LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers have launched a special session to redraw the state’s political boundaries, with one proposal that would add a 50th state senator to the Legislature to try to keep rural Nebraska from losing a seat.
Sen. Mark Kolterman, of Seward, proposed the measure along with two other rural senators.
The bill would expand the Legislature from its current 49 members to 50.
Adding a senator would reduce the ideal number of residents per legislative district, making it easier for lawmakers to preserve rural districts that lost population over the last decade while still adding a district to fast-growing suburban Omaha.