing for a legislative struggle.
Scout Richters, legal and policy counsel at the ACLU of Nebraska, told The World-Herald earlier this month that the ACLU is “laser-focused” on the possibility of an attempt in the Legislature to pass a ban.
“No matter how it’s tailored, the bottom line is that we need to be ready for either the Texas-style bounty hunter model or some other kind of ban,” she said.
Access to voting has also been a subject of legislation in other states over the last year, following the 2020 presidential election and former President Donald Trump’s ongoing campaign to undermine its results. There doesn’t seem to be a single documented case in the state of the impersonation such a voter ID law would address, The World-Herald reported in August. But supporters have framed it as a prevention strategy. Opponents say it’s an unnecessary barrier, especially for people already at the margins of voting access.
While advocates for and against voter ID requirements largely tend to fall along party lines, with Republicans for and Democrats against, polls have found a majority of Americans support them.
Critical race theory is an academic framework that is decades old and views racism as systemic, embedded in systems and policies, rather than as an individual issue. University of Nebraska Regent and Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Pillen introduced a resolution for the Board of Regents to ban “any imposition” of the theory at the university. After regents rejected that resolution, Pillen and Ricketts vowed to keep fighting on the issue. Regardless, the issue of who gets to decide what kids learn in school in Nebraska will undoubtedly be a topic of debate. State Sen. Joni Albrecht of Thurston said she and other lawmakers will propose a policy in reaction to the State Board of Education and Department of Education’s failed attempt to write health and sex education standards for Nebraska schools earlier this year.
The Legislature has a lot to cover in the upcoming session, these issues and more will certainly become topics of debate over its 60-day course.
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