Senators weigh in on college testing, wage recriminations abound

The Nebraska Legislature weighed in Thursday on which tests students can take for admissions and scholarships at state colleges and universities. And there were recriminations over another attempt to promote a lower minimum wage for young workers.

Thursday began with Speaker of the Legislature John Arch telling senators this was the last day to make changes to bills and still give them enough time to pass in this year’s legislative session.

What followed was a series of attempts to amend various bills at the final stage of consideration. One such bill was a package of education proposals, which Sen. Bob Hallstrom used as a vehicle for a college testing amendment. Hallstrom’s amendment specified that state institutions of higher learning could use ACT or SAT scores for admissions and scholarship purposes.

What that left out was the newer CLT, or classic learning test, used by many religious schools and supported by Sen. Dave Murman, chair of the Legislature’s Education Committee. Hallstrom criticized the way the CLT is remotely administered.

“You can adjust the camera angle so that the remote proctor does not know any better, that you can do various and sundry things to game the system,” he said.

Murman defended the CLT’s use of technology.

“They monitor your eye movements, so you've got to be looking right at the computer. And as I repeat, it could clearly show if you're not actively engaged in the exam or attempting to use outside assistance of any kind,” he said.

Nevertheless, senators voted 25-14 to adopt Hallstrom’s amendment.

Several other attempts were not as successful.

Sen. Ashlei Spivey tried to get school districts to pay 0.35 percent of teachers’ salaries into a fund to pay for two weeks of paid family medical leave. Spivey said that would help keep teachers on the job, if, for example they took time off to have a baby or care for a sick family member.

“I ask you today, colleagues, to stand up for teachers, to say that we see you and we want you to stay in the profession, and we understand that there are things in your life that you cannot control or account for, and we're here to support you, because at the end of the day, it makes a difference for the people that we say that we want to protect, which are our children,” she said.

Sen. Tanya Storer opposed the proposal.

“This will result in an additional cost on those individual school districts, which primarily and in my district, I can assure you that is almost all going to follow the property taxpayers,” she said.

Senators voted 25-17 against Spivey’s amendment.

Sen. George Dungan introduced an amendment to offer loan forgiveness to teachers who trained to become certified in special education. He estimated the program could cost around $140,000 to $250,000 at each of the six institutions that would be eligible.

Sen. Mike Moser opposed the idea, saying the state should not add spending in its current budget situation.

“It's a great cause. I don't dispute that, but we have to take care of our budget and our taxpayers and make sure that our budget adds up,” he said.

Sen. Victor Rountree supported the proposal.

“When it comes to our budget here in the state of Nebraska, we will invest in what we want to invest in. Make no doubt about it. This is an area that we really need to take time to invest in to ensure that we can decrease this shortage. Our special needs population have just as much right as our non-special needs to have an opportunity at the good life here in Nebraska,” he said.

Senators voted 23-20 against the amendment. They did later vote to take another $5 million from the state’s cash reserve to cover the potential cost of proposals at the final stage of consideration.

One amendment that provoked considerable controversy was filed by Sen. Jane Raybould. It would have added a lower minimum wage for teenage workers to a bill dealing with other labor-management issues. Raybould’s proposal had failed for the year when Sen. Tony Sorrentino missed a final vote on the bill, and her attempt to add it to another bill was blocked by a filibuster. Sen. Megan Hunt, an independent in the officially nonpartisan Legislature, objected to Raybould's trying to bring it back again.

“I do think that she's dug in, and at this point, it's about ego more than the policy, more than serving Nebraskans and more than serving the small businesses that she's claiming to be backing by doggedly pursuing this at any cost,” she said.

And Sen. John Fredrickson, like Raybould a registered Democrat, was also critical.

“If you're a statesperson, you should at some point realize and understand there's a time to pack up your toys and go home,” he said.

Raybould eventually withdrew her amendment, while striking a defiant tone.

“I care about this institution and my colleagues and the hard work they have put in this session to get their bills to the finish line. That is why, the reason I am withdrawing. I recognize them and I honor them, and it's not because of the continuous drumbeat of harmful, hurtful, hateful comments I've heard almost on a daily basis since this bill was introduced,” she said.

Proposals that were amended will face final votes on Monday, which could be the last day of the session. Or, senators could meet for the final day one week after that, if they want to override any vetoes by Gov. Jim Pillen.