5 Key Victories From This Year’s Legislative Session

The 2024 Legislative Session officially concluded on April 18th. Senators introduced over 500 bills, held hundreds of committee hearings, and debated a wide range of issues—all in a short, 60-day session.

NFA analyzed every bill, provided key testimony, sent action alerts, mobilized prayer, and worked strategically with senators to defend and advance family, freedom, and life. This resulted in nine NFA-supported bills passing into law! 

You played a critical role in making this happen, including securing major wins for religious freedom, school choice, and pro-life and family values.

Here are five key victories from this year’s session that you need to know about:

1. Generational Win For Religious Freedom 

Senators advanced LB 43 into law, which included the First Freedom Act, an NFA priority bill to protect religious freedom.

The law prohibits the government from shutting down churches and establishes a high standard mirroring the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act to protect individual religious liberty rights from government discrimination.

This legislation is the best thing any state can do to protect religious freedom for all citizens.

Plus, LB 43 was also amended to include LB 297, the Personal Privacy Protection Act, another NFA-supported bill that protects donor privacy by prohibiting state and local governments from forcing any non-profit organization to provide personal information regarding their donors.

2. Children Protected From Online Pornography & Sexual Exploitation 

Nebraska became the 15th state to stand up to the online porn industry with the passage of LB 1092, the Online Age-Verification Act, which requires pornography websites to utilize third-party age-verification to prevent access by anyone younger than 18.

Pornography is incredibly damaging, especially to young hearts and minds, and this new law is a groundbreaking and much-needed way to help our state protect kids.

Senators also passed LB 934, another NFA-supported bill, to strengthen our laws against trafficking by making the online depiction of child sexual exploitation or trafficking victims a deceptive trade practice.

Together, these bills are a huge step forward in our efforts to protect children and make our state a leader in combatting trafficking.

3. Major Victory For School Choice 

Nebraska families deserve school choice, and the advancement of LB 1402 will help empower more parents to give their children an education that meets their needs by allocating $10 million in education scholarships each year for families to use at the school of their choice.

LB 1402 replaces the school choice tax credit law passed last year and ensures that school choice is retained in Nebraska.

4. Parental Rights Strengthened And Protected In The Classroom 

Parents are the primary educators of their children, and we helped strengthen parental rights and increase academic transparency in the classroom through the passage of LB 71.

This law requires all public school districts to have policies in place in support of parental rights. The policies must state how the district will involve parents, provide access to all learning materials, and allow parents to opt their child out of lessons or activities. The policy must be reviewed annually at a public hearing and displayed prominently on each school’s website.

In addition, senators passed another NFA-supported bill, LB 1027, to eliminate burdensome and unnecessary red tape for families who homeschool their children.

5. Building A Culture Of Life 

Two NFA-supported bills broadening support for parents, pregnant women, and vulnerable babies passed into law this session.

LB 606, the Pregnancy Help Act, creates a new tax-credit program for private donations to pregnancy help organizations. LB 876, the Newborn Safe Haven Act, strengthens Nebraska’s Safe Haven law by authorizing parents to surrender a newborn infant without fear of prosecution and expands locations where a newborn can be safely surrendered to include fire and police stations.

These are critical steps in advancing a culture of life and will help increase the support and life-affirming options that are available to pregnant women and their families.

BONUS: Every bill opposed by NFA was successfully defeated! 

Every bill opposed by NFA failed to advance this session and was successfully defeated. This included proposals seeking to expand abortion, erode parental rights, and infringe on religious freedom.

NFA is honored to represent you and your family and serve as an effective voice for faith, family, and freedom at our state capitol.

Thank you for praying, advocating, and partnering with us to make Nebraska a state where God is honored, families thrive, life is cherished, and religious freedom flourishes for generations to come.