This week is the third week of the 2010 legislative session. January 21^st is the last day that legislation can be introduced so I am working with senators to finalize bill drafts and reviewing introduced bills to determine if they are of interest to us.

I am continuing to work with the ad hoc group drafting legislation to promote wind development in Nebraska. As I stated in last week’s blog, we need to make sure that wind development is done correctly, so that birds, animals and habitat are protected and Nebraskans receive the benefits of this development. Although I am getting some pushback on the issue of establishing criteria to protect our environmental resources in the siting process, I have been insistent that standards are necessary and have received commitments from senators supporting their inclusion in this legislation. 

At this point, Natural Resource Committee Chairman Senator Chris Langemeier has indicated that the bill that will be introduced this week will be a shell bill; that is, the bill will include the main ideas, but the substance of the legislation will be worked out in the coming weeks. He has stated that he intends to have a hearing to discuss legislative concepts first, and then a second hearing after the details have been hammered out. I will keep you posted as things develop in this area.

I am working with Senator Ken Haar and Senator Heath Mello on legislation to promote energy efficiency. Senator Mello is working on a proposal known as PACE (property assessed clean energy) renewable funding, which would establish a mechanism to fund energy efficiency retrofits and home renewable energy systems through assessments on property. This system has been used in several other states. This is a very exciting idea that would provide a mechanism to overcome the upfront costs of energy efficiency and renewable energy systems. Senator Haar is working on an idea known as High Performance Schools, which would provide a mechanism for private companies to make improvements in public schools and be paid for their services through the savings in energy costs. Both bills will be introduced this week.

I have been told that at least two bills related to trails will be introduced this week. I have had conversations with several senators and legislative aides about this issue and have been assured that they want our input on these issues.

After all of the bills are introduced this week, I will get together with our legislative committee to review the legislation in our areas of interest. Then we will make recommendations regarding our priorities for this session. The Executive Committee will meet on January 30^th in Lincoln to vote on our legislative priorities.

– Ken Winston, Lobbyist

This entry was posted Monday, January 18th, 2010 at 4:12 pm and is filed under Legislative Updates. Both comments and pings are currently closed.