Legislature begins session, sets hearing on expelling McKeon

The Nebraska Legislature began its 2026 session Wednesday with prayer, process, and proposals.

As senators gathered for the first day of the session, Speaker John Arch led off with a prayer stressing humility and invoking divine intervention.

“As your servants, we approach this session once again with great humility before you. We bow our heads in reverence to you, for you are God and we are not. We know that we will be discussing issues that will affect the lives of many, and we know that we do not possess within ourselves all that we need to fulfill our responsibilities to the citizens of this state. But we know that you possess all that we need,” Arch said.

Sen. Ben Hansen, chair of the Legislature’s internal governing executive board, then reminded lawmakers of a process they will confront early on.

“I rise today to address a serious matter regarding the conduct of the senator from the 41st legislative district. As you are aware, a special personnel panel was formed to investigate a formal complaint of workplace harassment lodged against Sen. McKeon,” he said.

Sen. Dan McKeon has been accused of groping a staffer at a party celebrating the end of the 2025 session in May, a charge he has denied. Hansen released a report by Tara Paulson, an independent lawyer hired by the Legislature, that concluded while McKeon’s conduct was not serious enough to constitute “actionable” sexual harassment, the Legislature could still censure, reprimand or expel him.

The Executive Board has scheduled a hearing on a resolution recommending expulsion for Jan. 12.

Asked for reaction to the report and the upcoming hearing, McKeon was brief.

“The process just has to go through. I mean, it is what it is,” he said.

Then, senators got down to the business of introducing new proposals. Among them was one by Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh that would prohibit a financial practice that’s been used by Gov. Jim Pillen.

“For the last several years to balance the budget, we have been taking money out of various cash funds and changing the statute to say that the Legislature can take money out of these cash funds. Most cash funds are funded by something specific, whether it's fees or taxes or settlements like the opioid settlement or the tobacco settlement. So the idea is that we shouldn't be doing that, because they have a specific prescribed use in statute, and we should be using them for the intended use,” she said.

And Cavanaugh talked about a companion piece of legislation.

“I also introduced a bill that has agencies evaluate the fees that are going into cash funds, because if we have too much money in these cash funds, perhaps we are charging too much in fees,” she said.

Meanwhile, Sen. Kathleen Kauth introduced three bills dealing with issues affecting transgender people. One would limit the use of school and state agency bathrooms to people based on their sex at birth. Another would prohibit providing certain hormones and puberty blockers to youths under age 19. And a third would give people who undergo gender transitioning procedures and later decide they were harmed up to 12 years to sue their medical providers.

Kauth acknowledged that with senators concentrating on fiscal issues like overcoming a projected $472 million budget shortfall, it may be difficult to pass such controversial legislation.

“This year with the budget, it's going to be hard, but we need to keep it in the public eye, but we also need to keep discussing and keep educating people about how things are changing globally regarding this issue,” she said.

Among other measures introduced was a proposal by Sen. Tom Brandt that would allow the Department of Water, Energy and Environment to enter private property for activities including surveying and soil testing for the Perkins County Canal, without being liable for trespassing.

A century-old agreement with Colorado gives Nebraska the right to condemn land using eminent domain in both states. Attempts to survey land in Colorado have met with resistance, but Brandt said the problem may cross state lines.

“I know in Colorado, but that's a whole different deal. There's some issues there, but my understanding, there may have been some pushback on the Nebraska side too,” he said.

A spokesperson for the department confirmed, in an email, that “Some landowners have been reluctant to grant access to their property for the purpose of conducting surveys and geotechnical work related to the Perkins County Canal Project.” She added that the bill would save time and money by avoiding condemnation proceedings or negotiated access agreements, and that the department would remain responsible for any damages.

In all, some 115 bills were introduced, along with two proposed constitutional amendments. One would limit annual increases in taxable value of property to the rate of inflation. The other would grant 16 year-olds the right to vote. Bill introduction will continue for nine more legislative days