Latest news with #Dungan
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Watered-down version of Nebraska education package advances as clean-up bill
Legislative Bill 306 largely ended up clean-up language to address terms and provisions in state law relating to higher education. (Getty Images) LINCOLN — An education bill that was once a vehicle for an education package advanced Thursday a lot leaner, as many of the proposals previously included failed to be attached as amendments to the bill. Legislative Bill 306, which largely ended up clean-up language sought by State Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil to address terms and provisions in state law relating to higher education, was brought back for debate after a previous attempt at the education package failed on the floor after lawmakers removed Central City's State Sen. Loren Lippincott's proposal allowing K-12 students to be excused during the school day for off-site religious instruction and coursework. Lost in the shuffle again were three proposals that were once married — a measure that would have given Nebraska teachers more paid time off around significant life events, one offering student loan help for special education teachers and the release time proposal. State Sen. Ashlei Spivey of Omaha's measure would have helped schools fund more long-term substitutes so teachers can take paid time off. She revised it to give teachers two weeks of paid leave instead of three. The proposal would have funded the leave by implementing a new payroll fee on teacher salaries. The fee would also would have helped pay for special education teacher recruitment and retention. Her amendment, backed by the state teachers union, failed 17-25. State Sen. George Dungan of Lincoln offered an amendment that would have provided forgivable loans for special education teachers in the state. Dungan's proposal was combined into Spivey's amendment, as the Legislature's Education Committee had combined the two previously. It also failed 20-23. Lippincott brought back his release time proposal after lawmakers pulled it from the education package. He withdrew the attempt after Spivey and Dungan's amendments failed. The latest version of Lippincott's proposal removed the private cause of action, the ability to sue if a school doesn't enforce the ability to leave for that purpose, which some Republicans had expressed concerns about. 'This is going to be a filibuster; we need 33 votes,' Lippincott said during Thursday's debate. 'I do not want my amendment to put the bill down.' Some social conservatives in the Legislature had been trying to show a growing base of lawmakers willing to consider and advance bills with religious themes. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Effort to let largest Nebraska cities consolidate elections will include Lincoln
Nine of the 10 Lincoln and Lancaster County state lawmakers joined a town hall at Union College on Monday, Dec. 18, 2023, in Lincoln. Back row, from left, are State Sens. Beau Ballard, Carolyn Bosn, Eliot Bostar, Myron Dorn, George Dungan and Lincoln Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Jason Ball. Front row, from left, are State Sens. Jane Raybould, Anna Wishart, Danielle Conrad and Tom Brandt. Not pictured: Sen. Rob Clements. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN — Lawmakers rejected a last-minute amendment Thursday to keep Lincoln city elections in off years, rather than allowing city officials to tie them to statewide elections. The amendment, from State Sen. George Dungan of Lincoln, came after concerns from some Lincoln city officials that the amended Legislative Bill 521 could cause problems for the capital city. The original bill from State Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha would have allowed just Omaha to move its elections, but when the proposal was amended and attached to LB 521, it added Lincoln. The amendment to remove Lincoln from the bill failed 16-30. A reconsideration motion failed 18-26. The broader bill advanced by voice vote to the third and final round of debate. Century-old state laws dictate the election timing for cities the size of Omaha (metropolitan class, 400,000 or more residents) and Lincoln (primary class, 100,001 to 399,999 residents). Omaha and Lincoln city officials can already advance changes to their city charter to move election timing, but without a law such as LB 521, the changes could not be carried out. Dungan, who said he just started talking with Lincoln officials shortly before the debate on Thursday, said Lincoln's city charter is 'significantly different' than other cities, such as Omaha. He argued LB 521 didn't necessarily contemplate what to do with elections for Lincoln Airport Authority or Lincoln Public Schools board members. 