Nebraska Legislature wastes time on grass length bill

A few weeks ago, we talked about some of the things we hoped the Nebraska Legislature would address during this year’s session. At the top of our list was the ongoing capital punishment controversy.

Last year, the Nebraska Supreme Court deemed the electric chair unconstitutional, leading to this year’s two proposed bills, one from Sen. Mike Flood, which would change the method of execution to lethal injection, and the other from Sen. Brenda Council, which would abolish the death penalty. One would hope that the majority of our Legislature’s time would be spent discussing bills of such significance.

Yet, much of the Legislature’s time thus far has been taken up by debating unnecessary or trivial bills whose value is negligible at best.

For example, Omaha Sen. Mike Friend has proposed that the state allow cities of 5,000 to 100,000 people to implement the same six-inch limit on grass growth followed in Lincoln. The current maximum allowed growth is 12 inches.

That may well be the case, but is this really something the unicameral needs to spend its limited time debating?

It doesn’t stop with grass length either.

Friend has also proposed a bill that would raise the fine for first offense parking in handicap stalls from $100 to $150. Strangely, Friend’s reasoning for this bill has nothing to do with an increase in violations. If violations had increased, then an increased fine would make sense as a greater deterrent. Rather, “the fines have not been changed for a couple of decades, and (Flood) thinks they need to be updated,” reported the Lincoln Journal Star. Apparently, our fines need to keep up with inflation.

Additionally, Sen. Kent Rogert of Tekamah has proposed a bill that would end the state park drinking ban. While it is perhaps a good idea to formalize something that’s been informally true for some time, it seems silly to waste time discussing why we should repeal a law that is seldom enforced in the first place.

Thankfully, our senators are starting to dedicate time to more significant issues – today’s agenda includes hearings on both proposed capital punishment bills. For that, we are grateful.

The public may find it disappointing that hearings on such weighty measures are newsworthy. Robust debate on significant bills should be the norm.

But as long as our Legislature continues to waste time debating grass length and unenforced laws, we’ll continue to be surprised.

And disappointed.

opinion@dailynebraskan.com