Nebraska Legislature filibuster enters third week as progress continues to stall

LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) - The Nebraska Legislature is on week three of a one-woman filibuster.

Omaha Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh has vowed to object to anything and everything unless, in her view, the rest of the body gets its act together.

“I’m going to get back to reading letters from individuals in opposition to LB574,” Cavanaugh said. “I’m the parent of a transgender son. Our journey started when he was 17.”

LB574 would ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth. Sen. Cavanaugh says she’ll continue to stand in the way of bills that she says legislate hate.

“The legislative body does not know better than the medical community about what treatment is appropriate, nor does it know more than the people living with experience and their caregivers,” she said.

Supporters say the goal of the bill is to protect young people from making irreversible decisions too quickly.

At this stage, they refuse to pull the bill. Sen. Cavanaugh says she would pull back on the filibuster if they do.

“We don’t need a multi-million dollar advertising campaign about how great Nebraska is if we don’t pursue hate and divisive measures,” said Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln. “If we can rise to the challenge, put away the loudest voices on each side of the political spectrum and do the work of the people and take on the top challenges of Nebraskans.”

Find a list of priority bills.

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