Bills Offered by Lonowski and Quick Advance at the Unicameral

District 33 Senator Dan Lonowski’s LB824 advanced at the Nebraska Legislature. It changes the separation period for school retirement plans—from the current 180 days to 120 days—to provide uniformity and consistency with Nebraska’s other public plans, including state employees, county employees, judges, and state patrol. The bill advances 29-0

Lonowski also introduced LB900, which would increase the fee for issuing distress warrants from $2 to $20 to more accurately reflect the costs incurred by county sheriffs in collecting delinquent personal property taxes.   It would adjust the tiers for commission amounts to reflect inflationary factors and eliminate a $1 fee for levying distress warrants. It advanced 25-1.

LB 722, from District 35 Senator Dan Quick, amends §71-812 to allow use of the Behavioral Health Services fund to support individuals with substance use disorder, not just those with serious mental illness. It also adds a definition of “substance use disorder” by referencing §71-430 and clarifies that “serious mental illness” does not include standalone diagnoses of substance use disorder, DSM v-codes, or developmental disability unless concurrent with a mental illness. It advanced 33-0.