Latest news with #MeganHunt
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Nebraska lawmakers pass ‘Stand with Woman Act,' supporting ‘sex at birth' policies
LINCOLN, Neb. (KCAU) — Nebraska lawmakers voted 33 to 16 on LB 89, the Stand with Women Act, in the third round of voting. The measure would have student athletes verify their sex at birth with a doctor's note before they could take part in a single-sex sports. This would happen during a physical exam. The bill would have public schools restrict sports to students' sex assigned when they were born, an exception to this is if the sports are co-ed or mixed. Sex would be defined by someone having a male or female reproductive system. Lawmakers on both side of the aisle spoke on the measure before the vote. 'LB 89 ensures that a girl who trains relentlessly for the shot put throw or her 400-meter relay is not outmatched by a biological male's inherent advantages. It's about rewarding her grit, her sweat and her dreams,' said State Senator Loren Lippincott, (R) District 34. 'What we're doing here is not about fairness, it's not about Title IX. It's not even about sports. It's about fear and control and make scapegoats out of the most vulnerable in the country: kids. Because it's politically expedient to do so,' said State Senator Megan Hunt, (I) District 8. The measure heads to the governor's desk, where he's expected to sign the bill. 'This legislation achieves a key goal — protecting girls and women's sports. It's just common sense that girls shouldn't have to compete against biological boys. This legislative win will lead to many more victories for Nebraska's female athletes, as we ensure a level and fair playing field for all girls who compete. I look forward to signing it into law,' said a statement from Governor Jim Pillen. Story continues below Top Story: Midwest Honor Flight still raising money for June 3 trip Lights & Sirens: Officials searching for Monona County resident after going missing on Missouri River Sports: Local Iowa high school girls playoff soccer highlights and scores (5-28-25) Weather: Get the latest weather forecast here Nebraska state senators also passed a number of bills during this final round of voting. Some of those include a bill that would make changes to the voter approved paid sick leave,allowing employers to offer no sick leave to multiple groups of workers, including those who are 14 and 15 years old and temporary workers. Another measure would put a constitutional amendment on the 2026 ballot for voters to decide whether or not state lawmakers can serve up to three, four-year terms. One legislation would require online services to protect minors and their private information on websites and social media. Another measure would extend the current SNAP income eligibility before it would return to pre-pandemic levels in October. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Nebraska ed package blows up, as push to infuse religion into public schools fails
State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha listens to State Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil kneeling at her desk. March 12, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN — An uneasy compromise that became the Education Committee package bill died on the Nebraska statehouse floor Wednesday, in part because the quest to infuse more religion into public schools failed. A cross-section of committee members tried to get a group of loosely related education proposals out of committee and onto the floor for a month. The combined bill was viewed as a bipartisan deal involving several groups, including the conservative chair of the committee and the state's largest teachers union, to marry a proposal that would allow K-12 students to be excused during the school day for off-site religious instruction and coursework to a bill from State Sen. Ashlei Spivey of Omaha that would help schools find more long-term substitutes so teachers could take paid time off around significant life events. Some who backed the deal have said that parents can already sign out their kids for any reason and that they do not see it as a state endorsement of religion. Other lawmakers have expressed that it would open the door for other religious-themed bills. The floor debate was like many of the tense executive sessions on the package. The deal blew up on the floor after State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha successfully removed Central City's State Sen. Loren Lippincott's Legislative Bill 550, a release time proposal, killing the whole package. While the original deal is dead – lawmakers involved in negotiations let lawmakers skip over the bill. Their aim: to bring back a cleaner version of LB 306 — mainly some clean-up language sought by State Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil to address change terms and provisions in state law relating to higher education in the session's final days while giving lawmakers an opportunity to pro attach their proposals to it individually and let the full Legislature vote on each. 'I think in any normal course of a session, a bill like LB 550 would be seen as a radical piece of legislation,' Hunt said. The vote to remove Lippincott's proposal was bipartisan, 25-9. