Agriculture and natural resources remain a focus for local senators this legislative session, which will run through Tuesday, April 14.
Sen. Tom Brandt of Plymouth, the chairman of Nebraska’s Natural Resources Committee, introduced several natural resources-related bills to the legislature.
“In natural resources, it’s kind of cyclical,” Brandt said. “Last year, we had a lot of water bills, this year we’ve got a lot of electricity generation bills that deal with green energy and bills that deal with dispatchable, which are things like coal and natural gas and nameplate capacity on renewable energy. The new thing on the electrical side are what we call batteries, or battery storage.”
Brandt said battery storage facilities function as large-scale batteries that store excess electricity and release it back to the power grid when needed. The technology pairs well with wind and solar energy, allowing power generated during periods of low demand to be saved and used later.
He said electricity prices fluctuate throughout the day, and battery operators can store cheaper power during off-peak hours and release it when demand and prices increase. Brandt said he introduced LB 1010 to help ensure proper regulations are in place to protect the state’s power grid from unregulated development.
The nation’s electrical needs are rising quickly due to Artificial Intelligence. Sen. Jana Hughes of Seward, a member of the Natural Resources Committee, said she is interested in watching how lawmakers tackle the need for more energy generation in the future, and she believes nuclear energy and small modular nuclear energy will regain popularity.
“I’m interested in that now, but it’s kind of an ongoing thing that I see will be really big going forward,” she said.
Brandt introduced three consecutive bills, LB 759, 760 and 761, which were brought to him by the Department of Water, Energy and Environment. These include motions to change provisions and fees relating to water wells; change provisions, duties and powers of the Department of Water, Energy and Environment; change provisions related to the Nebraska Litter Reduction and Recycling Fund and change and eliminate provisions of the Environmental Safety Act and more.
“As the chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, we have oversight over electrical and natural gas, so anything concerning those comes to our committee,” he said. “Quite often, they’ll ask the chairman to introduce those bills because they stand a better shot of getting through.”
Brandt also introduced bills to address changes brought to him by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, including changes to provisions related to its permits and stamps, largely hunting and fishing permits.
“Whenever they do change fees, they also look at, ‘Are we in the range of what our neighboring states are doing?’ because we don’t want to have way higher fees for things, like fishing, than our neighboring states,” Hughes said.
Brandt is carrying two bills for the Nebraska Farm Bureau and one bill for the Nebraska Association of County Officials. The NACO bill will request several million dollars to help fund bridges, two of which are in Saline County.
Brandt said he is also introducing an ethanol-related bill to the Ag Committee, a bill to drop the ag land valuation from 75% to 50% to the Revenue Committee and a bill to address property taxes. This bill aims to reduce property tax pressure by lowering the amount of agricultural land taxed, especially as valuations continue to rise.
Hughes said there will also be a bill in the Agricultural Committee that concerns branding. Right now, there is a brand line in Nebraska. Those on the west side of the line are required to have their cattle branded, and those on the east side are not. Those in the brand area must have a brand inspector look at their cattle whenever one is sold.
LB 1258 would eliminate the Nebraska Brand Committee and mandatory brand inspections. Hughes said this will be hotly debated, as some people feel strongly that since these branding laws have been in effect for so long, they should not change.
“It’s kind of a nostalgia thing; it’s historical,” she said.
Another bill will prohibit the use of eminent domain for the construction of carbon pipelines, Hughes said. This means the government could not force landowners to sell their land for pipeline use.
This legislative session will be busy, as it is a 60-day session, also known as a short session. It is also an election year, so many senators are meeting with voters to get reelected and are therefore more conservative with their voting, Brandt said.
In this session, the legislature is required to fill a $471 million hole in its budget by day 50. Therefore, budget action will be a big focus of debates.
“Any bill that shows up with a fiscal note, meaning it costs the state money, is probably not going to go very far,” Hughes said.
As stated in the name, priority bills are given priority in the legislature and will be heard first.
The Natural Resources Committee plans to combine several of its Department of Water, Energy and Environment into one and use that as a committee priority and do the same with several of its electrical bills.
Brandt said he hopes the Agriculture Committee will combine his ethanol bill with one of their bills, or give him one of their priority bills, as that bill is also important to the state. He believes the Natural Resources will be able to find a home for the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and Game and Parks bills in priority as well.
“You’ve got to try to find a committee priority to attach that to, or get a speaker priority or a personal priority, so that thing can get to the floor,” he said. “Otherwise, it could be the greatest bill in the world, and it’s just going to sit there.”
Due to the short session, the legislature will not be able to get through all the priority bills, either. However, Brandt said the Natural Resources Committee moves pretty quickly, so its bills are more likely to be heard.
Go to nebraskalegislature.gov for more information on any bill.
