Families of disabled children rallied at the state Capitol on Thursday as lawmakers headed out at the end of the session.
The families came to make clear that they will continue working to get services next year that a filibuster prevented them from getting this year.
LB376, which fell three votes short, would have made family support services available to as many as 850 children with disabilities severe enough to qualify them for institutions. The children are among some 3,000 people on the state’s waiting list for developmental disability services.
“We’re coming every month. We will not back down,†said Shonda Knop, whose son Jacoby is on the list.
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Leah Janke, executive director of the Down Syndrome Alliance of the Midlands, said the failure of LB376 “is stinging hard.†She said it would have helped children with higher medical needs such as a feeding tube or supplemental oxygen, whose families struggle to care for them at home.
Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha, who introduced LB376, told the group that she will continue fighting for their children. She vowed to get the job done next year.
Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh speaks to families at the Nebraska Capitol on Thursday. Families came to the Capitol on the final day of the session to voice support for a bill Cavanaugh had sponsored. The bill failed to overcome a filibuster.