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle expressed concerns about the logistical challenges of letting students leave, including how often students would miss classes. Some wondered whether it might blur the line between church and state. The Lippincott bill was part of a national lobbying effort by a Christian education organization with ties to the populist right, LifeWise Academy. Lippincott confirmed in previous reporting that his bill is modeled after other states' 'release time' legislation. Jesse Vohwinkel, LifeWise Academy's Vice President of Growth, testified in favor of Lippincott's bill during its public hearing in February. The company was mentioned multiple times during the debate. In recent weeks, some legislative Republicans have privately told the Examiner that Lippincott's bill could go a step too far for them. The vote indicates the climb some social conservatives backing religious bills face. 'I find that it has a high potential of being very discriminatory against other faiths,' State Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston said during the debate. After the Lippincott proposal was removed from the package, state Sen. Dan Lonowski of Hastings attempted to remove Spivey's bill from the package. It failed by a 22-16 vote, needing 25 votes. Then, after the failed motion to remove Spivey's bill, some Republicans on the committee said Democrats had broken the 'deal.' Education Committee Chair State Sen. Murman and other Republicans tanked the package. 'We had an agreement in the Education Committee,' Murman said. 'All of us on the committee had to compromise a little bit … the compromise is no longer in effect.' Democrats on the committee said Murman's approach requiring LB 550 in the package had caused the tension. The final nail came in an 8-29 vote, with the Legislature failing to adopt the committee package as an amendment to the bill, LB 306, killing Spivey's priority bill and other parts of the package. The Spivey bill sought to give teachers up to three weeks of paid leave to deal with significant life events. The bill would have paid for this leave using a new payroll fee on teacher salaries to cover the costs of paying long-term substitutes while the teachers are out. The fee would also help pay for special education teacher recruitment and retention. The Nebraska State Education Association, one of the brokers of the package, saw the deal blow up as Tim Royers, president of the Nebraska State Education Association, was behind the glass watching lawmakers. He said the union was 'disappointed' with the outcome. 'We're disappointed with the vote. Only 8% of educators feel the Legislature takes them into account when they craft education policy,' Royers said. 'Tonight's vote is indicative of why they feel that way. We fully intend to come back next session and get a bill to the Governor's desk.' But the union may not need to wait long if the late compromise between Murman and other lawmakers who want to revive a backup plan comes to fruition. Speaker John Arch said he would bring the base of LB 306 back during the last few days of the session. The impromptu compromise came after Omaha State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh threatened to grind the Legislature to a halt over the package's death. 'This is awful when we can't pass the committee priority package bill because the committee chairman won't even vote for his own committee amendment,' Cavanaugh said. 'This session is an abomination.' Lippincott told the Examiner that he's considering attempting to propose his amended version of LB 550. However, he said he was thinking about it realistically, as a majority of senators have already rejected his proposal. Murman said the remaining proposals that were part of the package would likely get votes as separate amendments. 'Making laws is like making sausage; you hope it sticks together,' Murman said. 'It didn't.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Nebraska ed package blows up, as push to infuse religion into public schools fails
State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha listens to State Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil kneeling at her desk. March 12, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN — An uneasy compromise that became the Education Committee package bill died on the Nebraska statehouse floor Wednesday, in part because the quest to infuse more religion into public schools failed. A cross-section of committee members tried to get a group of loosely related education proposals out of committee and onto the floor for a month. The combined bill was viewed as a bipartisan deal involving several groups, including the conservative chair of the committee and the state's largest teachers union, to marry a proposal that would allow K-12 students to be excused during the school day for off-site religious instruction and coursework to a bill from State Sen. Ashlei Spivey of Omaha that would help schools find more long-term substitutes so teachers could take paid time off around significant life events. Some who backed the deal have said that parents can already sign out their kids for any reason and that they do not see it as a state endorsement of religion. Other lawmakers have expressed that