'I would encourage my colleagues who are not from Lincoln to maybe just defer at this point,' Dungan said. State Sen. Carolyn Bosn of Lincoln asked Cavanaugh if he 'would agree that what's good for the Omaha elections to be on some sort of consistent patterns … that same logic would apply uniformly then in other areas.' Cavanaugh responded that he would like to see the elections moved but that he would support Dungan's motion. Cavanaugh has said the back-to-back elections can lead to voter fatigue. Changing the elections could save about $500,000 for Lincoln and more than $1 million in Omaha. State Sen. Jane Raybould of Lincoln, a former member of the Lincoln City Council and Lancaster County Board of Commissioners, said she would have preferred a separate hearing and proposal related to Lincoln, with more local input. In odd-numbered years, Omaha primary elections are the first Tuesday of April, while general elections are the first Tuesday after the second Monday in May. Omaha city elections are every four years, the year after presidential elections. For Lincoln, the general election is the first Tuesday in May, and the primary election is four weeks prior, every other year. Omaha's general mayoral election is this Tuesday. Lincoln held its general election this week; its mayor is not on the ballot until 2027. Of the nine senators who represent parts of Lincoln, the vote fell along party lines. Democratic State Sens. Eliot Bostar, Danielle Conrad, Dungan, Jason Prokop and Raybould, all of Lincoln, supported the carve out. Republican State Sens. Beau Ballard of Lincoln, Bosn, Rob Clements of Elmwood and Myron Dorn of Adams opposed it. 2025 city elections Omaha primary (April 1): 25.69%. Omaha general (May 13): (To be determined). Lincoln primary (April 8): 24.53%. Lincoln general (May 6): 22.40% (nearly 8,000 early vote ballots, about 4% turnout, will be counted later this week). 2024 statewide elections Omaha primary (May 14): 26.79%. Omaha general (Nov. 5): 75.37%. Lincoln primary (May 14): 15.40%. Lincoln general (Nov. 5): 78.02%. 2023 city elections Omaha primary: (N/A) Omaha general: (N/A) Lincoln primary (April 7): 33.38%. Lincoln general (May 2): 46.22%. 2022 statewide elections Omaha primary (May 10): 31.74%. Omaha general (Nov. 8): 53.92%. Lincoln primary (May 10): 33.6%. Lincoln general (Nov. 8): 57.57%. 2021 city elections Omaha primary (April 6): 28.50%. Omaha general (May 11): 32.74%. Lincoln primary (April 6): 24.86%. Lincoln general (May 4): 29.34%.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Proposal to expand Nebraska college savings accounts to cover private K-12 tuition advances
Lauren Gage, spokesperson for the private school scholarship granting organization Opportunity Scholarships of Nebraska, joins Nebraska private school students and lawmakers in honor of National School Choice Week in 2025. Jan. 28, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN — Nebraska's educational savings accounts designed to help pay for public or private college expenses could expand to cover private K-12 tuition, in line with federal law, beginning in 2029. The proposed change from State Sen. Tony Sorrentino of the Elkhorn area was amended 32-11 Tuesday evening into Legislative Bill 647 after multiple hours of debate. At least 42 states already allow such savings accounts to cover tuition at K-12 private schools, which was first allowed in 2018 after passage of the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, for up to $10,000 per beneficiary per year. A 529 savings plan — in Nebraska, NEST 529 — offers tax breaks to encourage families or students to donate and allow the savings to grow tax-free. Multiple attempts to expand the accounts in Nebraska have stalled in recent years. State Sen. Brad von Gillern of the Elkhorn area, who led LB 647 as chair of the Legislature's Revenue Committee, said he didn't have the 'foreknowledge' to use NEST 529 accounts for his children. But he 'very gladly' started them for his grandchildren and suggested others do so. 'It's a great way to save for college education, and with the implementation of this bill … those funds could also be used for primary education,' von Gillern said. Von Gillern said that of the other states without expanded accounts — California, Oregon, Colorado, Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan and New York — it is 'probably not a club that you would imagine Nebraska being in.' 'It sort of reminds me in grade school when they showed you pictures of five cats and a dog and said, 'Which one doesn't belong there?'' Sorrentino told von Gillern during the debate. State Sen. George Dungan of Lincoln led opposition to Sorrentino's measure, which he noted did not directly send public dollars to private schools. However, he and State Sen. Dunix Guereca of Omaha said it was in the same vein as the defeat of a private school voucher system last fall at the ballot box. 'We are indirectly subsidizing the tax deductions for money that goes to tuition for private K-12 education,' Dungan said of Sorrentino's proposal, originally LB 131. Guereca, who, along with Dungan, has been on the frontlines advocating against recent school choice proposals, said the November vote was about the 'concept' of using public dollars for private schools. He said the tax breaks allowed under Sorrentino's expanded measure could instead be used for a 'plethora of other ideas,' particularly with the state's projected budget shortfall. 