NEBRASKA LAWS AND LEGISLATION 
 
 
The legislative branch of government in Nebraska is unique in the United States because it is a one-house 
nonpartisan legislative system. All other states have two-chamber legislatures as was the case in Nebraska 
prior to 1937. As a result of the one-house or unicameral system, law making in Nebraska is accomplished 
by a more streamlined process than elsewhere. The legislature meets for 90 legislative days in odd- 
numbered years and in even-numbered years for 60 legislative days. Most legislation is introduced in the 
Unicameral during the first ten days of the session. 
 
Publications from the Nebraska Unicameral are housed in the Nebraska Documents Collection which is part 
of the Government Documents Collection on the top floor of the library. 
 
Legislative bills introduced in the Unicameral are printed as individual documents and shelved in loose-leaf 
notebooks in the Nebraska documents collection (*L3300Q001). After bills are introduced, the Legislative 
Fiscal Office may prepare an appropriations bill to accompany bills which have a fiscal impact. The "A" bills 
or appropriation bills are filed with the legislative bills they accompany. 
 
The next step in the legislative process most bills follow is a hearing held by the Unicameral to gather public 
comment. Transcripts of the hearings are kept but they are not printed for distribution to libraries and the 
public. C.T. Ryan Library has the legislative hearings on microfilm (*L3300T005. nos.) from 1977. Hearings 
are microfilmed several years after the end of the legislative session so the library does not have them from 
the current legislature. 
 
After several more steps, a legislative bill reaches the final reading stage. Bills in this final form are printed 
and sent to libraries. The "final reading" version of bills is filed with the original version in the notebooks 
mentioned above. The Legislative Bill Index (*L3300Q002-Index) provides access by subject. When a bill is 
passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor, it becomes a law. 
 
Laws passed in each session of the Unicameral are first printed as individual slip laws (*L3300Q002-3x), 
and later as bound or paperback volumes. These bound volumes are call the Laws of Nebraska 
(*L3300Q002-year). Laws are arranged in each volume according to the legislative bill number ("LB" 
number) assigned as they went through the legislative process. Legislative bill numbers are reused with each 
legislature. They are simply assigned in the order in which bills are introduced. Consequently, it is important 
to know the year a bill passed if you need to find it in the Laws of Nebraska. Laws in this set do not reflect 
changes made in subsequent years. Each bound volume has a subject index in the back. 
 
The library has three other sources of information about the Legislature (see below, "Internet Access" also). 
The first is the Unicameral Update (*L3000N001), which is published weekly when the legislature is in 
session. It has current news about actions and activities in the Unicameral and, other than daily newspapers, 
is the only source of this type of information. The second source, the Legislative Journal, (*L3300T001), is 
an official record of the daily proceedings in the Unicameral. It is printed daily when the Legislature is in 
session and is cumulated in bound volumes at the end of the session. A legislative history of each bill and 
several indexes are included in the bound volumes. The Nebraska Blue Book, (*L3000D001) and the first 
issues each year of the Unicameral Update contain a directories of Nebraska legislators including addresses 
and committee assignments. 
 
Nebraska laws are also compiled in another set called the Reissue of the Revised Statutes of Nebraska, 
1943, (*L3500Q001). This set is a codification or subject arrangement of laws currently in force in 
Nebraska. A one-volume "General Index" provides access by subject and annual supplements keep the set up 
to date. A handout explaining how to use the set is located on the shelf near it. 
 
Related to Nebraska laws and legislative actions are decisions made by the Nebraska Supreme Court and the 
Nebraska Court of Appeals. Contained in the Nebraska documents collection are the Nebraska Reports, 
(*S3000B001), Decisions of the Nebraska Court of Appeals, (*S3000B005. ), and the Nebraska Digest 
(shelved at the end of the Nebraska Reports). For additional information about Nebraska legal research, see 
"Info on...Basic Legal Research: Nebraska Laws and Court Cases". 
 
Internet Access 
 
The Nebraska Legislature has established its own home page on the Internet. Access is provided to a number 
of databases including a directory of legislators, the full text of all legislative bills pending before the 
Unicameral, and the full text of the Nebraska Statutes. The latter is searchable. 
The Internet address is: http://unicam1.lcs.state.ne.us/ 
 
 
 
Questions about Nebraska laws and legislation can be directed to the Government Documents Department 
offices during the day and the main floor reference desk in the evening and on weekends. 
 
 
prepared by Diana J. Keith,University of Nebraska at Kearney (5/97).