Nebraska Legislative Speaker Jim Scheer of Norfolk changed how legislators approached hot-button issues this year…and he says it worked.

Scheer limited debate on major bills to three hours. If the bill was to return to the floor for debate, the sponsor had to convince him it had a chance of clearing a filibuster.

Scheer says the rule change changed the substance of the debate. . .

Scheer says he didn’t get frustrated, because his job was simple:  try to make the process work. . .

Scheer says the session was successful if for no other reason than lawmakers worked through a difficult budget process and approved a 9(B)Billion spending plan for the next two years.