'I'm afraid that if we do pass this measure then it's a slippery slope to see more and more school privatization,' Guereca said. Dungan raised concern that Sorrentino's measure would not allow savings to cover K-12 public school expenses, such as for extracurriculars. Sorrentino said he was 'fine' with including public schools but that doing so is not federally allowed. The measure's start date was pushed back to 2029 in part to push it beyond the state's budget woes, not just for the next two fiscal years, at nearly $400 million in the hole with even the cuts proposed in the Appropriations Committee budget, but also following two years to mid-2028. The state would be about $700 million short of the mark future lawmakers would need to hit, based on current projections. Sorrentino's measure could lead to new tax breaks of about $3-4 million each year, but he cautioned that the estimate is based on assumptions of 12,000 to 15,000 people opening new accounts and meeting the maximum $10,000 contributions to those accounts. Of 49 state senators, he said each could come up with a different estimate. He said it could be as much as $5 million or as little as $500,000. He said he thought the number was likely closer to $3 million. State Sen. Bob Andersen of north-central Sarpy County said Sorrentino's measures could alleviate public school overcrowding, possibly leading to overall cost savings to the state. State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln differed from her progressive colleagues and voted for the bill, as did State Sen. Dan Quick of Grand Island, a more moderate Democrat. State Sen. Tom Brandt of Plymouth, a Republican who has rebuffed past school choice proposals, voted against adding Sorrentino's measure to LB 647. The other votes largely followed party lines. Conrad said Sorrentino's measure was 'intellectually and practically and policy-based distinguishable from some of the prior measures that we have looked at.' Said Conrad: 'This measure doesn't seem to really raise the exact kind of concerns about a dilution or diminution of public funds into private schools.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Nebraska suicide mortality review team proposal, with emphasis on veterans, advances
At-risk veterans could see more state efforts to explore what contributed to the suicides of people who served. (Stock photo by EyeEmPlus) LINCOLN — State lawmakers are looking to boost action by recent governors to combat suicide in Nebraska through new legislation with an extra focus on veterans and their families. Legislative Bill 414, by State Sen. George Dungan of Lincoln, would house a new suicide mortality review team in the Nebraska Department of Veterans' Affairs. The team would review the circumstances around any suicides in the state generally, with an extra focus on veterans with the location. Dungan called the bill a 'first step' toward working to prevent future suicides and said it would 'help Nebraska as a whole.' 'Having this established review team in the Department of Veterans' Affairs would be a game changer for our veterans dealing with mental health issues and for Nebraskans struggling with mental illness across the entire state,' Dungan said last week during floor debate. LB 414, which advanced 37-0, follows efforts from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, seeking similar reviews at the state and community level. Former Gov. Pete Ricketts, now in the U.S. Senate, joined the 'Governor's Challenge to Prevent Suicide Among Service Members, Veterans and their Families' in 2022. Nebraska joined the suicide mortality review efforts under Gov. Jim Pillen in 2024. With Pillen's support, Nebraska leaders have met monthly for such reviews and received federal funding to help, too. Dungan's bill would put the team into state law with additional structure. Among the team's duties would be developing a data collection system, conducting an annual analysis of the incidences and causes of suicides in the state during the prior fiscal year, creating protocols for such investigations, studying the adequacy of laws and training to determine possible changes to help prevent suicides and educating the public. Upon request of the agency director, a county attorney or the Nebraska attorney general could subpoena to request relevant records. The suicide mortality review team established by LB 414 would include: The director or designee of the state Veterans' Affairs Department. A representative of the Nebraska Violent Death Reporting System. A representative of Nebraska Local Outreach to Suicide Loss Survivors. A representative of the Division of Behavioral Health in the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. An education administrator. A hospital representative. An emergency medical services representative. A member of law enforcement. A mental health professional or licensed clinical social worker. A veteran representative. Additional members as needed. An annual report would be required by April 1 summarizing the data by cause of death, factors contributing to the death, age, sex, race, geographic location and date of death. The report could include recommendations to prevent additional suicides. Dungan said he has attended the monthly meetings where mental health officials, law enforcement, county attorneys and others get involved. He said the team, for example, had identified a motel with a high number of suicides happening on the property. The motel later received a grant for staff suicide awareness and prevention training, which was successful, Dungan said. But when the funding stopped, the impact reversed. Dungan said there is already a database for violent death reporting and that nothing in his bill would jeopardize privacy protections. 