This bill creates Nebraska's "Protection Orders Act," strengthening legal safeguards for domestic violence victims. It extends the duration of protection orders, allows victims to request immediate lock changes or lease modifications from landlords, and requires reporting child abuse/neglect involving military families to relevant military installations. Key provisions include court-ordered removal of abusers from shared homes, temporary custody of children, and specific protections for household pets during domestic violence cases. The law directly affects domestic violence victims, their children, military families, and landlords navigating tenant safety concerns.
This bill allocates $680,000 annually from the General Fund for fiscal years 2025-26 and 2026-27 to the Legislative Council. The funds are specifically designated to support implementation of Legislative Bill 298 (the main bill it references) and are subject to annual salary limits of $590,500 and $615,700 respectively. It modifies existing budget lines for the Legislative Council's Office of Public Counsel and repeals prior appropriation language, with immediate effect due to an emergency declaration. The bill does not change policy but adjusts funding for legislative operations.
This bill makes minor technical corrections to an existing law (the Child Pornography Prevention Act) by adjusting how a subsection is referenced in the statute. It does not create new restrictions on social media or computer-generated content, despite the title's misleading reference to a "Parental Rights in Social Media Act" and prohibiting computer-generated child pornography. The actual text only edits page 56-57 of the law to remove a subsection designation and adjust punctuation. As a procedural amendment, it directly affects legal references but does not change substantive law or impact any specific group.
LB 454 amends Nebraska law to update rules for regional behavioral health authorities and establish the Behavioral Health Services Fund. It requires these authorities to adopt uniform fee policies based on consumer income (not exceeding service costs), mandate competitive bidding for services unless specific exemptions apply, and maintain separate budgets for behavioral health funding. The new Behavioral Health Services Fund will provide grants, loans, and reimbursements to support community-based behavioral health services statewide, including housing assistance for very low-income adults with serious mental illness. These changes directly affect regional behavioral health authorities, behavioral health providers, and consumers receiving public behavioral health services.
LB 306 modifies school residency rules to clarify admission for non-resident students, military families, and students in residential settings. It requires all Nebraska school districts to maintain a centralized financial database and mandates public and private colleges to report funding from "foreign adversarial sources" to the Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education. The bill also updates scholarship programs (Nebraska Career Scholarship Act and Door to College Scholarship Act) and adjusts governance for the Nebraska State Colleges Board. These changes aim to increase transparency in school funding and foreign financial influences on higher education.
LB 391A is an appropriation bill that provides funding to support Legislative Bill 391 (the main bill, not detailed here). It allocates $1,000,000 from the Give to Enable Support Cash Fund for fiscal year 2026-27 to Program 475, and $98,687 from the General Fund for fiscal year 2025-26 to Program 102. The bill explicitly prohibits using these funds for state employee salaries or per diems. This funding mechanism enables the implementation of Legislative Bill 391's provisions but does not describe the main bill's content.
Nebraska's LB 77 adopts the Ensuring Transparency in Prior Authorization Act, requiring health insurers and Medicaid to clearly explain prior authorization decisions and post all requirements online by 2027. The law mandates that denials must be reviewed by a physician (or clinical peer) and include specific reasons citing coverage criteria, with expedited reviews for urgent care. It also requires insurers to cover biomarker testing - tests that identify specific biological markers for diagnosis - when prescribed by a doctor. This directly affects health insurers, providers, and patients by increasing transparency in coverage decisions and expanding access to certain diagnostic tests.
LB 380 updates Nebraska's Medicaid program integrity rules to improve fairness and transparency in audits. It requires program integrity contractors to provide clear written justification for audits, limit records requests to relevant documents, and send determination letters within 180 days. The bill also mandates that auditors use licensed healthcare professionals familiar with clinical standards and prohibits audits of capitated managed care claims or claims already under review. These changes directly affect Medicaid providers and contractors by standardizing audit procedures and protecting providers from improper overpayment claims.
LB 48 establishes a five-year pilot program for Family Resource and Juvenile Assessment Centers in Nebraska's metropolitan cities. These centers will provide free, 24/7 support services - including mental health counseling, family support, educational resources, and trauma-informed care - to youth and families at risk of entering the juvenile justice system. To qualify, centers must partner with community organizations, meet quality standards through a formal designation process, and track outcomes to measure success in preventing justice system involvement. Two centers will be designated under this program, focusing on addressing root causes like family dynamics and mental health through community-driven solutions.
Nebraska LB 415 amends gambling regulations and debt collection procedures. It allows racetracks to operate casino-style games and sports wagering with new licensing rules (e.g., one operator per track, no racing license requirement) and requires gambling operators to check winners' accounts against state debts before paying winnings. Specifically, operators must deduct outstanding unemployment overpayments or state tax liabilities from winnings and remit the deducted amount to the Department of Revenue. This directly affects gambling winners (who receive reduced payouts) and state agencies (which collect debts automatically). The bill updates sections of Nebraska's Gambling Winnings Setoff for Outstanding Debt Act to include sports wagering and cash device winnings.
LB 288 creates a new financing mechanism allowing Nebraska municipalities to establish "clean energy assessment districts" that let property owners fund energy efficiency, grid resilience, and renewable energy projects through annual property assessments. It directly affects residential, commercial, agricultural, and industrial property owners who choose to participate in these districts, covering costs for projects like solar panels, insulation, smart grid technology, and backup power systems. The bill requires municipalities to define eligible projects and sets repayment terms tied to the project's useful life, with property owners paying back through their property tax bills over time. This replaces previous financing rules under Nebraska's Property Assessed Clean Energy Act and related housing laws.
LB 77A appropriates $500,000 annually from the Department of Insurance Cash Fund for fiscal years 2025-26 and 2026-27 to the Department of Insurance for "Program 69," specifically to support implementation of Legislative Bill 77. This funding directly affects the Department of Insurance's operations under Program 69, which relates to insurance regulation. The bill explicitly prohibits using these funds for state employee salaries or per diems. As an appropriation measure, it provides targeted financial resources to carry out another legislative act without altering policy substance.
