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![handle is hein.sag/sagne2025 and id is 1 raw text is:
DEPT. OF JUSTICE
STATE OF NEBRASKA
OFFICIAL
MAR 13 2025
&A_- (ld,Cir-
MICHAEL T HILGERS
NEBRASKA DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Opinion No. 25-001 - March 13, 2025
OPINION FOR SENATOR JANE RAYBOULD
Susceptibility of L.B. 113 to Dormant
Commerce Clause Challenge
Sunuary: The federal Constitution's dormant Commerce Clause
forbids States from enacting laws that discriminate against
interstate commerce. L.B. 113 is a proposed amendment to
Nebraska's regulatory scheme governing the production and sale of
alcoholic liquor. L.B. 113 would increase by at least seven times the
amount of liquor certain in-state distilleries can sell to wholesalers
or retailers. A change of this magnitude is likely to interpreted as a
difference in kind, rather than a mere difference in degree. Because
this expansion applies only to in-state distilleries, if enacted without
revision, L.B. 113 both presents heightened constitutional concerns
and is likely to invite a dormant Commerce Clause challenge.
You have requested our opinion on whether L.B. 113
provide[s] differential treatment of in-state and out-of-
state economic interests that benefits the former and
burdens the latter, raising concerns under the dormant
Commerce Clause that would require Nebraska to
establish concrete evidence that the law is reasonably
necessary to support public health or safety measures or on
some other legitimate non-protectionist ground.
As a preliminary matter, and in accordance with long-
held policies of this office, we limit the scope of this opinion
to L.B. 113 and not the statutes it seeks to amend. In Op.
Att' Gen. No. 157 (Dec. 20, 1985), this office clarified its
policies regarding the issuance of opinions to members of
the Legislature. In that opinion, we advised that senators
may request opinions from the Attorney General only upon](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.sag/sagne2025&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)