Teachers' pension change advances, medical marijuana stuck in committee
By Fred Knapp 
, Senior Reporter/Producer Nebraska Public Media
April 17, 2025, 5 p.m. ·
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Senators advanced legislation dealing with teacher pensions and resumed debating lab-grown meat Thursday, while a Nebraska legislative committee failed to advance a bill to regulate medical marijuana.
The Legislature gave second-round approval to a bill aimed at reducing contributions to the teachers’ retirement fund.
Supporters of the move said that plan is more than 99% funded, and will be overfunded by next year.
The proposed changes would reduce the amount that teachers have to pay in, saving a beginning teacher $1,400 to $1,500 a year according to Nebraska State Education Association Executive Director Tim Royers. The bill would also reduce the state contribution, saving an estimated $77 million over the next two years.
That provision provoked criticism from Sen. Danielle Conrad, who put the decision to reduce state contributions in the context of the overall budget being considered for endorsement by the Appropriations Committee.
“It's not balanced, and they need teacher retirement to get there," she said. 'Everybody is clear… We need the tax increase bills that are coming out of Revenue. We need the teacher retirement raid. We need the cuts to balance the budget and to prop up unsustainable, inequitable, reckless tax cuts that primarily benefited the wealthiest Nebraskans and the biggest corporations."
Sen. Jana Hughes objected to that description.
“This bill is saving taxpayer money, and I cannot believe we're using terms of like ‘raiding’ the teacher retirement account and all that. It is in amazing shape, and the fact that we would even overfund that over 100% is unconscionable. That is not in our best interest of how we need to use our taxpayer money,” she said.
And Sen. Myron Dorn, a member of the Appropriations Committee, said the bill is needed to balance the budget.
“If this doesn't pass, we will go back to the drawing board and we will figure out, are we going to cut? Are we going to bring back some money from somewhere? Are we going to do property tax pullback?” he asked.
By pullback, Dorn was referring to reducing the amount of state money devoted to holding down local property taxes. Dorn said he opposes such a reduction.
Senators voted 38-0 to advance the bill, with 11 not voting.
The Legislature also began second-round debate on a proposal to ban the sale and production of lab-grown meat in Nebraska. Conrad objected to the ban, favoring labeling requirements instead.
“The proponents of the bill have not demonstrated a justification for a ban," she said. "The record in the committee hearing and on general file is scant as to any actual health or safety concern in regards to this alternative product."
Sen. Barry DeKay, who introduced the proposal for Gov. Jim Pillen, said the product should remain off store shelves while more research is conducted.
“We could have probably called this a moratorium. This isn't a ban forever. If future legislation sees that it is proved to be safe and meets the nutritional needs, they could raise that and put it back on the shelf, sell it, label it at that time. You got to know what you're eating. You don't know what you don't know until the research has been done on it,” he said.
Lawmakers adjourned for a four-day weekend before reaching a second-round vote on the bill. Debate is scheduled to resume Tuesday.
Also Thursday, the General Affairs Committee has been working this session on legislation to implement the legalization of medical marijuana approved by voters last November. It got hung up on questions including whether what is legalized will include flower, which can be smoked, and whether a list of ailments for which medical marijuana can be recommended should include post-traumatic stress disorder.
Sen. John Cavanaugh said an amendment discussed Thursday falls short, in his view, because of how it would answer those questions.
“The proposed amendment went too far against the will of the people by banning people's ability to possess the plant itself for medical purposes. The ballot initiative clearly states that people have a right to possess the plant, and I think that the list of ailments was critically flawed in that it didn't include PTSD, which I think is an ailment that clearly should be included,” he said.
The committee voted 5-3 against advancing a version of the bill that did not include those restrictions. However, Cavanaugh says he doesn’t think the Legislature is done with the subject for this year. And Sen. Ben Hansen, sponsor of the regulatory bill, said he could file a motion to pull it out of committee for debate by the full Legislature as soon as Tuesday.
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