it would open the door for other religious-themed bills. The floor debate was like many of the tense executive sessions on the package. The deal blew up on the floor after State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha successfully removed Central City's State Sen. Loren Lippincott's Legislative Bill 550, a release time proposal, killing the whole package. While the original deal is dead – lawmakers involved in negotiations let lawmakers skip over the bill. Their aim: to bring back a cleaner version of LB 306 — mainly some clean-up language sought by State Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil to address change terms and provisions in state law relating to higher education in the session's final days while giving lawmakers an opportunity to pro attach their proposals to it individually and let the full Legislature vote on each. 'I think in any normal course of a session, a bill like LB 550 would be seen as a radical piece of legislation,' Hunt said. The vote to remove Lippincott's proposal was bipartisan, 25-9. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle expressed concerns about the logistical challenges of letting students leave, including how often students would miss classes. Some wondered whether it might blur the line between church and state. The Lippincott bill was part of a national lobbying effort by a Christian education organization with ties to the populist right, LifeWise Academy. Lippincott confirmed in previous reporting that his bill is modeled after other states' 'release time' legislation. Jesse Vohwinkel, LifeWise Academy's Vice President of Growth, testified in favor of Lippincott's bill during its public hearing in February. The company was mentioned multiple times during the debate. In recent weeks, some legislative Republicans have privately told the Examiner that Lippincott's bill could go a step too far for them. The vote indicates the climb some social conservatives backing religious bills face. 'I find that it has a high potential of being very discriminatory against other faiths,' State Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston said during the debate. After the Lippincott proposal was removed from the package, state Sen. Dan Lonowski of Hastings attempted to remove Spivey's bill from the package. It failed by a 22-16 vote, needing 25 votes. Then, after the failed motion to remove Spivey's bill, some Republicans on the committee said Democrats had broken the 'deal.' Education Committee Chair State Sen. Murman and other Republicans tanked the package. 'We had an agreement in the Education Committee,' Murman said. 'All of us on the committee had to compromise a little bit … the compromise is no longer in effect.' Democrats on the committee said Murman's approach requiring LB 550 in the package had caused the tension. The final nail came in an 8-29 vote, with the Legislature failing to adopt the committee package as an amendment to the bill, LB 306, killing Spivey's priority bill and other parts of the package. The Spivey bill sought to give teachers up to three weeks of paid leave to deal with significant life events. The bill would have paid for this leave using a new payroll fee on teacher salaries to cover the costs of paying long-term substitutes while the teachers are out. The fee would also help pay for special education teacher recruitment and retention. The Nebraska State Education Association, one of the brokers of the package, saw the deal blow up as Tim Royers, president of the Nebraska State Education Association, was behind the glass watching lawmakers. He said the union was 'disappointed' with the outcome. 'We're disappointed with the vote. Only 8% of educators feel the Legislature takes them into account when they craft education policy,' Royers said. 'Tonight's vote is indicative of why they feel that way. We fully intend to come back next session and get a bill to the Governor's desk.' But the union may not need to wait long if the late compromise between Murman and other lawmakers who want to revive a backup plan comes to fruition. Speaker John Arch said he would bring the base of LB 306 back during the last few days of the session. The impromptu compromise came after Omaha State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh threatened to grind the Legislature to a halt over the package's death. 'This is awful when we can't pass the committee priority package bill because the committee chairman won't even vote for his own committee amendment,' Cavanaugh said. 'This session is an abomination.' Lippincott told the Examiner that he's considering attempting to propose his amended version of LB 550. However, he said he was thinking about it realistically, as a majority of senators have already rejected his proposal. Murman said the remaining proposals that were part of the package would likely get votes as separate amendments. 'Making laws is like making sausage; you hope it sticks together,' Murman said. 'It didn't.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Nebraska bill would expand minors' rights to Social Security benefits
