Political ad disclaimer change clears first round

Lawmakers gave first-round approval May 1 to a bill that would change disclaimer requirements for political advertisements.

Under the Nebraska Political Accountability and Disclosure Act, the candidate or ballot question committee that pays for printed campaign materials is required to list a street address in the accompanying payment disclaimer.

As introduced by Omaha Sen. Megan Hunt, LB32 would instead allow use of a post office box. A street address still would be required to be on file with the NADC.

Hunt said that most candidates must use their home address because they don’t have a campaign office.

“I’ve heard feedback from a lot of candidates over the years that they do not like the exposure of their homes by putting that on every single piece of mail and every single walk card that they have [during] their campaign,” Hunt said.

A Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee amendment, adopted 38-0, would limit the change to apply to candidate committees only.

Senators advanced LB32 to select file on a 38-0 vote.