Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of March 2024

With the legislative session two-thirds done, almost every aspect of Gov. Jim Pillen's property tax cut proposal remains unsettled — and prospects for passage are uncertain.

Urban lawmakers prevailed in a fight over workforce housing money Tuesday that split the Nebraska Legislature along geographic — rather than ideological or party — lines.

After previous doubts that the Legislature would take action against a lawmaker who invoked his colleagues' names in the reading of a rape scene, a formal investigation has been launched.

Members of Nebraska's congressional delegation railed against new vehicle emissions standards the EPA announced, with U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts vowing to introduce a resolution to block the standards. 

After three heated days of debate, the Nebraska Legislature blocked a bill that would remove protections for K-12 educators if they face charges of providing obscene materials to minors.

Nebraska's smallest school districts could authorize security staff to carry guns in schools and at school activities under a compromise amendment added to a package of education bills.

The Nebraska Legislature gave first-round approval Wednesday night to a bill that would restore voting rights to felons who have completed their sentence.

After years of contentious debate over parental involvement in K-12 schools, Nebraska lawmakers gave first-round approval to a bipartisan measure on the subject.

The state budget would leave about $20 million to pay for added spending or tax cuts in other bills working through the Nebraska Legislature. That's nowhere near enough.

The next few days could determine the fate of Gov. Jim Pillen's plan to make significant property tax cuts in Nebraska by raising sales taxes and capping local government spending.

After two days of debate, the Nebraska Legislature advanced a bill that would require online age verification on porn websites, despite concerns about potential unintended consequences.

Nebraska lawmakers launched Wednesday into a long-awaited debate about Gov. Jim Pillen's plan to cut property taxes by raising state sales taxes — but adjourned before reaching a vote. 

State Sen. Steve Halloran of Hastings said he would not attend a hearing on a censure resolution because he didn't want to "give credence" to it. 

The Legislature’s Executive Board held a public hearing on a resolution calling for Sen. Steve Halloran to be censured for his comments. The resolution received over 500 online comments.

An Omaha senator says there's still time for the Nebraska Legislature to debate her bill on restricting access to school bathrooms and locker rooms on the basis of biological sex.

Nebraska would bolster efforts to increase the health of at-risk babies and mothers under one of several bills passed by the Legislature last week.

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen has signed both bills in the state budget package without a single veto and with praise for the Appropriations Committee.

A proposed ordinance would make it a misdemeanor crime for people to park their vehicles off paved surfaces in residential Omaha neighborhoods. 

Lawmakers advanced a bill to reduce property taxes by doubling state aid to schools. But the measure won't go far unless senators agree on a bill to pay for it.

With only four days left in the 2024 legislative session, the path to the finish line is narrowing for Gov. Jim Pillen's plan to cut property taxes in Nebraska.

The Nebraska Department of Transportation asked Nebraskans to submit droll and pithy highway safety slogans for electronic interstate signs — “the more creative, the better.”