Read the full article on Nebraska Examiner
LINCOLN — Former Husker legend Tom Osborne could soon be the next member of the Nebraska Hall of Fame after lawmakers Tuesday reached a compromise on a bill designed for him.
Gov. Jim Pillen, a former Husker defensive back in the 1970s under Osborne, has made it no secret that the original Legislative Bill 1159, now part of LB 596, was written for his former mentor. The desire is for the governor-appointed Nebraska Hall of Fame Commission, of which the governor is also a member, to add Osborne as the hall’s first living member, or at least someone matching his qualifications.
But the Legislature cracked open the door to other living members under an amendment meant to fix a possible constitutional concern: whether the initial Osborne bill would have represented “special legislation.”
“While previously offered as AM 2405 … there were constitutional concerns expressed, so I withdrew it,” State Sen. Dan Lonowski of Hastings, sponsor of LB 1159, said Tuesday. “That was because we all take an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of Nebraska.”
Lawmakers voted 29-1 for a new Lonowski amendment that expands inductee eligibility from the one-time mandatory induction.
The original bill referenced parts of Osborne’s resume that were so narrow, only Osborne would qualify — a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, head football coach and athletic director at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a graduate of Hastings High School.
“For all the joy and celebration Coach Osborne has brought us over his 89 years of life, he deserves to enjoy the celebration of his induction into our great state’s Hall of Fame,” Lonowski said in late February at his bill’s public hearing.
Now, the requirements would be a living Nebraskan who has a “record of achievement” in:
- Public service.
- Leadership in collegiate athletics.
- Volunteer youth mentorship activities.
Under current state law, Nebraska Hall of Fame inductees must have been dead for at least 35 years to be considered for inclusion. Prior to 1998, the waiting period was 10 years. The Hall of Fame Commission can name just one new member every five years. The changes under Lonowski’s bill wouldn’t count toward that limit.
There are now 27 members of the hall, whose busts are displayed in the Capitol. The last inductee was slain civil rights leader Malcolm X, an Omaha native whose bust was installed in 2024 after a years-long fight to include him.
The one-time mandated inductee under Lonowski’s bill would receive a new bust, estimated at $45,000 in taxpayer funds.
With little fanfare, and after just a two-minute speech from Lonowski, lawmakers in the same amendment eliminated the waiting period. It wasn’t immediately clear if the changes would affect the 2025-29 nomination cycle.
Nominations for the next inductee are due by Dec. 31.
LB 596, a package of bills from the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, advanced Tuesday evening. It faces at least one more round of debate before it could be sent to Pillen.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
