NEBRASKA (USA): MEASURE REPEALING DEATH PENALTY ADVANCES

LB268 to repeal the death penalty won 1st-round approval from lawmakers today. Lawmakers advanced the bill 30-13. If that support holds, death penalty opponents would have enough votes to override Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts' promised veto.
Two additional votes are required, and death penalty supporters are still working to block the legislation. This year, the measure has won support from a coalition of Republicans who say the death penalty costs too much and the state doesn't even have the drugs to kill those on death row. Nebraska last executed someone in 1997. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, has fought for 4 decades years to abolish capital punishment.