Nebraska’s unicameral

Legislative districts

Nebraska has 49 legislative districts, whose boundaries are determined by the legislature after the completion of the Census every 10 years. Districts are determined based on population, so they very widely in size; maps of Nebraska’s 2011-2021 legislative districts can be seen below.

Lincoln’s representatives

• District 21: Mike Hilgers (R)
• District 25: Suzanne Geist (R)
• District 26: Matt Hansen (D)
• District 27: Anna Wishart (D)
• District 28: Patty Pansing Brooks (D)
• District 29: Eliot Bostar (D)
• District 30: Myron Dorn (R)
• District 32: Tom Brandt (R)
• District 46: Adam Morfeld (D)

Legislative sessions

The length of a legislative session depends on the year; sessions are always in the spring, and last 60 days in even-numbered years, and 90 days in odd-numbered years. The 60 and 90 day session years put together are referred to as a biennium; no new state senators are elected during a biennium.

Visit the legislative calendar below to see if the Nebraska legislature is currently in session.

Running for office

There are three qualifications to run to be a Nebraska state senator:

• You must be 21 or older;
• You must be registered to vote; and
• You must be a resident of the district you are looking to represent for at least 1 year before the general election.

State senator terms last 4 years (two bienniums), and your work must be flexible enough to allow you to be in-person for the full length of each session. State senators in Nebraska are paid $12,000/year.

To learn more and file to run for office, reach out to your local county clerk or election commissioner.

Elections

State senator terms last 4 years, and they are term limited out after two consecutive terms; however, senators are eligible to run again after taking a minimum one-term break.

Senators in even-numbered legislative districts are elected during midterm elections, while senators in odd-numbered legislative districts are elected during presidential elections.

The lawmaking process

There are a number of different steps within the lawmaking process in Nebraska.

1. Introduction
2. Committee
3. General file
4. Enrollment and review
5. Select file
6. Final reading
7. The governor

The State of Nebraska has a great webpage put together on the different steps in the lawmaking process; find the site using the link below.

Tuning in

The Nebraska legislature is streamed live online through Nebraska Public Media.

Interested in the debate on a particular bill? Visit the link below when the legislature is in session to view live feed from the floor.