Birth Control, Early Childhood Education, Sex Abuse Prevention Debated

Birth control availability, early childhood education, and sexual abuse prevention education were debated in the Legislature today/Monday, following an engagement announcement.

In the Nebraska Legislature, senators often start the day with personal announcements – Monday, it was Sen. Julie Slama’s turn. At the invitation of Sen. Suzanne Geist, Slama shared her news.

“I ended up getting engaged this weekend. Andrew LaGrone asked me to marry him, and I said yes,” Slama said, to applause.

Slama and LaGrone were both appointed to fill senatorial vacancies in 2018 by Gov. Pete Ricketts. Slama was elected in her own right last year, LaGrone lost his bid for election.

Then it was on to debating bills on the agenda. Among them was one on insurance that Sen. Carol Blood wanted to amend. Blood’s amendment says that instead of having to pick up contraceptive prescriptions once every one to three months, patients could get up to six months’ worth at a time. Slama objected.

“I just disagree with the basis of the bill. Birth control is already covered under three month intervals and I find the six-month requirement…to be an unnecessary mandate,” she said.

Blood said the change was a matter of practicality. She added both Blue Cross/Blue Shield and the Nebraska Insurance Federation, who opposed the bill in committee, had dropped their opposition.

“This amendment allows people who are transient and travel for their career to gain access to birth control, for those who work multiple jobs and really don’t have time to go to the pharmacy, in addition to people who live in rural areas that may live far away from both their physicians and their pharmacies, it’s a matter of convenience. It is only a problematic mandate if indeed the insurance companies say it is, and they say it is not,” Blood said.

The bill does not require offering contraceptive coverage as part of any policy that does not currently do so.

Senators adopted Blood’s amemdment 25-11, and then gave the bill second-round approval on a voice vote.

An attempt to change another bill, dealing with early childhood education, was not as successful. The bill lets childcare providers maintain their state ranking even if they change categories, for example, by expanding to care for more children, without going back to probationary status. The bill says providers may report their educational background to the state. Sen. Tony Vargas wanted to change that to a requirement, by changing the word “may” to “shall.” That drew criticism and a question from Sen. Mike Groene.

“This an incremental step to saying ‘You can’t work in early childhood, you can’t have a license unless you have a PhD, you can’t work in it unless you have a degree in early childhood education. That closes grandma on the street corner who takes in three, four, five six kids. That takes the young individual who doesn’t have a high school degree that has a natural talent to nurture kids for a job. Why do we need to ‘may’ to ‘shall’?” Groene asked.

“Sen. Groene, I don’t think it’s that simple,” Vargas replied. “I just want to remind people the reason why this is a necessary bill is we don’t have an accurate picture of our early ed workforce. And if we want to make some necessary investments in our early ed workforce, which is what we constantly hear about workforce development, we need that accurate picture.”

Senators voted 21-16 for Vargas’s amendment, but it need 25 votes, so it was defeated.

And, lawmakers debated a proposal by Sen. Joni Albrecht to require Nebraska public schools to teach students beginning in kindergarten how to recognize and respond to attempted sexual abuse.

At one point, Sen. Rich Pahls offered an amendment to extend the requirement to private and parochial schools as well. That idea got support from Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh.

“I went to Catholic school – grade school, high school, and university. And numerous priests that were at my grade school are on a list. And so as to not be vague, it is a list of pedophiles,” Cavanaugh said.

Cavanaugh was referring to a list released by the Archdiocese of Omaha in 2018 containing the names of 38 priests or deacons against whom it said “substantiated claims of sexual abuse of, or sexual misconduct with, a minor” had been made.

However, Pahls withdrew his amendment, saying Catholic schools may already be teaching what he thinks should be required. He promised to work with Albrecht between now and the next round of debate. Senators then voted 32-1 first round approval of the bill.

Also receiving first round approval Monday was a proposal by Sen. Matt Hansen, to provide a death benefit of $50,000 to the family of a firefighter, law enforcement officer, or other first responder who dies in the line of duty. That was approved 33-2.

And, on a voice vote, lawmakers gave second-round approval to a bill exempting military retirement pay from the state income tax.