'I care about this issue a lot. Mental health and the results that come from poor mental health care and other various things are incredibly close and near and dear to us,' Dungan said at his bill's hearing. 'I just want to make sure we take this bill very seriously.' Speaker John Arch of La Vista selected LB 414 as one of his 25 speaker priority bills for the 2025 session. Jenifer Acierno, legal counsel for the Nebraska Veterans' Affairs Department, testified in favor of the bill at its March 6 hearing. She said LB 414 'provides the opportunity to coordinate the next steps in combating veteran suicide.' The Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee unanimously advanced LB 414, including State Sen. Bob Andersen of north-central Sarpy County, one of three veterans on the committee. Andersen, the committee vice chair and a 21-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force, described the issue as a 'delicate dance' of ensuring privacy while making certain the suicide mortality review team gets access to all the context of the situation and how a person 'got to the place where suicide was the only way out.' He added that he knows people who have committed suicide and urged Dungan to include a veteran on the review team, who he said might have a background critical in identifying areas not readily apparent to civilians. His idea was ultimately included in an amendment that lawmakers adopted 36-0. Andersen suggested future work to identify high-risk veterans earlier to provide help. 'We've been in situations where we understand why they get where they get, and whatever we can do to isolate in advance and help bring them back [would help them] get on with a productive life,' Andersen said. 'Kudos to you for bringing the bill.' Dungan thanked Andersen, as well as State Sens. Dan McKeon of Amherst and Dan Lonowski of Hastings, the other two veterans on the committee, for their service. 'Suicide is one of those things that I think affects all of us, even if it's tangential,' Dungan said at the hearing. 'We all know stories, and so I think it's something we have to take care of sooner than later.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Lawmakers approve at-home nurse visits for Nebraska postpartum moms, 340B protections
A proposal by State Sen. George Dungan of Lincoln would expand home visits by nurses for new mothers. (Stock photo by) LINCOLN — Nebraska lawmakers overwhelmingly approved legislation Thursday morning to require state officials to seek federal matching funds for targeted nurse home visitation services. Legislative Bill 22, from State Sen. George Dungan of Lincoln, passed 47-0. It expands on Dungan's 'Nebraska Prenatal Plus Program' in 2024 that offers services to Medicaid-eligible mothers to help prevent low birth weights, preterm births and adverse birth outcomes. Dungan said the bill represents 'another step forward in ensuring that we have healthy moms and healthy babies in Nebraska.' 'This program will give an opportunity, do those who want it, to have nurse visiting to ensure postpartum care and reduce adverse birth outcomes all across the state,' Dungan said. 'People should have access to this care no matter their background or where they live in the state.' Dungan's 2025 legislation, which heads to Gov. Jim Pillen, would expand care to include voluntary targeted case management for evidence-based nurse home visitation services, similar to the Family Connects program in Lincoln and Lancaster County and now being piloted in Omaha. The goal is to expand the program statewide, deploying a nurse to the homes of eligible postpartum mothers and children six months of age or younger for one-on-one services. Families would be allowed to decline home visitation services at any time. LB 22 also passed with LB 104 from State Sen. Jane Raybould of Lincoln, which helps define home visitations and what they cover. LB 104 lays the groundwork for a potentially more expansive visitation program in the future, primarily in the homes of families with one or more children, who are 5 years old or younger, or expecting parents. Raybould's language requires the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services to only fund a program if it includes periodic home visits meant to improve the health, well-being and self-sufficiency of parents and their children. Such a program could include nurses, social workers or other early childhood and health professionals. The approved home visitation program would need to accomplish at least one of the following: Improve maternal, infant or child health outcomes, including reducing preterm births. Promote positive parenting practices. Build healthy parent and child relationships. Enhance social and emotional development. Support cognitive development. Improve the health and well-being of the family. Empower families toward economic self-sufficiency. Reduce child maltreatment and injury. Increase school readiness. To receive state or federal funding, programs must be founded on a clear and consistent methodology, associated with or certified by a credible organization, have comprehensive standards to ensure high quality and continuous services and employ well-trained and culturally competent staff, among others. DHHS would be required to submit three related annual reports, beginning Feb. 15, 2026. 