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Nebraska's Jim Pillen: The Incredible Shrinking Governor [1]
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Date: 2023-03-27
Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen and the Republicans had an ambitious agenda when they were sworn in earlier this year. They had plans to limit spending to 1.3% per year and to cut property, income and corporate taxes. Pillen and the Republicans also proposed to increase aide to public schools and spend taxpayer money for private school tuition. With 32 seats in the 49 seat legislature and $1.9 billion in the rainy day fund, the GOP had every reason to feel optimistic.
However, those same Republicans had other, more controversial ideas. Pillen and the Republicans also wanted to declare a full throated culture war in Nebraska. The Nebraska Republicans proposed to ban most abortions and to end gender affirming medical care for minors.
The declaration of the GOP culture war caused a fierce response from the Democrats in the legislature. Omaha Senator Machaela Cavanaugh began to filibuster every bill to stop the anti-LGBTQ legislative blitz. Cavanaugh promised to continue filibustering unless the radical right dropped their Trump-like culture war. She promised: “I will burn this session to the ground.”
Despite that warning, the Nebraska legislature voted last week by a 30–17 margin to advance the hateful anti-transgender rights bill. The 30 senators who voted for this bill want to take away freedom from parents to make decisions about their children’s medical care. Instead, they want to put the likes of career GOP politicians, right wing preachers and judges in charge of children’s medical care. That is really, really big government.
Senator John Fredrickson of Omaha maintained that the bill permits “too much government interference in personal healthcare issues and rips away the freedom of parents to make medical decisions for their children.” Fredrickson said he couldn’t help but think of his mother, who accepted him for being gay. “Regardless of what happens today, heads up, chins up,” Fredrickson said, addressing LGBTQ Nebraskans. “We’re survivors. Me standing in this room is proof of that.”
Lincoln Senator Danielle Conrad made a last minute appeal to the senators to “save the session” and to allow bills dealing with workforce development, public school funding and other issues deemed significant, by voting against the anti-trans rights bill. The radical right didn’t listen to Conrad.
The Republican senators have blamed Cavanaugh for the legislative meltdown. “People are trying to blame me for the outcome of today,” Cavanaugh said. “I do not have control over your fingers. I do not have control over your buttons. You vote for it or you don’t vote for it.”
Cavanaugh believes the sponsors of the anti-trans rights bills are taking their cues from national figures who are whipping up a hateful frenzy over transgender issues. “Until this year, we had never faced anti-gay bills, or bathroom bills, or bills banning gender-affirming care,” Senator Megan Hunt told the Washington Post. “The legislature had never even debated a bill about banning abortion until last year.”
The opponents of the GOP culture war have now vowed to shutdown the legislative session with more filibusters. From the Lincoln Journal Star: “Omaha Senator Megan Hunt, said she considered the cloture vote “the final vote” of the session. Along with Cavanaugh and Sen. Jen Day of Gretna, Hunt said she intends to bring the work of the Legislature to a crawl — even on bills she supports.” Senator Jane Raybould told me that she plans to join this effort.
“People think, well, ‘You’re not gonna get your stuff passed.’ I was never gonna get my stuff passed. Ever. None of them were ever going to let me pass a bill. That’s a problem of their own making. They decided they were going to take everything away so that I had no reason not to fight. And they succeeded. They did a great job of that.” Machaela Cavanaugh.
The Legislature has now completed 50 of the 90 business days scheduled for this session, without passing a single bill. At this same point in the last 90-day session, 15 bills had been passed and signed by then Governor Pete Ricketts.
The response of the Republican senators to the failed session isn’t to compromise with the Democrats. Instead, they want to change the rules in the middle of the game. Speaker John Arch wants lawmakers to consider changing the rules so the 2023 session can proceed without endless filibusters. Apparently, Arch wants to gut the filibuster rule.
The current rules allow an individual senator to gum up the works by introducing amendment after amendment. This had made it possible for one senator — Cavanaugh — to slow things down. Former Senator Ernie Chambers adopted similar tactics in the past and forced the other senators to compromise. The legislature’s rules also require 33 votes to end debate and to proceed to an up or down vote.
We might as well just shut down the legislative session. The agenda of Pillen and the GOP senators is simply radical and outside of the mainstream — even in red Nebraska. This extreme agenda deserves to be blocked. No progressive or even moderate bills would have been considered anyway.
Jim Pillen and the 32 Republican senators are entirely responsible for the failure of this session. They decided, against the will of Nebraskans, that they would prioritize anti-LGBTQ and anti-choice legislation. This is an attack on our freedom. I’m incredibly proud of the Dems who are standing up to these attacks.
Pillen and the Republicans have a decision to make — they can either back off from this culture war or have a failed session. Pillen is the governor and he needs to lead. He should compromise by abandoning this Fox “News” inspired culture war.
It’s not a good look for Jim Pillen and the Nebraska GOP. The state has $1.9 billion in its cash reserves. It could have been a very productive session. In recent sessions, Democrats have worked across party lines to pass budgets and cut taxes. Instead, it’s a disaster due to Pillen’s failure to lead and the radicalism of the GOP. Your move Governor Pillen.
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