Proposals offered on teacher bonuses, online sports betting
By Fred Knapp , Senior Reporter/Producer Nebraska Public Media
17 de Enero de 2025 a las 17:00 ·

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Bonuses to keep teachers teaching, regulation of online sports betting, and a fight over regulating or banning Delta-8 products were among subjects raised in the Legislature Friday.
Teachers in Nebraska are already eligible for bonuses of $2,500 a year for reaching the second, fourth and sixth years of employment. Now, Sen. George Dungan is proposing to expand that program to try and keep more experienced teachers as well.
“We worked really hard over the last couple of years to provide bonuses to teachers that are coming into the profession," Dungan said. "But what we’re hearing from a lot of our teachers who have been in the profession for a while is that they’re getting left behind."
Dungan said that has a ripple effect, perpetuating the teacher shortage, which this year sees about 700 of the roughly 25,000 teaching positions in the state vacant.
“Part of the reason we have to keep bringing new teachers in is we can’t retain teachers that are already working," he said. "So what we’re doing is we’re expanding the bonus program to make sure we can provide an additional bonus to every teacher that grows over time with how long you’ve been teaching."
Dungan’s proposal would give teachers $3,000 bonuses in years seven through 15, and $4,000 a year after that. It would also expand the $2,500 bonuses for starting teachers to each year one through six.
Dungan said there’s no estimate yet for how much the proposal would cost taxpayers. But he said money could come from the Education Future Fund – money the Legislature set aside to pay for future education expenses.
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Meanwhile, Sen. Stan Clouse introduced legislation to legalize online sports betting and route that business through the state’s casinos. He said that’s a way to make sure the state gets its share of tax revenue from bets.
“They would be tied into the brick and mortar casinos that we have, so that they have the capacity or the structure in place where they can manage that and make sure that we are capturing the revenue, and that would be a partner with the existing casinos that have been approved by the voters and are presently under construction,” Clouse said.
Clouse would also remove the current restriction on betting on intercollegiate games played in Nebraska.
“What happens is, everybody goes across the river (to) bet on the in-state games. I mean, it’s not stopping it. So we need to see if we can manage it in some manner,” he said.
Three percent of any tax revenue would go to the compulsive gamblers assistance fund under the legislation.
“It’s not an endorsement of gambling by any means," he said. "It’s just how do we manage that. And you also have to put the guardrails in there that you make sure if it becomes problematic, that there is money and there are resources available to handle those that it becomes addictive (to), because it is addictive."
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A fight is underway on how to deal with consumable hemp derivatives like Delta-8, a cousin of marijuana. Sen. John Cavanaugh has introduced legislation to have the Liquor Control Commission regulate such products. Cavanaugh says his bill is an improvement over the current situation, where stores and the products they sell are unregulated.
“Right now there is no requirement of age limitation or background checks of people who are selling them, or making sure they’re not selling them next to a school, and making sure that the products are what they claim to be. So in absence of regulation there could be dangerous products out there, and they could be selling them to kids. That’s why we need regulation. And we do not need to be telling adults what to do with their lives,” he said.
Cavanaugh says the products were legalized by the 2018 farm bill which legalized hemp. Attorney General Mike Hilgers maintains the products are illegal and has sued dozens of retailers to get them off the shelves, using the state’s consumer protection laws.
Hilgers is also backing legislation by Sen. Kathleen Kauth to clarify that the products are illegal. He said that would be a better solution, but vowed in a news conference this week to step up his office’s lawsuits if necessary.
“I feel very confident that we’re standing on solid ground," Hilgers said. "We’re doing the right thing by Nebraska families by choosing the consumer protection tool… As this unfolds into 2025, given the number of stores that are not apparently doing the right thing, we are going to escalate. We’re going to see what happens with this bill. But we have plans in place that accelerate and escalate and broaden our litigation fight… but it's not about raids. It’s about getting things off the market. And we think we’ve picked the right tool to do that."
One early indication of which approach has momentum will come Tuesday, when the Reference Committee will decide whether Cavanaugh’s bill should be heard by the General Affairs Committee, which oversees things like liquor regulation, or the Judiciary Committee, which oversees criminal offenses.
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