The Legislature gave first-round approval on Wednesday to a proposal recalibrating how the state spends Nebraska Lottery proceeds to support needs-based college scholarships, dual-credit enrollment for high school students and mental health training for teachers.
The bill (LB529) from Sen. Lynne Walz of Fremont is the result of an Education Committee study of how the state uses lottery funds, adjusting how funds were awarded to allow for existing programs to continue and new programs to begin.
Lawmakers lauded several parts of the bill, particularly provisions expanding the Nebraska Opportunity Grant, the Community College Gap Assistance Program and a new Door to College Scholarship for individuals at the Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Centers.
Omaha Sen. Tony Vargas, a first-generation college student who benefited from a similar program to the Nebraska Opportunity Grant, said extending the state’s only need-based scholarship program would help address the lack of skilled workers routinely cited as a major problem by legislators.
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“We invest in tax incentives, invest in businesses and employers,†Vargas said. “Other states are leading the way in needs-based aid. We need to be a leader in this space.â€
Sen. Mark Kolterman of Seward said using lottery dollars to fund the Access College Early Scholarship, which provides financial aid for high school students seeking college credit, was a “huge benefit†for thousands of Nebraska students each year.
And the Door to College Scholarship, a new program created in the bill, would award youths in the state’s rehab facilities scholarships of up to $5,000 “to help these kids turn their life around,†according to Walz.
Along with expanding programs to help Nebraskans access higher education, the bill (LB529) also directs lottery dollars into the Behavioral Training Cash Fund and the Mental Health Training Grant Program aimed at training teachers to recognize signs and symptoms of mental illness, safely deescalate crisis situations and refer students to mental health services.
A handful of lawmakers said LB529 did not go far enough to give teachers the tools they needed to keep themselves and students safe in schools, however, and launched an effort to revive legislation giving teachers the authority to physically restrain students.
Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil offered an amendment allowing teachers and administrators to use physical methods to intervene if students posed a threat to other students or school employees, and providing them legal immunity if they were found to act “in a reasonable manner.â€
The amendment also required school districts to create a training program for employees on how to recognize students suffering from trauma, outlining expectations and boundaries, how to deescalate crisis situations and other classroom management strategies.
Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, who supported Murman’s bill, as well as previous iterations introduced by Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte, encouraged senators to find common ground on the amendment.
“I want there to be a compromise,†Linehan said. “I don’t think the sides are as far apart as they maybe think they are.â€
But Murman’s effort was criticized by other senators on Wednesday, including Lincoln Sen. Matt Hansen, who called it “a bald-faced attempt to pull a fast one†by trying to attach a stalled bill (LB673) onto a priority bill over the wishes of the Education Committee.
Just before the noon recess, Lincoln Sen. Adam Morfeld asked Speaker Mike Hilgers for a point of order, arguing the amendment was “substantially similar†to Murman’s bill, which was voted down by the Education Committee on a 5-3 vote in an emergency executive session earlier Wednesday.
Ruling it substantially similar to a bill that had been postponed indefinitely would raise the bar on the number of votes needed for the amendment to be adopted onto the bill from 25 to 30, under the rules of the Legislature set earlier this year.
Early Wednesday afternoon, Hilgers said “nearly every line†of Murman’s amendment was included in his bill and ruled it would need to meet the higher vote threshold to move forward, which led Murman to later withdraw his amendment.
As first-round debate came to an end, backers of Murman’s proposal said they believe the Legislature needs to act “to protect teachers and students.â€
Walz said she will work to find compromises where she can, but believes the programs funded by LB529 would expand training for teachers to address mental health and behavioral concerns in their classrooms “in the most effective way possible.â€
LB529 advanced to the second round of consideration on a 28-6 vote, with 14 senators present not voting.