New support claimed for ending Nebraska Legislature’s secret leadership votes

Proponents of an effort to finish secret poll voting within the Nebraska Legislature say they’ve sufficient votes to cross a rule change within the upcoming session.

However even when they do, there’s no assure that the hassle will succeed below the present construction of the Legislature.

Secret ballots have been used to pick out legislative leaders for the reason that creation of Nebraska’s one-house, nonpartisan Legislature. Backers of secret ballots say the method prevents these elections from being selected partisan traces, whereas critics argue it undermines transparency.

Below secret ballots, Democrats within the Republican-dominated Legislature are generally chosen by their friends to chair committees. That end result has been a supply of frustration to some Republicans.

The difficulty has been debated for years, and supporters of secret ballots have managed to fend off efforts to alter the principles. However that might change when the primary session of the 108th Legislature begins on Jan. 4.

Rod Edwards, spokesman of the Nebraska First PAC, claims that 25 lawmakers have pledged to assist altering the Legislature’s guidelines to make management elections public as a substitute of via secret ballots. Twenty-five is a majority of the 49-member Legislature — simply sufficient votes, in concept, to cross such a measure.

State Sen. Tom Briese of Albion, one of many lawmakers who signed the pledge, mentioned management elections are among the many most necessary votes lawmakers solid in some periods, and they need to be made recognized to most people.

“It shouldn’t be hidden behind a veil of secrecy, in my view,” Briese mentioned.

The Nebraska First PAC was lately based by former GOP gubernatorial candidate Charles Herbster. Secret poll voting is the primary and solely challenge that the group has targeted on to this point.

One other of the 25 lawmakers on the pledge, Sen. Mike Hilgers of Lincoln, won’t be current to vote on a guidelines change, as he plans to resign from his publish the day earlier than the session begins to take workplace as Nebraska’s subsequent legal professional common. This places the hassle slightly below the straightforward majority wanted to cross a guidelines change.

Gov.-elect Jim Pillen will appoint Hilgers’ alternative. Edwards mentioned he “nearly assured” that Pillen’s eventual appointee can even assist the pledge. Nevertheless, Pillen is unlikely to prioritize this challenge in his resolution, telling The World-Herald final week that the key poll debate was “not his enterprise.”

“I’m not zeroed in on that one iota,” Pillen mentioned.

Even when Hilgers’ alternative doesn’t assist the hassle, Edwards mentioned he expects a number of different lawmakers who didn’t signal the pledge would nonetheless vote sure on a guidelines change. He mentioned he believes that as much as 31 lawmakers would finally assist the hassle, together with some Democrats.

Lawmakers have quite a few methods to alter the principles to finish secret poll votes, and Edwards mentioned he isn’t certain which avenue they are going to select. A method is to cross a short lived guidelines change earlier than management elections happen to enact the brand new rule for these elections, then cross a everlasting change when the Legislature adopts its everlasting guidelines in a while within the session.

Nevertheless, this selection will nearly actually hit a significant roadblock. Clerk of the Legislature Patrick O’Donnell mentioned he expects opponents would filibuster the try, and there’s no maneuver that lawmakers may use to drive the ultimate vote. Whereas filibusters on payments and resolutions may be ended with 33 votes for a cloture movement, that’s not the case for a proposed rule change.

O’Donnell mentioned a guidelines battle may additionally delay different agenda objects the Legislature has scheduled for the beginning of the session, together with the management elections themselves.

Lawmakers may additionally try and amend the Legislature’s everlasting guidelines, which O’Donnell mentioned are usually adopted throughout the first week of the session. If an modification handed, it might take impact within the 109th Legislature, which begins in 2025, O’Donnell mentioned.

Nevertheless, this try additionally may very well be filibustered, and cloture motions once more are usually not an choice. In 2017, O’Donnell mentioned lawmakers spent two months debating amendments to everlasting guidelines, and the talk solely stopped when the lawmakers backing the amendments deserted their effort.

Briese mentioned he expects that opponents of secret voting will try the everlasting guidelines change, though he mentioned he would assist attempting a short lived guidelines change as properly. He mentioned there’s much less urgency to alter the principles instantly as a result of he believes the end result of this yr’s management elections could be the identical, whether or not the votes are completed secretly or overtly.

Supporters of secret ballots argue that if management elections have been public, the Republican-dominated Legislature would take management and fewer Democrats could be elected to chairmanships. Edwards mentioned this declare is “a bunch of bull.” Briese mentioned he thinks that Democrats would proceed to be elected even when secret poll voting ended.

Nevertheless, Nathan Leach, founder and govt director of Nonpartisan Nebraska, beforehand instructed the Omaha World-Herald that it could take years earlier than partisan bias turns into an issue.

“Over time, celebration affect could be apparent in that the celebration with a majority of members within the Legislature would robotically elect members of their very own celebration to all of the management positions,” Leach mentioned. “The consequence could be a de facto partisan physique.”