All Roll Calls
Yes: 457 • No: 97
NebraskaLB298109th Legislature 1st and 2nd SessionslegislatureWALLET
Provide for the Division of Legislative Oversight, the Director of Legislative Oversight, and the Legislative Oversight Committee and change provisions relating to the Public Counsel, the office of Inspector General of Nebraska Child Welfare, and the office of Inspector General of the Nebraska Correctional System
Sponsored By: John Arch
Signed by Governor
Executive Board
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
16 provisions identified: 8 benefits, 0 costs, 8 mixed.
Regular audits of business tax breaks
The law requires performance audits of Nebraska’s business tax incentive programs. Each program is audited at least once every five years, on a schedule updated each year. Audits review goals, jobs, investment, and fiscal impacts. Every audit report is presented at a joint hearing of the Appropriations and Revenue Committees.
Stronger whistleblower protections in oversight
If you report suspected wrongdoing to an Inspector General or take part in an IG investigation, your employer cannot punish you. These protections apply when you act in good faith. They cover state employees and staff of private agencies that work with corrections.
Faster subpoenas for legislative investigations
The Executive Board must vote within 10 days on subpoena requests for investigations. Records are due within 30 days unless the subpoena sets another date. Lancaster County courts decide enforcement within 20 days, and appeals are due within 10 days. Pending subpoenas at a new session must be renewed within 10 days. The Research Office and Fiscal Office may also request subpoenas with Board approval. Witnesses may bring a lawyer, but the Legislature does not pay those fees.
New legislative oversight division and committee
The law creates a Division of Legislative Oversight in the Legislature. A Director, chosen by a two‑thirds vote for six years, leads it and sets nonpartisan performance measures. A Legislative Oversight Committee approves the work plan and gets quarterly briefings. The division can use confidential records but must keep them private. The Legislative Council houses inspectors general for child welfare and corrections and the Audit Office in this division.
Stronger Public Counsel to review agencies
The law creates an Office of Public Counsel to review state agencies. The Legislature appoints the Public Counsel by a two‑thirds vote for a six‑year term. Deputies focus on corrections, institutions, and welfare services. The office can ask agencies to change actions, and agencies must respond on time. The Public Counsel must talk with an agency before publishing criticism and must keep shared records confidential. Annual reports are due about February 15, and a separate institutions report is due by December 15. Suspected crimes or misconduct must be referred to authorities.
Child welfare inspector must report abuse
The child welfare Inspector General is a mandatory reporter. If they suspect child abuse or neglect, they must call law enforcement or the DHHS toll‑free number. They must also file a written report as the law requires.
Stronger protections for state whistleblowers
Willfully blocking or misleading the Public Counsel is a Class II misdemeanor. State employees who file a complaint under the Office of Public Counsel Act cannot be punished at work for doing so. Lawyers for the agency being investigated cannot represent a witness in that case.
Regular reviews of tax incentives
When a tax incentive is audited, the Revenue Committee must report by December 1 of the year before its sunset whether to extend it. Audited agencies must send a written plan within 40 business days showing how they will carry out audit fixes; the committee may waive this for incentive audits. For incentive audits, the audited agency may see the report up to 5 business days early to protect taxpayer confidentiality.
Child welfare Inspector General and powers
The Inspector General for child welfare can get case, licensing, medical, and financial records and make unannounced visits. The office must return original records within 10 business days. It gets direct computer access to certain state systems, with safeguards. Agencies can raise legal privilege; the office can seek a subpoena if needed. The IG picks which complaints to investigate and may suggest other ways to resolve issues. Reports go to oversight leaders and, when relevant, to guardians ad litem and juvenile‑court lawyers. Agency leaders have 15 business days to act on recommendations. Providers have 30 days to respond, and the IG issues corrections within 15 business days or adds responses. Each year by September 15, the IG sends a non‑identifying summary of investigations and recommendations to key officials. Investigative records are not public, sources can be protected, and suspected crimes must be referred.
Child welfare Inspector General oversight
The law creates a child welfare Inspector General to investigate deaths, serious injuries, misconduct, and system failures. The IG serves five years, must earn Certified Inspector General status within two years, and former top DHHS leaders face a five‑year cooling‑off limit. DHHS, juvenile services, and facilities must promptly report child deaths, serious injuries, and sexual abuse allegations; the IG coordinates with probation and law enforcement. The IG can seek subpoenas with fast votes and court timelines and may interview witnesses. Final IG reports and investigative work are protected from court review to preserve investigations.
Corrections Inspector General investigations and records
The Corrections Inspector General must investigate misconduct, deaths, and serious injuries in state prisons and parole, plus other approved topics. The IG can hire staff within appropriations and works under the Director of Legislative Oversight. The Department and Parole must keep an individual file for each person in custody or under supervision with key records. IG reports and investigative work are not reviewed in court, and IG staff usually do not have to testify about their official work.
