LINCOLN- Rules changes being proposed to make the Nebraska Legislature function more efficiently could instead spark the first big battles of the 2024 session. However, Speaker John Arch told his colleagues at a recent meeting of the Legislative Council that these rules debates will not be a repeat of the 2017 legislative session, during which lawmakers spent more than two months fighting over a proposal to ban secret ballots in committee chair elections.

"I won't allow debate about legislative rules to go on and on," said Arch. At the retreat, Arch outlined and previewed 21 rule changes that he is considering introducing very early in the 2024 legislative session, while Sen. Steve Erdman introduced nine of his own. Debate over the changes eventually advanced by the Legislature's Rules Committee is slated to begin on January 10th, and Arch said he hopes to be finished with debate within three days.

Sen. Justin Wayne criticized several of the rules proposals, arguing that they would restrict the legislative minority and exacerbate rural-urban divides. "We're creating rules out of one session and we're stopping debate," said Wayne. One of Speaker Arch's proposals would allow 40 of the 49 Nebraska lawmakers to declare a bill "subject to dilatory designation," which, if approved, would give the Speaker of the Legislature the authority to choose the specific motions and amendments that could be considered on such bills.

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