The Unicameral Legislature

Nebraska has the only unicameral state legislature in the United States. Every other state divides its lawmakers into two chambers, a house and a senate, broadly modeled on Congress. Nebraska has one chamber, called simply the Legislature, sometimes called the Unicameral. The members are called senators. There are forty-nine of them, and they are elected on a nonpartisan basis, meaning party labels do not appear on the ballot.

The unicameral system was established in nineteen thirty-four, when Nebraska voters approved a constitutional amendment by a comfortable margin. The campaign was led primarily by George Norris, a United States Senator from Nebraska who had been arguing for simplifying and democratizing state government for years.

Norris believed that the two-chamber system was inherently inefficient. Each chamber could blame the other for inaction. Legislation could disappear in conference committees where it was impossible to hold any individual accountable. He believed that a single chamber, visible and undivided, would be more honest and more responsive to ordinary citizens than a system designed to slow legislation down.

The new legislature met for the first time in nineteen thirty-seven. Critics predicted it would be dominated by special interests without the check of a second chamber. Supporters argued that consolidating accountability in one place would have the opposite effect.

George Norris is best remembered today for his role in creating the Tennessee Valley Authority and championing rural electrification in the New Deal era. He considered the unicameral Nebraska legislature one of his most lasting accomplishments.