LB365A is an appropriations bill that provides funding to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services to carry out the provisions of Legislative Bill 365 from the 109th Legislature, 2nd Session. The bill appropriates money from both the General Fund and federal funds for fiscal years specified in the act, with the funds designated for state aid related to the underlying program created or expanded by LB365.
The bill also includes a standard restriction that the appropriated state aid funds may only be used for that purpose. In addition, it prohibits expenditures for permanent and temporary salaries and per diem payments for state employees from the funds appropriated in this section, limiting the appropriation to programmatic or aid-related uses rather than agency staffing costs.
Impact
LB365A amends state spending authority by creating a specific appropriation for the Department of Health and Human Services tied to implementation of LB365. It affects the state budget by authorizing General Fund and federal fund expenditures for state aid, while restricting those dollars from being used for employee salaries or per diem. The bill does not itself create the underlying policy program, but it supplies the funding mechanism needed to implement it.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have enjoyed broad support and little visible controversy. It advanced unanimously on the first recorded vote and then passed final reading with a strong 44-5 margin, indicating general legislative agreement on the need for the appropriation. The absence of committee transcript debate suggests the measure was treated as a routine funding bill rather than a contested policy change.
Contention
No specific committee objections or floor debate are available in the provided materials, so there is no documented substantive dispute over the bill’s contents. The only potential point of contention inferred from the text is the allocation of General Fund and federal dollars for state aid, but the voting record suggests that any disagreement was limited. The bill’s salary and per diem prohibition also indicates a narrow, targeted appropriation structure rather than a broader administrative funding request.