One day away! Do or Don’t!?

Thursday is an especially big day at the legislature! There are a few very important pieces of legislation that need our attention!


Medical Freedom & Parental Rights

Among NAGOs Legislative Plan is the exemption to the newborn screening. This bill will have its public hearing on Thursday at 130pm in the Health and Human Services Committee!

Senator Hansen introduced LB 310 to provide an exemption for parents who choose to refuse newborn screenings.
It’s about a parent’s choice. We are one of two states that don’t allow the parents to make a decision. If you want your baby to exist lawfully, you must send its blood to be tested.
If you want your baby to be tested, then that is also your choice!

Health and Human Services
Room 1510 – 1:30 PM

SUPPORT: LB310
Introducer: Hansen
Description: Provide an exemption from newborn screening for certain diseases or conditions
If you can not join us in person, please submit online testimony. The comments must be submitted by Thursday, January 30, 2025, at 8:00 AM!

Statement of Intent: *LB 310 facilitates by omission the objection of a parent or guardian who refuses newbornscreening for their infant.*

Download the Bill Introduction and Submit an Online Comment here: https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=58757

ALSO Email the Health and Human Services Committee Members:

Sen. Brian Hardin, Chairperson – bhardin@leg.ne.gov
Sen. John Fredrickson, Vice Chairperson – jfredrickson@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Beau Ballard – bballard@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Ben Hansen – bhansen@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Glen Meyer – gmeyer@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Dan Quick – dquick@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Merv Riepe – mriepe@leg.ne.gov

*Encourage the committee members to pass LB310 on to general file with their support!*


Winner Take All – to support or…? To oppose?

Conservatives are often quick to jump on to the bandwagon, especially when the political heroes make it a big deal. When we discuss WTA, we first have to determine whether we are making this decision for the country? Or for our state of Nebraska?

Our answer is Nebraska First.

The second most important thing to determine. Are we looking at this in the long term? Both the good and the bad? We won’t throw out what ifs. What we will talk about is what currently is and what is proposed.
This past election, we had a close call in CD1 and a total flop in CD2, despite efforts focused on CD2.
In the Winner Take All legislation, both LB3 and LR24CA eliminate the Congressional electoral districts. The winner would not be 2/3s to take all 5 electoral votes. No longer could we rely on the 3rd and 1st Congressional district to keep us in the red. The electoral votes would go to the popular vote of the state as a whole. With Omaha and Lincoln having over half the states population, they would only need 50% + 1 to win the 5 electoral votes.

We should also consider what we are saying when we move to Winner Take All in the hopes of overcoming the infamous “blue dot”? Many will say we are one state, and we should vote with one voice! That may be so, and it’s really quite convincing. But. Might we also be saying we’ve given up on turning Omaha and Lincoln red! Shouldn’t we be motivated to earn that last electoral vote rather than tossing in the hat and eliminating the voices of Omaha and Lincoln voters?
Some might agree, some may not, but we do believe it’s at least worth considering. Are we no better than our opposition that we’ll change the rules to benefit us now, without regard to ensuring a well represented Constitutional Republic?!

We presume most people have made up their minds at this point. Our goal at this point in time is not to persuade people one way or another, but we do want to make our position clear.
In the last NAGO Weekly Schedule, we suggested a neutral position due to a few NAGO members reaching out with frustration over our original opposition. Our admins had not voted in favor of WTA, so we took a position of neutrality. Since sharing that change, we have received greater feedback than before that WTA is not the will of most of our members. With this information, NAGO admins have taken an official vote and unanimously opposed the implementation of WTA.

That being said! NAGO was asked to rally the grassroots in support of WTA. We were honest about our position and agreed to share their message.

Thursday will be the public hearings for Winner Take All in the Government Military and Veterans Affairs Committee. The NEGOP and several conservative Senators have thrown their all into supporting WTA after the outpouring support nearly 10 months ago. The supporting senators have expressed a lack of online comments, emails, and phone calls supporting WTA while hundreds have voiced opposition.
For those who want to make sure their voice is heard on the matter, submit your comments online, email the senators on the committee, and/or plan to show up for in person testimony!

OPPOSE: LB3
Introducer: Lippincott
Description: Change provisions relating to selection of presidential electors
Note: LB 3 will be a combined hearing with LR 24CA
If you can not join us in person, please submit online testimony. The comments must be submitted by Thursday, January 30, 2025, at 8:00 AM!

Statement of Intent: *LB 3 reinstates the winner-take-all system for electing presidential and vice-presidential candidates, awarding all electoral votes to the candidates who receive the highest number of votes in the state.*

Download the Bill Introduction and Submit an Online Comment here: https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=58830


OPPOSE: LR24CA
Introducer: Dorn
Description: Constitutional amendment to provide for selection of presidential electors
Note: LR24CA will be a combined hearing with LB3
If you can not join us in person, please submit online testimony. The comments must be submitted by Thursday, January 30, 2025, at 8:00 AM!

“The presidential electors designated to represent the presidential and vice-presidential candidates who receive the greatest number of votes at the general election in the state shall serve as the presidential electors for the state.”

Download the Bill Introduction and Submit an Online Comment here: https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=58929

ALSO Email the Government Military and Veterans Affairs Committee:

Sen. Rita Sanders, Chairperson – rsanders@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Bob Andersen – bandersen@leg.ne.gov
Sen. John Cavanaugh – jcavanaugh@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Dunixi Guereca – dguereca@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Megan Hunt – mhunt@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Dan Lonowski – dlonowski@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Dan McKeon – dmckeon@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Dave Wordekemper – dwordekemper@leg.ne.gov



There are several more hearings coming up the rest of the week, review our Call to Action from last week and you can view the Legislature’s full Week’s Schedule of public hearings here: https://nebraskalegislature.gov/calendar/hearings_range.php?weekly=this

Get your comments submitted for the proposed rules changes before Thursday at 8am! As always, feel free to contact us with any comments, questions, or concerns. If you haven’t yet, sign up to have our newsletters and announcements delivered directly to your inbox at www.nago.group!