State senators who promised to filibuster every bill at the Legislature if a measure prohibiting minors from seeking gender-affirming care in Nebraska advanced stood true to their word Friday.
Omaha Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh told senators she has made her intentions “crystal clear†during the debate over LB574 from Sen. Kathleen Kauth and intended to fulfill her pledge, even if it meant delaying passage of bills she supported.
On Friday, the final day of committee hearings, which means the Legislature will shift to all-day debate next week, that meant slowing progress on bills from her fellow Democrats, and prompting a proposed rule change from a Republican lawmaker.
First up on the agenda was the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic Act (LB276) from Lincoln Sen. Anna Wishart, which would create a new payment framework for nonprofit organizations that offer behavioral health and substance abuse treatment in Nebraska.
Qualifying providers that offer outpatient mental health and substance abuse services, crisis mental health, outpatient clinic primary care screening, psychiatric rehabilitation, peer support and counseling would be able to seek daily or monthly reimbursements.
Doing so would allow them to hire more staff and respond to the needs of the communities they serve in a quicker, more flexible way, Wishart said.
While the bill received widespread praise from senators on either side of the political aisle Friday — lawmakers said they believed the model proposed under Wishart’s bill would fill gaps in treatment that often fall to law enforcement — the bill did not move from first-round consideration.
Instead, the conversation rehashed the debate earlier this week that would prohibit anyone under 19 from seeking puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, or gender-affirming surgery in Nebraska.
And it also focused on a bill that was scheduled for the afternoon debate barring minors from attending a drag show and leveling fines at businesses that allow kids to attend a show.
Sen. Jen Day of Gretna, who also signaled her intention to join Cavanaugh — one of her bills was on Friday’s agenda, but the Legislature likely won’t get to it until next week — said she was struck by the whiplash of the two debates.
Earlier in the week, senators were in support of a bill that would block transgender youth from seeking some mental health services, Day said, while Friday, senators were in support of a bill expanding access to similar services across the state.
Lincoln Sen. Danielle Conrad said the focus on culture war issues like banning certain health care for transgender individuals, and trying to limit who could attend a drag show, was going to limit the Legislature’s ability to address legislation that could benefit all Nebraskans.
Some senators who voted against LB574 voiced frustrations with Cavanaugh’s tactics.
Omaha Sen. Terrell McKinney, who also had a bill scheduled to begin debate Friday, told lawmakers they needed to move on so the Legislature could address other issues this year.
Listen now and subscribe: | | | |
“I’m not up here trying to minimize what happened yesterday, because what happened yesterday is also frustrating,†said McKinney.
A high school wrestling coach, McKinney said he tells his athletes after they have a bad match “you’ve got to wake up tomorrow and be ready, you can’t necessarily be stuck in a moment.â€
Sen. Justin Wayne, who also represents North Omaha, said those who are frustrated at LB574’s advancement Thursday need to be more selective about where they choose to deploy the filibuster, in order to not shut out legislation that could benefit Nebraskans.
“I don’t have the luxury to blow everything up,†Wayne said, adding that blocking other bills until LB574 was defeated was akin to putting “some kids above other kids.â€
With a handful of senators left in the speaking queue, Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn called the question on the debate over a committee amendment limiting the amount of state appropriations that would go into funding the community behavioral health program, which the Legislature then approved.
But Cavanaugh then introduced a procedural motion to keep the clock moving forward and other bills from coming before lawmakers, and delaying LB574 from returning for second-round consideration.
“I’m fine with being maligned and targeted with your comments,†she said. “I’m fine with you finding your own ways to maneuver things in this body. But I also learn and every time I see people trying to find a way to stop me from doing what I’m doing, I learn from that and take it forward and I find a different way.â€
When the Legislature reconvenes Tuesday, senators will take up a motion from Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard, the chair of the Rules Committee, that would limit how lawmakers could use bracket motions, priority motions commonly deployed in a filibuster.
On Thursday, before a cloture vote on LB574, opponents filed a series of bracket motions that allowed them to jump to the front of the speaking queue, preventing supporters from speaking on the bill.
Senators said those tactics were in response to debate Tuesday, when the question was called on debate with more than 30 senators left in line. The Legislature took the rare step of overriding a decision by Lt. Gov. Joe Kelly that the debate had not been “full and fair†to shut off debate.
Erdman said the opponents, all Democrats in the officially nonpartisan Legislature, were “very disrespectful to the senators who were in the queue†Thursday, which prompted him to file the rule change.
It would allow senators to only file one motion to postpone, to recommit a bill to committee, or to kill a bill once per day in each round of voting.
Cavanaugh called the move “lazy†and said it won’t slow her down.
“If they have to suspend the rules to get their way, I will continue to work within the rules available,†she said.
“We’re in an arms race where we’re all trying to manipulate the rules and the power we have ...,†Sen. Wendy DeBoer said. “Arms races never end well.â€