Nebraska Legislature: bills of interest in opening days
What if driving while your driver’s license was revoked became a Class IV felony? Getting tougher on those who continue to drive after license revocation is the subject of LB 772. A Class IV felony is punishable by a $10,000 fine or up to five years in prison or both. Upon conviction, there would also be a mandatory 15-year license revocation.
LB 773 would add a definition of “manure-spreading implements” to the rules of the road and not allow them to travel on the interstate or national defense system highways. Meanwhile, LB 808 would clarify the conditions that make a farm truck not a commercial vehicle. LB 805 is the bill that includes Nebraska’s annual adoption of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations.
Senator Deb Fischer, chair of the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee, has introduced LB 821, which would make the preservation and maintenance of Nebraska’s existing state highway system the overriding priority in deciding which roads projects will be funded. Meanwhile, Senator Arnie Stuthman, also on the Transportation Committee, has proposed LB 796, a five-cent-per-gallon fuel tax hike on everyone from suppliers and wholesalers to consumers in order to finish the state’s expressway system. The proposed tax would end when the expressways are finished. (Fellow Transportation Committee member Scott Lautenbaugh has already filed a motion to indefinitely postpone Stuthman’s bill.)
Bill introduction will continue through January 19. The Nebraska Trucking Legislative Committee will meet shortly after that to determine which bills deserve industry support or opposition. If you have concerns or comments about any of the bills introduced so far, please contact Nebraska Trucking President Larry Johnson at 402-476-8504 in Lincoln, ljohnson@nebtrucking.com.
A shout out to Stephen Kucher at Lincoln Drywall Service for spotting the typo in last week’s legislative report. The bill that would allow mini-trucks to operate on public highways without a motor vehicle registration is LB 114, not LB 144.
|
|
