State election officials said Wednesday that Nebraska dodged "major problems" in preparing for the 2022 election after getting word that U.S. Census figures needed for redistricting will arrive by mid-August.
Census figures, because of COVID-19 issues, had been expected to arrive as late as Sept. 30 — six months later than normal — which Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen and his deputy for elections, Wayne Bena, said would have caused major problems in preparing for the 2022 elections.
But Wednesday, the two officials told a state legislative hearing that the Census Bureau recently pledged to deliver the needed figures by Aug. 16. That date, they said, should allow the State Legislature to hold a special session and get needed population information to county election commissioners by the end of September.
"As a practical matter, we can live with that (Aug. 16) date," Evnen said.
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Bena said it would avoid a "heart attack" of problems. Though, he added, the start of filing by candidates for elective offices for 2022 will be moved back from December to Jan. 5.
Every 10 years, after the U.S. Census is complete, voting districts must be redrawn to reflect population shifts and the constitutional requirement of one person, one vote. Usually, the new population figures are delivered by April 1. But because the pandemic delayed the door-to-door collection of data last year, census figures are arriving late for the first time in U.S. history, officials said.
The Nebraska Legislature redraws districts for state legislators, U.S. House of Representatives and other state offices. Local election officials later use the data to redraw districts for local offices, such as county commissioners and members of city councils and school boards.
Condemning insurrection. In other developments out of the Legislature on Wednesday, State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha introduced a nonbinding resolution to condemn the "treasonous" attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, "spurred" by former President Donald Trump and some members of Congress.
Hunt said LR118 was spawned by a resolution submitted recently by Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte. It condemned recent "abuse of power" by President Joe Biden, including alleged overreach regarding gun rights and religious liberties.
Hunt said that she was "concerned and amused" by Groene's "blatantly partisan and frivolous" LR107, which was co-signed by 30 senators. But, she said, Groene has set a precedent, so she was introducing her own partisan resolution as a warning.
"Resolutions we pass, including the embarrassing and poorly written LR107, could be interpreted by courts as binding, or at a minimum as formal findings of the Legislature on the particular subjects implicated in the resolution," Hunt said.
Relief for utilities. In another matter, lawmakers advanced a bill that would provide $5 million in state grants to municipalities that were hammered by high natural gas expenses during the "polar vortex" that struck in February.
Omaha Sen. Justin Wayne won approval for an amendment to reduce the cost of LB131 from $10 million. That allowed the bill to advance from first-round debate on a 28-10 vote despite concerns that it wasn't the state's role to "bail out" local utilities.