Tuition breaks fall short, suspending young students moves ahead in Legislature

A proposal to offer free tuition to students from families making $65,000 or less fell victim to budget concerns in the Legislature Friday. Meanwhile, a move to allow schools to suspend students in kindergarten through second grade is advancing.

Sen. Eliot Bostar introduced the bill (LB417) to provide free tuition to community colleges, state colleges and the University of Nebraska system to students from families with household incomes less than $65,000. In debate Friday, Bostar said that would be good for the state and students.

“LB417 is a crucial investment in Nebraska's workforce and economic future, ensuring that every student, regardless of financial background, has the opportunity to succeed,” he said.

The university already has such a program, but it’s discretionary, not mandatory. University officials estimated last year it cost about $7 million a year; this year they said they might have to budget closer to $21 million if it were made mandatory. State colleges estimated an annual cost of around $2 million, community colleges around $700,000.

Bostar acknowledged the state’s projected budget shortfall would make it difficult to pass any new spending proposals. But he urged his colleagues to advance the bill to the second round of debate, known as “select file,” to see what could be worked out.

“Obviously we are in a deficit. And so my intent here is, I would ask that the bill be advanced to select, and if there's some kind of funding source that could be identified, maybe we could go forward. But obviously the fiscal position makes passing this certainly on final reading, challenging. So my request is to get it to select, and let's see how the whole session sort of unfolds from there,” he said.

Sen. Teresa Ibach pushed back.

“I understand the intent behind this bill… and I appreciate the goal. However, adding another unfunded mandate is not the answer,” she said.

And Sen. Paul Strommen cautioned against any such spending proposals.

“We really need to be more fiscally conscious and conscientious when we bring these bills, and when we start looking at how we can afford these things, for the state and most importantly for the taxpayers,” he said.

After about an hour of debate, the bill failed to advance, with 25 senators voting against it and only 18 in favor.

Also Friday, senators wrestled with issues confronting the state’s K-12 schools. Sen. Dave Murman, chair of the Education Committee, is the lead sponsor of a proposal to once again allow schools to suspend students in kindergarten (LB653) through second grade. That practice was prohibited in 2023, unless the student brings a deadly weapon to school. Murman’s proposal would add that students could also be suspended if they engage in violent behavior capable of causing physical harm to another student or school employee.

Sen. Jana Hughes supported the proposal, saying schools are reporting increasingly violent behavior, even among the youngest students.

“We're talking tearing up a classroom, throwing desks, and yes, little kids, kindergarten, first grade, second grade do this. Had a kiddo in one of our schools that first grade, when…(he) found out his teacher was expecting a child, kicked her in the stomach. So these things happen, and they are violent,” she said.

Sen. Terrell McKinney tried to stop the bill. McKinney, who’s black, recalled why he sponsored the ban on suspensions three years ago.

“At the core of it, when I introduced the bill and I spoke to it, is the school-to-prison pipeline, the disproportionate amount of kids that look like me and others that are being suspended, that is an issue that needed to be addressed,” he said.

McKinney faulted schools for not using alternatives to suspension to handle disruptive students.

Sen. Tom Brandt objected to another part of the proposal, which would require school districts, once they accepted a child under the state’s public school choice or option enrollment program, to also accept any siblings, even if the siblings had special education needs requiring an individualized education program. Brandt contrasted that with the discretion school boards currently have.

“(If the) school board and the administration says ‘Our special ed department is maxed right now. We don't have any capacity for the needs of that child. We're not going to give an option in’ -- that's how it works today. I believe how this proposal works is that after the first child comes in on a family, that school board is obligated to take the rest of the children no matter what,” he said.

Murman agreed that is the intent of his bill, and said schools should have to accept the siblings, even if they require an individualized education program, or IEP.

“When the receiving school does agree to take option students, they should, at the same time, agree to do what's best for families. So if a family that has already had a student opt in, and unfortunately has another student with an IEP -- usually a younger student -- eventually, I do think the school that takes option students should have to take that IEP student,” he said.

Senators voted 33-8 to accept both the suspension and option enrollment parts of Murman’s proposal, then gave the bill first-round approval.

One subject lawmakers did not take up Friday was workers compensation for firefighters who get cancer. Sens. Dave Wordekemper and Bob Hallstrom said they are trying to work out a compromise to bring the bill back up later.