The Nebraska Legislature is in full session with debate continuing on a few of our priority bills this week, and we need YOU to take action! The first step is to know your senator. Find your senator here.
Trafficking Bill Has Second Round Floor Debate Today
Second round floor debate on LB 1132, a bill supporting sex trafficking survivors, could begin as early as this morning. The bill would allow sex trafficking survivors to have convictions linked to their victimization set aside and their related records sealed. More than 90% of sex trafficking survivors report being arrested for crimes related to their trafficking. As a result, many trafficking victims are arrested, tried and convicted for crimes they didn’t choose to commit.
Unjust criminal records harm survivors/victims of sex trafficking. Background checks can prevent them from building a life once they’ve escaped trafficking by prohibiting them from accessing housing, employment and education. Read more about how the bill seeks to help survivors in the Lincoln Journal-Star.
If you haven’t already, please call/email your senator and ask them to support survivors of sex trafficking in our state by advancing LB 1132.
Your Voice is Still Critical: Support Title X Funding in Nebraska
The main budget bill, LB 944, will be debated once again on the floor this afternoon. This bill includes language that would restrict access to family planning through Nebraska’s Title X program. Senators are working hard to find a compromise that will protect the vital services to the 28,000 Nebraskans who count on Title X health centers for access to reproductive health care.
Title X is the only federal grant program dedicated solely to family planning and reproductive health services for low-income and uninsured patients. Nebraska’s Title X-funded health centers offer pelvic exams; screening for cervical and breast cancer; screening for high blood pressure, anemia and diabetes; screening and treatment for STDs; infertility services; and health education. Learn more about Title X’s impact on Nebraska’s women & girls.
Nebraskans deserve quality care. Please call/email your senator again and urge them to not restrict access to Title X services in the budget.
Senators Howard, Schumacher and Wishart Show Support for Title X Funding
In today’s Omaha World-Herald, Senators Sara Howard, Paul Schumacher and Anna Wishart declare, “As Nebraska state senators, we will not make a choice between child welfare and women’s health care funding because we know child welfare is inextricably linked to women’s health care. A healthy mom is a healthy family. With that in mind, we have opposed efforts by the governor and some of our colleagues to make stand-alone women’s health clinics ineligible for Title X federal grant funding for vital preventative health services.”
Thank you, Senators, for standing up for Nebraska’s women and children. Read their full op-ed here.
View today’s full agenda here: https://nebraskalegislature.gov/calendar/agenda.php…
Stream it online here: http://netnebraska.org/…/telev…/live-demand-state-government
If you have any questions about the information discussed in this Legislative Update, feel free to contact our Research and Policy Director Tiffany Seibert Joekel via email at TJoekel@OmahaWomensFund.org