Independent prison oversight and staff duties
The law creates an Inspector General for Nebraska’s correctional system. The department must promptly report inmate and on‑duty employee deaths, serious injuries, or hospitalizations. The office can make announced or unannounced visits and get needed records; originals are returned within 10 business days. Employees and contractors must fully cooperate, answer truthfully, and may have a lawyer. Retaliation is banned, and refusal can lead to discipline or public notice. The IG selects priority cases and can suggest other ways to resolve complaints. Reports go to oversight leaders, and a redacted public summary may be released when in the public interest. The Director has 15 business days to act on recommendations, and agencies have 45 days to send corrections. The IG must refer suspected crimes and provide a non‑identifying annual summary by September 15. Confidential records stay inside the office.
Old oversight laws repealed and reorganized
The law repeals many listed statute sections and moves new sections 1 to 65 of this act into Chapter 50. These changes reorganize and clean up where oversight rules appear in state law.
Public Counsel gets stronger oversight powers
The Public Counsel can investigate agency actions, inspect agency sites, and request records. The office can seek subpoenas for testimony and documents. Public Counsel reports are not public records, and staff usually do not have to testify about their official work. The role must stay nonpartisan, cannot hold other paid jobs, and cannot be filled by a recent legislator. Oversight now also covers state human‑services contractors, behavioral health regions and providers, and local jails. The Public Counsel may study issues for the Legislature and can investigate cases for youth in or leaving state youth treatment centers.
Stronger state audits and faster records
The law sets up a Legislative Audit Office and a Legislative Performance Audit Committee to run state audits. Audits follow national standards, and the committee picks audit topics and scopes. At the Auditor’s request and with Executive Board approval, the committee can issue subpoenas; it must vote within 10 days and courts decide disputes in 20 days. Agencies must give requested records within 3 business days or explain and finish within 3 weeks for large requests. The committee tracks whether agencies carry out audit fixes, and agencies must send annual July 1 updates on overdue rules. Committee work and records stay confidential, and wrongful disclosure by oversight staff is a crime.
Tighter rules on tax return access
Tax returns stay confidential. Auditors may review returns at the Department of Revenue after giving 30 days’ written notice and an audit plan, and they must follow strict on‑site safeguards. The Tax Commissioner may let Postal Inspectors see returns only for mail‑fraud cases tied to false state tax filings.
Sponsors & Cosponsors
Sponsor
John Arch
legislature
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
legislature vote • 4/24/2026
Vote
Yes: 44 • No: 0 • Other: 5
legislature vote • 4/24/2026
Vote
Yes: 37 • No: 3 • Other: 9
legislature vote • 4/24/2026
Vote
Yes: 38 • No: 0 • Other: 11
legislature vote • 4/24/2026
Vote
Yes: 43 • No: 0 • Other: 6
legislature vote • 4/24/2026
Vote
Yes: 17 • No: 21 • Other: 11
legislature vote • 4/24/2026
Vote
Yes: 7 • No: 22 • Other: 20
legislature vote • 5/30/2025
Final Reading
Yes: 46 • No: 2
legislature vote • 5/28/2025
Vote
Yes: 43 • No: 0 • Other: 6
legislature vote • 5/28/2025
Vote
Yes: 7 • No: 22 • Other: 20
legislature vote • 5/28/2025
Vote
Yes: 17 • No: 21 • Other: 11
legislature vote • 5/28/2025
Vote
Yes: 44 • No: 0 • Other: 5
legislature vote • 5/21/2025
Vote
Yes: 38 • No: 0 • Other: 11
legislature vote • 5/21/2025
Vote
Yes: 37 • No: 3 • Other: 9
legislature vote • 5/21/2025
Vote
Yes: 39 • No: 3 • Other: 7
Actions Timeline
Approved by Governor on June 4, 2025
6/6/2025legislatureProvisions/portions of LB228 amended into LB298 by AM1504
6/6/2025legislatureDispensing of reading at large approved
5/30/2025legislaturePassed on Final Reading with Emergency Clause 46-2*-1
5/30/2025legislaturePresident/Speaker signed
5/30/2025legislaturePresented to Governor on May 30, 2025
5/30/2025legislatureEnrollment and Review ER92 adopted
5/28/2025legislatureArch AM1616 adopted
5/28/2025legislatureArch AM1600 adopted
5/28/2025legislatureConrad AM1614 filed
5/28/2025legislatureConrad AM1614 lost
5/28/2025legislatureBostar AM1553 filed
5/28/2025legislatureBostar AM1553 lost
5/28/2025legislatureAdvanced to Enrollment and Review for Engrossment
5/28/2025legislaturePlaced on Final Reading with ST46
5/28/2025legislatureEnrollment and Review ST46 filed
5/28/2025legislatureEnrollment and Review ST46 recorded
5/28/2025legislatureArch AM1600 filed
5/27/2025legislaturePlaced on Select File with ER92
5/27/2025legislatureEnrollment and Review ER92 filed
5/27/2025legislatureArch AM1616 to AM1600 filed
5/27/2025legislatureExecutive Board AM1504 pending
5/21/2025legislatureCavanaugh, M. FA257 to AM1504 filed
5/21/2025legislatureCavanaugh, M. FA257 withdrawn
5/21/2025legislatureCavanaugh, M. FA262 to AM1504 filed
5/21/2025legislature
Bill Text
Introduced
6/6/2025
Enrolled / Slip Law
Final / Enacted