Nebraska would replace Columbus Day with Standing Bear and Indigenous Leaders' Day under a bill introduced Tuesday in the state Legislature.
Lincoln Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks sponsored the bill (LB485). Its seven cosponsors include Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon, the first Native American ever elected to the Legislature.
Columbus Day takes place each year on the second Monday in October and has been a federal holiday since 1937.
Pansing Brooks' bill says replacing the holiday would "honor Chief Standing Bear and the many other remarkable and noble leaders of the state's indigenous peoples, including, but not limited to, Chief Blackbird, Chief Little Priest, and Big Eagle."
Standing Bear was a renowned Ponca chief who in 1877 led his people on a march to Oklahoma after the federal government forced them from their land in northeast Nebraska. He later returned to Nebraskato honor his dying son’s wish to be buried along the Niobrara River and was captured by the Army.
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He was allowed to fight for his freedom in court, and his 1879 trial led to him becoming the first Native to be legally recognized as a person.
In recent years communities have replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day, citing historical misunderstanding of Christopher Columbus' role in American history. Native American groups also blame Columbus in part for the genocide of millions of indigenous people.
In September, the Lincoln City Council unanimously approved a resolution naming the second Monday in October Indigenous People's Day. The city didn't recognize Columbus Day before and still doesn't, and city offices do not close for Indigenous People's Day.
Other bills introduced Tuesday include:
Income tax cuts
Cuts in corporate and individual income tax rates would be at least partially offset by adding sales taxes for maintenance and repair services, personal care services, storage and moving services, newspapers, laundromats, lottery tickets and taxis under a bill (LB452) sponsored by Omaha Sen. Brett Lindstrom and cosigned by Sen. Jim Smith of Papillion.
Life and death
Sen. Ernie Chambers is refusing to give up on three bills he has introduced in recent years, reintroducing a bill (LB446) that would replace the death penalty with a sentence of life in prison for first-degree murder; a bill (LB450) that would allow for assistance in dying,in which a qualifying person could seek a prescription for aid-in-dying medication from his or her attending physician; and a bill (LB448) that would ban mountain lion hunting in the state.
Texting while driving
Texting while driving would become a primary offense under a bill (LB471) sponsored by Sen. Rick Kolowski of Omaha. Nebraska law currently treats texting while driving as a secondary offense, meaning it can't be the only reason for a traffic stop.
Breaks for part-time workers
Workers would be guaranteed a paid 15-minute rest for every four hours they work, in addition to the unpaid 30-minute lunch required for people working eight-hour shifts, under a bill sponsored by Sen. Lynne Walz of Fremont and cosigned by Lincoln Sens. Matt Hansen and Adam Morfeld. The change would apply to all employers in the state, public or private, with six or more people on the payroll.