Nebraska Legislature

"The Unicameral" redirects here. For the general concept, see Unicameralism. For other uses, see Unicameral (disambiguation).

Nebraska Legislature
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
Term limits
2 consecutive terms
Leadership
Joe Kelly (R)
since January 5, 2023
John Arch (R)
since January 4, 2023
Executive Board Chair
Ray Aguilar (R)
since January 3, 2024
Executive Board Vice Chair
John Lowe (R)
since January 3, 2024
Structure
Seats49
Legislature political groups
Officially nonpartisan

Majority (33)

  •   Republican (33)[a]
    33 / 49 (67%)

Minority (16)

Length of term
4 years
AuthorityArticle III, Nebraska Constitution
Salary$12,000/year + per diem
Elections
Legislature voting system
Top-two primary
Last Legislature election
November 8, 2022
(24 seats)
Next Legislature election
November 5, 2024
(25 seats)
RedistrictingLegislature control
Meeting place
Nebraska State Capitol
Lincoln
Website
www.nebraskalegislature.gov

The Nebraska Legislature[1] (also called the Unicameral)[2] is the legislature of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The Legislature meets at the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln. With 49 members, known as "senators",[3] the Nebraska Legislature is the smallest U.S. state legislature. A total of 25 members is required for a majority; however, in order to overcome a filibuster, a two-thirds vote of all members is required, which takes 33 votes.[4]

Unlike the legislatures of the other 49 U.S. states and the U.S. Congress, the Nebraska Legislature is unicameral. It is also nonpartisan in that members are elected in nonpartisan elections, and the Legislature does not officially recognize its members' political party affiliation or maintain a formal partisan leadership structure. All 49 members elect, by secret ballot, the Legislature's officers (except the Lieutenant Governor, who serves as President of the Legislature) and committee chairs with the aim of ensuring lawmakers select leaders they truly support without undue pressure or influence from other branches of government, the political parties, or other sources of outside influence.


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  1. ^ "Legislative Branch". Nebraska.gov. Retrieved September 18, 2022.
  2. ^ LTC. "Nebraska Legislature - About the Legislature".
  3. ^ SRB, Hugo Frank (May 15, 1937). "RESOLUTION Authorizing and designating the title of the Legislature of Nebraska. Offered by P. L. Cady, W.F. Haycock and John Peterson" (PDF). Legislative Journal of the State of Nebraska: 70, 78 – via The official site of the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature.
  4. ^ Metzler, Brandon (January 19, 2023), "Rule 7, Section 10", Rules of the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature (PDF), p. 53, A two-thirds majority of the elected members shall be required for the cloture motion to be successful.