Fee cap elimination advances

Lawmakers gave first-round approval Jan. 24 to a bill that would make changes to a fee charged by the Nebraska secretary of state.

Currently, the office charges a fee of 45 cents for images of records accessed over the Internet, not to exceed $2,000 per request for batch requests. LB278, introduced by Omaha Sen. Pete Pirsch, would eliminate the fee cap and make additional technical changes.

Pirsch said most data requests from individuals and businesses in Nebraska are small and would not be impacted by the bill. No data-mining request has ever been made that would incur a fee higher than the current cap, he said, but the ability to charge a fee commensurate with such a request should be a legal option for the future.

“This is largely theoretical,” Pirsch said.

Senators voted 27-2 to advance the bill to select file.