WASHINGTON — The U.S. House Administration Committee voted along party lines Thursday to advance two election-related bills to the House floor.

LINCOLN — Supporters of an effort to replace Nebraska’s income, property and corporate taxes with a broader sales or consumption tax say they have cleared a key hurdle in seeking to place the issue on the fall ballot.

State Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard said Tuesday that advocates of the EPIC consumption tax have gathered signatures from 5% of registered voters in 38 of the state’s counties.

The sharp increase in political polarization in America over the past 50 years has been driven in part by how different generations think about politics. But the rise of younger generations to political power may actually erase the deep social divisions associated with polarization.