State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha. March 31, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN — A bill that would mandate the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services to screen state wards for Social Security benefit eligibility advanced Thursday to the second round of debate in the Legislature. Legislative Bill 275, which State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha named her priority legislation, moved forward on a 34-0 vote. DHHS currently intercepts the Social Security benefits belonging to children in foster care and uses those funds to offset the costs of the youths' care, according to Hunt's statement of intent. Her bill would 'bring Nebraska in line with federal law to provide further accountability, transparency, and conservation of a portion of the funds in a trust account for the youth's own use when they exit state care.' There was little to no debate surrounding the bill Thursday, except for some questioning of its financial impact on the state's general funds by two Republican lawmakers. Hunt insisted that her amended bill would impact the state budget less than her original proposal, but that it would still give kids in foster care access to more of their Social Security money than they have today. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Year-round standard time, daylight saving time bills both advance from Nebraska committee
A series of bills in Nebraska are aiming to change how the state handles changing clocks twice a year in 2025. (Getty Images) LINCOLN — Nebraska lawmakers are another step closer to ending the twice-a-year switching of clocks back and forth one hour, but whether that is by shifting year-round to standard time or daylight saving time hasn't been decided. The Legislature's eight-member Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee voted unanimously Thursday to advance Legislative Bill 34 for year-round daylight saving time, from State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha, and LB 302 for year-round standard time, from State Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil. Standard time refers to how most clocks in the U.S. are set in the winter, while daylight saving time is the period between the second Sunday in March (to 'spring ahead' one hour) and the first Sunday in November (to 'fall back' one hour to standard time). Daylight saving leads to the sun setting at a later time in the summer, which organizations supporting youth sports and golf urged the committee last week to embrace. The national group Save Standard Time urged the committee to consider the 'honest, natural clock, set to the sun' as part of permanent standard time and its variety of natural benefits. Hunt, a member of the committee, said she prefers daylight saving because the sun sets later in the summer, but the general goal is ending the clock switching. 'I don't care which way we set the clocks,' Hunt said in a January text. 'I just support stopping the madness of changing the time twice a year.' Both bills would not go into effect until other surrounding states adopt similar laws: For Hunt's bill, three adjacent states to Nebraska would need to adopt a single year-round standard of time. For Murman's bill, Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota and Wyoming would all need to adopt legislation for year-round standard time. State Sen. Teresa Ibach of Sumner has said the list should include Colorado, to prevent a 'southwest Nebraska time-zone island.' Federal law currently prohibits year-round daylight saving time but does allow year-round standard time, which Hawaii and Arizona (excluding the Navajo Nation) observe. Committee members were divided on the issue, with State Sen. Dunixi Guereca of Omaha voicing a possible preference toward permanent daylight saving time to have sun later in the summer for drinking margaritas and State Sen. Dan Lonowski of Hastings noting later sun could help youth sports and businesses at night. State Sen. Rita Sanders of Bellevue, the committee chair, asked about year-round daylight saving time leading to some students waiting at bus stops in the dark in the winter. Lonowski also pointed to purported health benefits of permanent standard time, which have been highlighted by major medical organizations. Doctors have noted the twice-a-year clock changing leads to negative health impacts, including increased risk of heart attacks, strokes, accidents and mental health disruptions. The committee will consider yet another approach later this year from State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln — Legislative Resolution 33 — to pass the decision on permanent standard or daylight saving time entirely to Congress. If passed, the resolution would urge Nebraska's five-member congressional delegation to take 'affirmative action' on clock-changing reform. The resolution states: 'Such reform should advance Nebraska's commitment to enhancing individual and family health, growing economic productivity, protecting agriculture, advancing Nebraska's public safety goals and ensuring national uniformity.' The committee on Thursday did not discuss a proposal to shift Nebraska's method of awarding Electoral College votes for president to winner-take-all. And it passed over, for now, a measure that sought to prohibit local governments from considering rent control proposals. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
