LB13A is an appropriation bill that provides General Fund money to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services to carry out the provisions of Legislative Bill 13 from the 109th Legislature, First Session. The bill is a fiscal companion measure: it does not create the underlying policy program itself, but supplies the state aid funding needed to implement that separate substantive bill.
The appropriation is split across two fiscal years and is restricted to state aid purposes only. The text also specifies that no money in this appropriation may be used for permanent or temporary salaries or per diems for state employees. In practical terms, LB13A would authorize the spending authority necessary for DHHS to administer the related program under LB13, while limiting the use of those funds to direct aid rather than administrative payroll costs.
Impact
LB13A would amend state spending authority by appropriating General Funds to DHHS for a specific program tied to LB13, thereby affecting the state budget and the department’s ability to distribute aid. Because it is an appropriation bill, its legal effect is limited to funding authorization rather than changing substantive eligibility rules or program design. The bill would primarily affect the Department of Health and Human Services and any recipients or beneficiaries of the state aid funded through the related legislation.
Sentiment
The available record shows no committee transcript or recorded votes, so there is no detailed public debate to gauge support or opposition. The bill’s structure suggests it was intended as a routine fiscal companion to another measure rather than a controversial policy proposal. Its eventual status as indefinitely postponed indicates it did not advance, but the record provided does not explain whether that result reflected budget concerns, procedural timing, or disagreement with the underlying program.
Contention
No specific points of contention are documented in the provided materials. The main issue implied by the bill text is the scope and use of the appropriation: the funds are limited to state aid and expressly cannot be used for state employee salaries or per diems. Any disagreement would likely have centered on the amount of General Funds appropriated, the fiscal impact on the state budget, or the merits of the underlying LB13 program that the appropriation was meant to support.