LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska senator asked his colleagues Wednesday to help develop a museum to honor former Sen. Ernie Chambers, the state’s longest-serving and best-known lawmaker.

Sen. Terrell McKinney, who succeeded Chambers in office, pitched the proposal to members of the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee.

His measure would require History Nebraska, formerly known as the Nebraska State Historical Society, to develop detailed plans for the Ernie Chambers History-Arts-Humanities Museum in Omaha.

The idea originated with Chambers’ daughter, Gayla Lee-Chambers of Omaha.

Chambers, of Omaha, served in the Legislature for 46 years, from 1971 to 2009 and again from 2013 to 2021. He left office both times because of legislative term limits approved by voters in 2000. Chambers became famous over the years for his encyclopedic knowledge of legislative rules and his ability to single-handedly slow the Legislature to a standstill using parliamentary motions. 

He’s well-known as a fierce opponent of capital punishment and was able to briefly abolish the death penalty in 2015 with a bill that voters later overturned.

In legislative documents, he always listed his occupation as “Defender of the Downtrodden.”

The bill would cost the state an estimated $131,000.