Lower age for public office advanced
Senators advanced a measure to select file Feb. 1 that would allow an 18-year-old to hold any public office in Nebraska.
Introduced by O’Neill Sen. Tyson Larson last session, LR26CA would place a proposed constitutional amendment on the November 2016 general election ballot that would change age eligibility for public office in Nebraska to the federal voting age.
Currently, an individual must be 21 to serve in the Legislature and 30 to serve as governor, lieutenant governor or as a Nebraska Supreme Court judge.
Larson said the age to hold office should be the same as the voting age.
“The whole point of LR26CA is equality,” he said. “If you’re old enough to chose your representative, you’re old enough to be your representative. It’s as simple as that.”
Lincoln Sen. Adam Morfeld supported the measure, saying Nebraska voters should decide who is mature enough to hold high office in the state.
“If the voters decide that an 18-year-old is competent enough, smart enough, hard-working enough to represent them, who are we to tell them no?” he said. “It’s just simply giving voters the choice.”
Hoskins Sen. Dave Bloomfield opposed the bill’s changes to the age requirement for governor and members of the state Supreme Court, saying an individual in one of those positions needs more life experience.
“As I said last week, I don’t have a problem with 18-year-olds serving in the Legislature,” he said. “If that were the bill, I would probably support it.”
Sen. Paul Schumacher of Columbus expressed concern that the ballot question would address the age requirement for several different public offices. The result, he said, is that the Nebraska Supreme Court likely would deem the proposal a violation of the rule that a ballot measure contain only one subject.
“It bundles different, separate things,” Schumacher said, “and I think [the court’s] message has been that you can’t do that.”
Larson said supporters would work on the proposal between general and select file to address concerns regarding the ballot language.
LR26CA advanced on a 27-11 vote.
