The Nebraska legislature has long prided itself on being a paragon of collegiality and function, as the only nonpartisan unicameral legislature in the nation.

But after a brutal 2023 session that left the body of 49 lawmakers irreconcilably divided, the Nebraska statehouse has begun to reflect broad national dissension.

The acrimony was on full display as a handful of progressive lawmakers staged an epic filibuster of nearly every bill under discussion, even the one they supported, to protest a bill targeting transgender minors. The filibuster caught the attention of the national media and revealed the deep divisions of lawmakers over political ideology, which manifested itself in shouting, name-calling, crying and the refusal of some to even speak to other lawmakers.

I’ve never seen anything even close to what we’ve seen this year, said Patrick O’Donnell, who served 45 years as Clerk of the Nebraska Legislature until his retirement in December. This was clearly the worst legislative session we’ve had. It’s just a completely different animal.

Officially, though nonpartisan, all members of the legislature are registered as Republicans, Democrats, or Independents. Republicans hold a large majority with 32 seats, but need 33 votes to break a filibuster — a slim margin that has left Republicans unable to pass signature legislation in recent years, such as a near-total ban on abortion last year and a bill to allow people to carry concealed weapons without a permit.

Frustration over those losses led conservatives to open this session with aggressive moves to exert even greater control over a state government they have dominated for decades. They oppose standards to weight legislative committees, which determine which bills will be discussed by the full legislature. They did that by removing moderate and progressive legislators from key committees and replacing them with more conservative ones, a practice called cracking and packing.

Then came Omaha Sen’s trans health bill. Kathleen Kauth, who voiced far-right fears that children are being manipulated and called the rising number of transgender teens a social contagion.

Enraged, Senator Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha warned she would filibuster any bill if Kauth’s

account

advanced and stated that she would burn the session to the ground because of this bill. Conservatives pushed back, not only pushing the bill forward, but amending it to add a 12-week abortion ban, following a nationwide, conservative wave of bills targeting abortion and transgender rights. The hybrid bill was passed and signed by the Republican government. Jim Pills in late March.

The spectacle that unfolded during the 90-day session came as a shock to longtime state home observers. Omaha Sen. Megan Hunt, a left-wing legislator who

fled left

the Democratic Party mid-session to register as an independent revealed in a personal speech on the floor that her 13-year-old child is transgender. She pleaded with fellow lawmakers not to strip her or doctors of the right to care for her child.

Her plea was met with a formal ethics complaint filed against her by a far-right activist who claimed she had a conflict of interest because her child is transgender. That complaint was rejected as unfounded

on

Friday

Frustration often saw Hunt and Cavanaugh angrily lashing out at conservative lawmakers who continued to vote to limit residents’ access to gender-affirming care, as well as measures to repeal abortion rights, relax gun laws, and divert public money to private school education grants. Hunt called other lawmakers garbage and on the floor of the state building warned them not to talk to her, adding, “I don’t like you.”

Cavanaugh called the body morally bankrupt and said he looked forward to the time “when I no longer have to serve with many of you.

Some conservative lawmakers, in turn, hit back. Senator Julie Slama called for Cavanaugh to be censured for comments comparing the trans law to genocide.

Others used racist and extremist language during debates about restricting abortion. Senator Steve Erdman noted that the population of Nebraska has not grown since abortion was legalized in 1973, except for the foreigners who have moved here or refugees who have been placed here because we killed 200,000 people. Senator Steve Halloran argued that the legalization of abortion in the US did not come from the choice of women, but from a plot to exterminate the black race.

Even moderates and peacemakers were caught in the partisan crossfire. Senator John Arch, in his first year as

S s

chairman of the legislature, repeatedly called for calm during the debate and was heavily criticized by both sides. Progressives accused him of favoring fellow Republicans as he attempted unprecedented challenges. Conservatives gave him a beating for refusing to change the debate rules mid-session to cut off the filibuster.

The problem is multiple

–

layered, O’Donnell said, starting with national partisanship and big-money campaign finance that has permeated state politics. He also pointed to term limits introduced in 2006 that prevent state legislators from serving more than eight consecutive years. That doesn’t give lawmakers enough time to learn how to develop long-term agendas or compromise, he said.

What we have now is an uninformed and unenlightened legislature, O’Donnell said. Legislators got to know each other and really talked to each other. That led to a floor debate that turned the vote. But I’m afraid that’s gone. What you have now is people who show up and know how they’re going to vote before they even get to speak. And that is not law.

One notable exception came when Republican Senator Merv Riepe, an 80-year-old former hospital administrator, changed his mind about a proposed abortion ban after about six weeks of pregnancy. He initially co-signed the bill, but after deciding the ban was too strict, he abstained. Without his vote, the bill did not have enough votes to pass. He later voted for the 12-week ban to pass.

In response, he received threats from anti-abortion supporters calling him demonic “and purely evil”. Conversely, many who support abortion rights angrily chided him for supporting the 12-week ban.

Sometimes there’s no way to win at this, Riepe said when asked about the backlash. I hope we do better next year and avoid some of the anger and drama we’ve seen this year.