Nebraska lawmakers are fed up after 3-week filibuster, want rules to change

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) —  Nebraska lawmakers say something needs to change, following the three-week filibuster that brought this legislative session to a crawl.

Senator Tom Brewer tells Channel 8 many legislators want new rules that would prevent this from happening again.

He says their patience is wearing thin and people contacting them are fed up as well.

This all comes after Senator Machaela Cavanaugh agreed to pause her filibuster on Thursday.

She previously vowed to “burn the session to the ground” over legislation that would impact transgender youth.

Senator Brewer says there is a long list of bills that people want to pass, but have failed to do so because there haven’t been enough votes to end filibusters for the past five years.

Brewer adds the governor’s goal of overhauling how we fund schools, while reducing the size and cost of our state government depends on having enough votes.

He says, “Many good bills have fallen short by only one or two votes over the last six years I have been in office. Now we finally have the votes to pass many of these ideas, if senators stick to their hometown values when it comes time to vote on legislation.”

Senator Brewer is also leading the charge to pass the so-called constitutional carry bill, which would allow people to carry concealed guns in Nebraska without a permit.

Lawmakers voted to advance the measure earlier this month, with help from two Democrats.

Senators Justin Wayne and Terrell McKinney, who are the Legislature’s only Black lawmakers, say there’s racial disparity in enforcing gun laws.