Senator Lynne Walz Nebraska State Legislature
AGO 21-003
No. 21-003
Nebraska Attorney General Opinion
State of Nebraska office of the Attorney General
March 26, 2021
SUBJECT:
Does LB 528, as Amended, Violate the Single Subject
Requirement in Neb. Const. art. Ill, § 14?
REQUESTED
BY: Senator Lynne Walz Nebraska State Legislature
WRITTEN
BY: Douglas J. Peterson, Attorney General, Lynn A. Melson,
Assistant Attorney General.
INTRODUCTION
You
have requested an opinion from this office on the
constitutionality of LB 528, titled: "Provide, change,
and eliminate provisions relating to education." A
proposed amendment, AM556, was filed on March 16, 2021, and
would replace the bill. You have specifically asked whether
LB 528, as amended, would violate Neb. Const. art. Ill,
§ 14, which requires that no bill shall contain more
than one subject.
LB 528,
as amended, amends Nebraska statutes concerning various
topics which include the following: (1) updating references
to "accredited" instead of "regionally
accredited" postsecondary institutions in numerous state
statute; (2) leasing of school lands; (3) school district
budgets and budget hearings; (4) mandatory school attendance;
(5) temporary teaching certificates; (6) changes to the Tax
Equity and Educational Opportunities Support Act; (7)
valuation of and distribution of funds to educational service
units; (8) school classifications; (9) use and reporting of
income from solar and wind agreements on school lands; (10)
college savings plans; (11) scholarship programs; and, (12)
the contents of school student identification cards.
Neb.
Const, art. Ill, § 14 provides, in part: "No bill
shall contain more than one subject, and the same shall be
clearly expressed in the title." You have referred to LB
528, as amended, as a "Christmas tree bill" and you
are correct that a variety of statutes would be amended by
this bill. However, as this office has noted in prior
opinions, the Nebraska Supreme Court has adopted a liberal
construction with respect to this constitutional requirement.
See, e.g., Op. Att'y Gen. No. 03012 (May 7...
