It is hard to believe we have reached the final week of the session. The time has moved quickly, and the pace now reflects the urgency of the work that remains.

Thursday was the last opportunity for any bill to be scheduled on General File and beginning this Tuesday, the Legislature turns its full attention to Select File and Final Reading to give bills an opportunity to become law. At this stage, priority bills take center stage, and every hour on the floor carries added weight. 

The brand committee bill, LB 1187, is one I want to address directly. It is important to revisit where things stand after last week’s floor debate and vote, as this admittedly became hard to track and has created some confusion.

The Agriculture Committee advanced LB 1187 out of committee, with AM 2886, which proposed several changes to brand law that neither myself, Sen. Mike Jacobson nor Sen. Paul Strommen could support.

Those provisions would have fully exempted dairy heifer development, grossly restructured the board, and allowed cattle to move across the state from either side of the brand inspection area for grazing or temporary care without inspection. I strongly opposed those changes because they threatened the integrity of a system that producers rely on every day.

On Tuesday, March 31, Sen. Jacobson introduced AM 3037, which reversed the most concerning provisions. Dairy development was brought back under inspection, the language allowing movement without inspection was removed, and the board structure was rebalanced.

As a result, no segment of the industry is exempt, the inspection system remains intact, and the Brand Committee retains the funding necessary to continue its work. AM 3037 was adopted into the committee amendment, AM 2886, which was amended into LB 1187 so in short, Jacobson’s AM 3037 is now the bill moving forward.

There has been discussion about whether this outcome represents a win.

Over the last two years we have faced bills that either proposed to completely exempt feedlots from all inspections and audits all the way to Sen. Ben Hansen’s bill to completely abolish the Nebraska Brand Committee and make all inspections voluntary. 

Seven of the eight members of the Ag Committee supported both of these bills and momentum was growing to usher some version of them across the finish line. Sen. Jacobson and I have stood our ground and refused to compromise anything that would break the chain of inspection and weaken the integrity of this valuable system.

Jacobson’s AM 3037 has preserved all of those key provisions, keeping every segment accountable to audits and/or inspections. There are certainly elements I would have liked to have approached differently, but preserving accountability and maintaining a system that protects proof of ownership was the priority and remains intact, so in short, yes, I consider this a win.

Throughout this process, I heard from many of you, and those conversations directly shaped how I approached each step. Your voices were heard, and they matter. I cannot express how important your engagement in this issue was, so thank you! I will continue to fight to make sure you continue to be heard.

With the session coming to an end, the work does not stop. The interim (between adjournment and the next session) provides a new opportunity to take a closer look at the issues still facing our communities, continue conversations, and begin preparing legislation for the next session.

I look forward to getting back out across the district, visiting with constituents, hearing your concerns, identifying areas of need, and working on legislation that can help address them.

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