On the first day of the Legislature on Wednesday, Sen. John McCollister of Omaha read the address that George Norris delivered to the opening session of the new one-house, nonpartisan legislature in 1937.
GWYNETH ROBERTS, Journal Star
Speaker of the Legislature Mike Hilgers of Lincoln (from left) visits with Sens. Mike McDonnell of Omaha and Steve Erdman of Bayard before the start of the legislative session on Wednesday.
GWYNETH ROBERTS, Journal Star
Senators, including Anna Wishart of Lincoln (foreground), set to work at the start of the legislative session on Jan. 5, 2022.
The 2022 Legislature launched its 60-day session on Wednesday with a reminder of its nonpartisan origin 85 years ago and recognition of its founding father, George W. Norris.
The ceremonial beginning came on "George W. Norris Day" in Nebraska.
The business of the 2022 session began shortly after the 10 a.m. opening with the introduction of bills to be considered during the election-year session that is scheduled to adjourn on April 20, three weeks before the May 10 primary election.
Sen. John McCollister of Omaha read the address that Norris, the former five-term U.S. senator from Nebraska who changed his party registration from Republican to nonpartisan during the administration of Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt, delivered to the opening session of the new one-house, nonpartisan legislature in 1937.
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"You are members of the first legislature of Nebraska to hold your positions without any partisan political obligation to any machine, to any boss, or to any alleged political leader," Norris said at the time.
Nebraska voters approved adoption of the state's unique one-house, nonpartisan Legislature in 1934. After serving five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, Norris lost his bid for a sixth Senate term in 1942. Â
On the first day of the Legislature on Wednesday, Sen. John McCollister of Omaha read the address that George Norris delivered to the opening session of the new one-house, nonpartisan legislature in 1937.
Speaker of the Legislature Mike Hilgers of Lincoln (from left) visits with Sens. Mike McDonnell of Omaha and Steve Erdman of Bayard before the start of the legislative session on Wednesday.