'They give confidence to a lot of new parents and they have evidence-based support showing that they do make a difference in helping families get adjusted to being new parents an being the best parents that you can possibly be,' Raybould, a former member of the Lincoln City Council and Lancaster Board of Commissioners, said. LB 168, from State Sen. Brian Hardin of Gering, also passed 42-5 on Thursday. It would prohibit 340B Program drug manufacturers from interfering with or denying sales of such drugs to hospitals, clinics or pharmacies that manufacturers contract with. The federal program requires drug manufacturers to provide discounts to eligible entities caring for uninsured or low-income patients in exchange for their participation in Medicaid and Medicare. No federal or state tax dollars are used for the program. Hardin's bill, and others like it in other states, was criticized by a political action committee backed by Trump adviser Elon Musk. Republican lawmakers were criticized as 'undermining Trump' and funding 'gender transitions for kids, abortion procedures and health care for illegals.' Hardin, who chairs the Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee, has said the claims have no truth. Nebraska lawmakers prohibited gender transition surgeries for minors, restricted gender transition medications and limited abortion procedures in 2023, with Hardin's approval. Hardin thanked his fellow senators for valuing the 'life-saving work' from the 58 hospitals in the state that benefit from the congressional program, which he said is 'paid for by Big Pharma.' 'Hospitals from Kimball to UNMC [the University of Nebraska Medical Center] greatly benefit from this program!' Hardin said in a text. 'Good for Nebraska!!' Among other bills passed Thursday: LB 7, from State Sen. Barry DeKay of Niobrara, would clarify that Native American tribes are not foreign governments for purposes of the Foreign-Owned Real-Estate National Security Act. DeKay passed the law in 2024, at Pillen's request, to prohibit foreign adversaries from purchasing land in the state. Approved 47-0. LB 41, from State Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston, would expand blood testing for pregnant women to check for syphilis from one screening during the first trimester to also include testing in the third trimester and at birth. Testing would be voluntary. Approved 47-0. LB 105, from State Sen. Jana Hughes of Seward, would allow public power districts to split voting precincts when crafting subdivisions, without regard to population, 'if in the opinion of the Power Review Board the district boundaries do not prejudice the interests of electric consumers.' District lines must currently follow precinct or county lines or contain substantially equal populations, meaning some voters are excluded from their local power district. Approved 46-1. LB 143, from State Sen. Victor Rountree of Bellevue, would require that military families be able to get preliminary or advanced enrollment for their children regardless if they have an individualized education program, individualized family service plan or Section 504 special accommodations, or receive special education. Approved 47-0. LB 195, from State Sen. Glen Meyer of Pender, would provide health professionals immunity for the prescription, administration or dispensing of any generic opioid overdose reversal medications, not just Naloxone. Approved 47-0. LB 248, from State Sen. Rita Sanders of Bellevue, would exempt child care programs on a military base or federal property or a facility licensed by a branch of the U.S. Department of Defense or U.S. Coast Guard from needing to be separately licensed in Nebraska. Approved 47-0. LB 312, from State Sen. Paul Strommen of Sidney, would allow nurse anesthetists to qualify for student loans or student loan repayment under the Rural Health Systems and Professional Incentive Act. Approved 46-1. LB 501, also by Meyer, would expand a state program that allows properties to be reassessed after they are destroyed (such as after a natural disaster) for property tax purposes to include all damages not caused by the owner. Property owners could apply for a reassessment if damage meets or exceeds 20% of the land's assessed value and is before July 1 of the same year. The current law, from former State Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard, passed in 2019. Approved 47-0. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
