LINCOLN- The Nebraska Legislature began its 2024 session on Wednesday with a combination of high hopes and apprehension about being able to tackle the issues that really matter to Nebraskans. In a speech urging senators to use the shorter, sixty-day session wisely, Speaker of the Legislature John Arch acknowledged that last year's rancorous legislative session reflected the division felt nationwide.

"What we must develop," Arch told his colleagues, "is the ability to have passionate but civil discourse on very difficult subjects. That's going to take everyone's commitment to work together to craft legislation that allows the majority to govern...with respecting minority input." Despite Arch's hopes that senators can work to better collaborate across party lines, the first day of session brought with it some division.

That came in the form of the Legislature's first order of business: the election of the Executive Board's chairperson and vice chairperson. Sen. Ray Aguilar and Sen. John Lowe were elected to each respective position by the body, but not without objection. Sen. Terrell McKinney, who represents a portion of north Omaha and ran against Sen. Lowe for the vice chairmanship, argued that the Executive Board's leadership needed representation from eastern, more urban areas of Nebraska.

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