Sen. Bill Kintner/Photo courtesy of the Unicameral Information Office
If state Sen. Bill Kintner doesn’t resign, the Unicameral is prepared to expel him.
State Sen. Adam Morfeld of Lincoln says he and Sen. Bob Krist of Omaha have crafted an expulsion resolution.
“So we drafted a resolution outlining some of the issues concerning Bill Kintner and his conduct with the NADC and his state computer and then also his personal conduct,” Morfeld tells Nebraska Radio Network.
Kintner survived a cybersex scandal last year.
Kintner confessed to using his official laptop computer to engage in cybersex during a business trip to Boston in 2015. The Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission fined Kintner $1,000 for misuse of state property. State lawmakers contemplated disciplinary action, but took no action.
Criticism of Kintner revived after the senator retweeted a Tweet which mocked participants in the Women’s March in Washington, D.C.
A number of senators called for Kintner to resign during legislative debate Tuesday, including fellow conservative senators.
It appears that if Kintner doesn’t resign, Speaker of the Legislature, Jim Scheer of Norfolk, is prepared to bring the expulsion resolution to the floor of the Unicameral this morning.
Kintner issued a news release last night, stating he would hold a news conference at 8:15 this morning in which he could announced his resignation, though the news release gave no indication of that.
The news release only stated that Kintner would reveal how he plans to proceed after Tuesday’s events.
Morfeld says senators are acting after Kintner continued his offensive actions.
“This is an expulsion measure. No due process is required in expulsion,” Morfeld says. “Bill Kintner has had a year to explain himself, to show remorse. He has not done so. Instead, he continues down a path that impugns the integrity of the Legislature and the state of Nebraska.”
“Do you think you have the votes?” We asked.
“I know we have the votes.”
AUDIO: Brent Martin reports [:45]