LINCOLN — Death penalty repeal, fluoridation of drinking water and an electronics recycling program are among the topics expected to occupy Nebraska lawmakers during the second half of the 2008 session.
All three were among the bills named as priorities by Friday’s deadline.
Each senator is allowed to designate one priority bill, and each legislative committee can name two priority bills during the session.
The bills selected will shape the rest of the session, which hits its halfway mark Monday. Speaker Mike Flood of Norfolk gives precedence to priority bills when deciding what to schedule for debate.
Nonpriority bills, especially those with opposition, have less chance of being considered as time ticks away in the session.
This year’s priority list includes some high-profile issues, such as a proposal to prohibit illegal immigrants from getting state benefits and another dealing with the future of the Nebraska State Fair.
One priority bill, to allow parents to abandon children at hospitals without prosecution, already has passed and has been signed by the governor.
Two others have stalled before reaching the final round of debate. They include a bill to allow adult motorcycle riders to go without helmets and another to provide tax incentives for film and video productions in Nebraska.
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