Proposed Nebraska laws in 2025
“Winner Take All” bill returns once again
The 2025 legislative session has begun and new laws have been suggested for the state of Nebraska. Lawmakers this year are proposing a “winner-take-all” measure that seeks to modify the state’s unique approach to distributing Electoral College votes for presidential elections. State Senator Loren Lippincott of Central City has introduced the proposal, initiated at the request of Governor Jim Pillen, among a total of 81 bills submitted on the first day of the 2025 legislative session. The newly proposed legislation includes a measure to align Omaha city elections with statewide elections, one to implement year-round daylight saving time and another to redefine sports wagering. As the session progresses over the next eight working days, the number of bills up for consideration by the Legislature is expected to increase, leading to public hearings and floor debates in the law-making process.
State Senator Lippincott has pointed out that Legislative Bill 3 brings back several initiatives dating back to the mid-1990s. He described the winner-take-all proposal as a “rerun” of his previous attempt in 2023 to eliminate the practice of allocating three of Nebraska’s five Electoral College votes based on the winner in each congressional district. Last year, Governor Pillen also made a late effort to persuade senators to revert to the earlier system of awarding all five electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the statewide popular vote.
On Thursday evening, Pillen mentioned on X that he was visiting Mar-a-Lago and meeting with President-Elect Donald Trump. Currently, Nebraska and Maine are the only states that distribute some of their electoral votes by congressional district. This method was adopted in Nebraska in 1991 and has allowed Democrats to secure a single electoral vote from the Omaha-based 2nd District during the 2008, 2020, and 2024 elections, contributing to the momentum for “Blue Dot” initiatives in the most recent election cycle.
While the new proposal received support, it had oppositions as well. State Sen. Mike McDonnell, who has opposed the winner-take-all proposal despite his own recent change from Democrat to Republican, expressed concerns about the timing of the initiative, stating it was launched too close to the presidential election. McDonnell is now running for mayor of Omaha. He has proposed a constitutional amendment that would allow voters to decide on the issue. Several lawmakers have indicated that a similar proposal may be introduced in the 2025 legislative session. They also pointed out that the matter could reach the general electorate in 2026, especially if Lippincott is successful and supporters of the “Blue Dot” initiative seek to maintain the current law.
by Robert Tengker