Suspending young students sparks debate, data center proposals heard

By Fred Knapp , Senior Reporter/Producer Nebraska Public Media

Feb. 12, 2026, 5 p.m. ·

Sen. Terrell McKinney in debate Thursday (Fred Knapp/Nebraska Public Media News) — Sen. Terrell McKinney in debate Thursday. (Fred Knapp/Nebraska Public Media News)

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A proposal to once again allow schools to suspend students in kindergarten through second grade sparked heated debate in the Legislature Thursday. And senators heard proposals to deal with the skyrocketing demand for electricity caused by data center construction.

Since 2023, Nebraska law has prohibited suspending students below third grade with certain exceptions, like bringing a gun to school. But now, senators are proposing to change that.

Sen. Terrell McKinney, who got the ban passed, opposes the change. But Thursday, he proposed an amendment to a bill (LB653) that would accept the change, but define what constitutes violent behavior that justifies suspension.

Sen. Kathleen Kauth opposed the amendment, saying supporters were losing sight of a larger issue.

“When a classroom is being turned upside down by a disruptive student, every other kid suffers. We are allowing one child's disruption to impact the learning of 20 or more. That's not fair to them,” Kauth said.

Sen. Jana Hughes echoed that theme.

Sen. Jana Hughes (Photo courtesy Nebraska Legislature) — Jana Hughes

“What about the 20 other kids in the classroom? What about their learning environment? Is that not fair to protect them? Protect them from a kid that is punching, hitting, kicking, kicking, their teacher, throwing desks over. Because do you know what happens when somebody acts like that? They pull the 20 kids out of the classroom and let them completely destroy the classroom. That's how we handle it,” Hughes said.

McKinney objected to how senators were discussing the students involved.

“Maybe the kid went to sleep without food last night. Maybe the kid saw his mom get punched by his dad. Maybe the kid's parent went to jail last night. Just this blanket ‘Oh, these kids are just terrible, the worst of the world.’ … I hate the conversation, because it's without context,” McKinney said.

Sen. Ashlei Spivey said data show black males are suspended disproportionately. She proposed requiring schools to compile an annual report on suspensions, broken down by demographic group, and described her amendment.

In: What my (amendment) does is say ‘You're already collecting the data, compile it and publish it so it is accessible,’” Spivey said.

Sen. George Dungan suggested opponents of McKinney’s and Spivey’s amendments were being disingenuous.

“I find it interesting that the debate that people want to have on this is about suspending first graders or kindergartners, or they're saying that these amendments inhibit that ability,” Dungan said. "They don't. But if you are going to suspend a student, you have to have a meeting talk about why, try to address the underlying reasons. We're going to give you a few definitions to better clarify what is or what isn't, violent behavior, because we do that on a lot of bills, and you got to give the data to make sure we know who's being suspended."

Nevertheless, senators voted against both Spivey’s and McKinney’s amendments. They then adjourned before reaching a vote on the underlying bill, which has to do with setting up rules for districts accepting special education students from other districts.

Thursday afternoon, the Natural Resources Committee heard two proposals for dealing with the skyrocketing demand for electricity caused by the construction of data centers used largely to facilitate artificial intelligence.

Senator Machaela Cavanaugh — Machaela Cavanaugh

One (LB1111), by Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh, would require public power districts to ensure that data centers pay for the additional costs, including infrastructure, of the additional power they require.

“We have all read about how agreements in other states between utilities and data centers have spiked electricity rates, forcing struggling families and small businesses to financially subsidize the largest corporations in the world, owned by the wealthiest persons in the world. Nebraskans categorically reject these deals. We expect our publicly-owned utilities to continue to provide affordable electric power to all,” Cavanaugh said.

Representatives of environmental groups and the Farmers Union endorsed the proposal, while MaryLee Moulton of the League of Women Voters urged further study.

“This is a unique situation where a leap in technology has outrun regulation. We believe the best way to address this challenge is to institute a concentrated and expedited study that will hopefully lead to a comprehensive plan that can be presented in the next session,” Moulton said.

Another proposal (LB1064), by Sen. Eliot Bostar, would specify that public power suppliers would not have to have uniform rates for large customers, but could negotiate separate rates to minimize operational and financial risk to other customers.

Matt Andersen of Lincoln Electric System supported the proposal.

“LB1064 allows utilities to establish their own standards, preserves the ability to impose additional local requirements and affirms negotiated utility-specific rates, rather than imposing statewide one-size-fits-all mandates,” Andersen said.

The committee took no immediate action on the proposals.

Also Thursday, the Legislature’s internal governing Executive Board advanced a proposal (LB1237) that would prohibit bringing guns or other weapons into the Capitol. The board proposed an amendment allowing an exception for people who have a concealed handgun permit. The measure can now be considered by the full Legislature.

The Legislature then adjourned for a four-day weekend and will return to work on Tuesday.