LINCOLN- Packed hearing rooms, hallways, and overflow rooms is a common theme this legislative session as the state works through many hot-button issues such as guns, public funding for private schools, abortion, and LGBTQ rights. Because of the number of people wishing to testify, not all get to see the microphone or even the hearing room. Many have grown enraged and have pointed to legislative committee chairs imposing a six-hour time limit on testimony.

“There are a lot of young people now that have their first interaction with the Legislature as being one where their voices weren’t heard, and in fact, they’re turned away,” said Cindy Maxwell-Ostdiek, a nonpartisan who ran for the Legislature in 2022. The Nebraska Legislature is unique in requiring a public hearing on every bill that is introduced. But there are no rules on how to conduct those hearings.

A couple of former legislators who headed committees cited various strategies to handle hearings with a deluge of people seeking to testify. Former Sen. Steve Lathrop of Omaha said he had an “Alliance Rule.” “If someone came all the way from Alliance, they were going to have a chance to speak." Former Sen. Galen Hadley of Kearney said he would limit how long each testifier could speak, to three to five minutes each.

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