State claims bill amended, advanced

Claims against the state would be approved by a bill advanced from general file July 24.

If an individual sues the state of Nebraska, he or she files a claim with the state claims board. Approved claims exceeding $50,000 must be reviewed by the Legislature.

LB927, as introduced by the Business and Labor Committee, would approve tort and workers’ compensation claims totaling approximately $592,000 and includes $66 million in agency write-offs.

Among the agency write-offs is $63 million from the Nebraska Department of Labor for uncollected unemployment insurance tax dating back to the 1930s for businesses that have gone bankrupt or no longer exist.

Committee chairperson Sen. Matt Hansen of Lincoln said that no write-offs for existing businesses were included in that number.

A committee amendment, adopted 35-0, made minor adjustments to several agency write-offs and added $965,000 in claims settled after the public hearing on LB927. That amount includes $850,000 to two women who were attacked in their apartment in 2016 by escaped inmates from the Lincoln Regional Center.

Following the 36-1 adoption of a Hansen amendment to add an additional claim, senators gave the bill first-round approval on a vote of 40-0.