Sen. Brewer: The interim is here
Nebraska State Senator, Dist. 43 June 9, 2023
The Nebraska Legislature has completed its work for the 2023 regular session. Now that the Legislature has adjourned for the year, we shift to a different routine over the interim. We do not have any more bill hearings, floor debate, or voting. However, that leaves us with a different set of responsibilities.
For one thing, Nebraska senators make twelve thousand dollars a year plus some expense reimbursement. That means that most of us have other careers to attend to during the interim to pay the bills. We also have family obligations to attend to, and a few of us may get the opportunity to take a vacation.
That personal business aside, there is still legislative work to be done over the interim. Every successful session is the result of work in the preceding interim. This is the time when bill ideas are discussed, and when we get early bill drafts prepared for next year’s legislative session.
One way that we improve our understanding of different issues before us is through what we call interim studies. Near the end of each regular legislative session, senators may introduce interim study resolutions. Each resolution tasks one of our committees with studying some issue area or policy question. These studies can help us figure out what right looks like before we ask the bill drafters to put pen to paper in the Revisor’s office.
This year, I introduced several interim study resolutions. They are on topics including clarifications to the Indian Child Welfare Act, feasibility of small modular nuclear reactors in Nebraska, ways to improve school security, growing upland game bird populations, and occupational regulations governing several different professions. Not all interim studies receive public hearings, but those that do typically see hearings scheduled in September, October, and November.
We will be conducting several interim study hearings in the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee. In addition to the study resolutions I introduced as chairman of the committee, we will also be looking into veteran retention after retirement, wildfire response, and the use of eminent domain to take land in Nebraska. A productive interim makes for a productive session, and the short session in 2024 looks like it will be a busy one.