Transportation omnibus bill clears first round

A bill to align Nebraska’s transportation statutes with federal regulations advanced to select file April 9 after lawmakers amended it to include several other transportation-related measures.

Sen. Mike Moser of Columbus, sponsor of LB398, said the measure would ensure that the state complies with the most recent federal laws and regulations that govern the state Department of Motor Vehicles and Nebraska State Patrol.

Among other changes, the bill would increase civil penalties for motor carrier violations, update medical certification requirements for commercial driver’s license holders and require the department to post certain information to the Commercial Driver License Information System.

Moser introduced an amendment, adopted 39-0, to include provisions of five other bills heard by the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee this session.

The provisions of LB134, introduced by Bellevue Sen. Rick Holdcroft, would require the department to create six license plate designs intended to honor veterans and military service members, including those who have been awarded an Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal and who served or are serving in the U.S. Space Force.

Under the amendment, the department would create a design that includes the word “veteran” and another for those who are permanently handicapped or disabled that also includes the internationally accepted wheelchair symbol.

Two additional designs — both displaying the words “disabled veteran” and one including the wheelchair symbol — would replace the current disabled veteran license plates beginning in 2026. Under Holdcroft’s proposal, a person would have to be classified by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as at least 10% service-connected disabled to apply for a disabled veteran license plate rather than the current 100%.

To qualify for a license plate that includes the wheelchair symbol, an individual would have to submit an application and proof of disability.

The provisions of LB343, introduced by Sen. Tom Brandt of Plymouth, would decrease the organizational license plate fee from $70 to $40, the same as the alternate license plate fee.

The provisions of LB563, also sponsored by Brandt, would require the department to issue permanent license plates for commercial fertilizer trailers.

The provisions of LB568, introduced by Omaha Sen. John Fredrickson, would require the department to issue Arbor Day license plates.

The associated fees would be directed to a new fund administered by the University of Nebraska Board of Regents, which would award grants to the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum for tree planting, environmental education and other purposes.

Fredrickson’s proposal also would update and reorganize state statute related to alternate and organizational license plates.

The amended provisions of LB114, sponsored by Moser, would increase fees for certain driver and motor vehicle records maintained by the department.

The measure would increase the driver record abstract fee from $7.50 to $15 per record. Moser said the additional revenue would be used to update the department’s driver licensing system.

The fee for searching the driver record monitoring service would increase from 6 to 15 cents per record, and the fee for driver record header information — which includes name, address and date of birth, among other details — would increase from $18 to $30 per 1,000 records.

The fee for individual registration or title records would increase from $1 to $3 per record. For requests of more than 2,000 records, the fee would increase from $18 to $25 per 1,000 records prior to July 1, 2026, and $35 per 1,000 records after that. The same increases would apply to the fee for an extract of the entire file of all vehicles registered or titled in Nebraska.

The measure would require the state treasurer to credit the fees to the License Plate Cash Fund and the Records Management Cash Fund.

Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Bennington supported the amendment. As introduced, she said, Moser’s proposal would have increased the driver record abstract fee from $7.50 to $24 per record and directed a portion of the additional revenue to the state’s General Fund.

She said committee members “took exception” to that approach of “quietly raising taxes.” In response, DeBoer said, the department agreed to a smaller increase commensurate with the modernization program’s cost.

Syracuse Sen. Bob Hallstrom introduced an amendment, adopted 39-0, to include provisions of his LB175. They would require a railroad’s successor in interest to provide at least one adequate crossing for a person who owns land on both sides of a right-of-way.

After adoption of the amendments, senators voted 39-0 to advance LB398 to the second round of debate.