Editing Nebraska (section)

===Legislative branch===

{{Further|Nebraska Legislature|Nebraska State Capitol}}

Nebraska is the only state in the United States with a 'single-house' [[Unicameralism|unicameral]] legislature.<ref name="Unicameral History">{{cite web |title=Nebraska Legislature |url=https://nebraskalegislature.gov/about/history_unicameral.php |website=nebraskalegislature.gov |access-date=26 April 2022 |archive-date=March 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304185859/https://nebraskalegislature.gov/about/history_unicameral.php |url-status=live }}</ref> Although this house is officially known simply as the "[[Nebraska Legislature|Legislature]]", and more commonly called the "Unicameral", its members call themselves "senators". Nebraska's Legislature is also the only [[State legislature (United States)|state legislature]] in the United States that is officially [[Non-partisan democracy|nonpartisan]]. The senators are elected with no party affiliation next to their names on the ballot, and members of any party can be elected to the positions of speaker and committee chairs.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nebraska Legislature - on Unicameralism |url=https://nebraskalegislature.gov/about/ou_facts.php |website=nebraskalegislature.gov |access-date=26 April 2022 |archive-date=April 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220426192629/https://nebraskalegislature.gov/about/ou_facts.php |url-status=live }}</ref> The Nebraska Legislature can also override the governor's veto with a three-fifths majority, in contrast to the two-thirds majority required in some other states.

When Nebraska became a state in 1867, its legislature consisted of two houses: a House of Representatives and a Senate. For years, U.S. Senator [[George W. Norris|George Norris]] (Senator 1913–1943) and other Nebraskans encouraged the idea of a unicameral legislature and demanded the issue be decided in a [[referendum]]. Norris argued:<ref name="Unicameral History" />
{{blockquote|The constitutions of our various states are built upon the idea that there is but one class. If this be true, there is no sense or reason in having the same thing done twice, especially if it is to be done by two bodies of men elected in the same way and having the same jurisdiction.}} Unicameral supporters also argued that a [[bicameralism|bicameral]] legislature had a significant undemocratic feature in the committees that reconciled House and Senate legislation. Votes in these committees were secretive, and would sometimes add provisions to bills that neither house had approved.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nebraska Legislature |url=https://nebraskalegislature.gov/about/ou_experience.php |website=nebraskalegislature.gov |access-date=26 April 2022 |archive-date=April 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220426192630/https://nebraskalegislature.gov/about/ou_experience.php |url-status=live }}</ref> Nebraska's unicameral legislature today has rules that bills can contain only one subject,<ref>{{cite web |title=Nebraska Legislature |url=https://nebraskalegislature.gov/about/lawmaking.php |website=nebraskalegislature.gov |access-date=26 April 2022 |archive-date=April 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220426192630/https://nebraskalegislature.gov/about/lawmaking.php |url-status=live }}</ref> and must be given at least five days of consideration. In 1934, due in part to the budgetary pressure of the [[Great Depression]], Nebraska citizens ran a state initiative to vote on a constitutional amendment creating a unicameral legislature, which was approved, which, in effect, abolished the House of Representatives (the lower house).<ref name="Unicameral History" />

The Legislature meets in the third [[Nebraska State Capitol]] building, built between 1922 and 1932. It was designed by [[Bertram Goodhue|Bertram G. Goodhue]]. Built from [[Indiana Limestone]], the capitol's base is a cross within a square. A 400-foot (122 m) domed tower rises from this base. The Sower, a 19-foot (5.8 m) bronze statue representing agriculture, crowns the building.