Latest news with #LB306
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Quest to infuse religion into Nebraska public schools is back from dead
The quest to infuse religion into Nebraska public schools is making one last push this year. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN — After being rejected by a majority of Nebraska lawmakers this month, a proposal allowing K-12 students to be excused during the school day for off-site religious instruction and coursework is back as a stand-alone amendment to an education bill that once was a vehicle for a now dead package of proposals. The latest revival of Central City's State Sen. Loren Lippincott's release time proposal comes after lawmakers decided to remove it from the education package, a decision that led to the demise of the first deal. An impromptu compromise has come together around the decision to bring back a leaner version of Legislative Bill 306 — mainly some clean-up language sought by State Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil to address terms and provisions in state law relating to higher education in the session's final days. The aim: allowing lawmakers to try attaching as standalone amendments their proposals from the failed education package to it individually and let the full Legislature vote on each. The base bill advanced 28-3 to the next round of debate on Tuesday, as lawmakers continue to attach amendments. One previous proposal already amended into LB 306 was introduced by State Sen. Bob Andersen, who represents western Sarpy County. His amendment would require public and private higher education institutions in Nebraska to report funding they receive from foreign adversaries. Two other noticeable proposals are from State Sen. Ashlei Spivey of Omaha, which would help schools find more long-term substitutes so teachers can take paid time off around significant life events, and from State Sen. George Dungan of Lincoln, which would provide forgivable loans for special education teachers in the state. Dungan's proposal was combined into Spivey's amendment, as the Legislature's Education Committee had combined the two during previous executive sessions. 'If you're not satisfied with the bill's current form,' Murman said during Tuesday's debate, 'I ask for your green vote on this so that we can continue to work on it. If the bill dies on general file, those chances of adding any additional pieces will die with it.' Four Nebraska bills wth religious overtones proposed this session mirrored a national push by some Republican lawmakers in other states to bring more Christianity into public schools. The push has been emboldened by President Donald Trump and recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that appear to have altered the legal landscape for such proposals — even though ideas like Lippincott's release time bill have been legal since the 1950s. The latest version of Lippincott's proposal removed the private cause of action, the ability to sue if a school doesn't enforce it, which some Republicans had expressed concerns about. Some legislative Republicans had privately told the Examiner that Lippincott's earlier version went too far for them. The language that allows individuals to sue schools is nearly identical to a model bill provided by LifeWise Academy, a Christian education organization with ties to the populist right. Lippincott has acknowledged that his amendment arose from language put forward by LifeWise Academy. The effort to salvage the proposal could signal that social conservatives in the statehouse have a growing base of lawmakers willing to consider and advance religious-themed bills. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Nebraska students might get religious release from school time, as package advances
St. Mary Catholic Church's Ten Commandments monument across the street from the Nebraska State Capitol on Feb. 28. 2025. (Juan Salinas II/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN — God and religion 'may' have a new path into Nebraska's public schools after the Education Committee on Friday sent a package to the legislative floor that includes a revamped 'release time' proposal. The package's most controversial part was its inclusion of State Sen. Loren Lippincott's Legislative Bill 550, which would let students be excused during the school day for off-site religious instruction and coursework. Christian education organization Lifewise Academy, with ties to the populist right, is lobbying for similar bills in conservative-led states nationally. Lippincott has acknowledged the group's influence on the issue. He was pleased that the bill made it out of committee Friday with 'a few minor changes' and said he hoped lawmakers would give it a chance. Amendments adopted Friday essentially watered it down to existing law. 'We'll see what happens once it gets on the floor,' said Lippincott, of Central City. Committee members had battled back and forth for weeks on whether to include Lippincott's proposal in a bill largely built around Omaha State Sen. Ashlei Spivey's former LB 440 to boost paid leave for teachers. The Spivey bill would give teachers up to three weeks of paid leave to deal with significant life events and pay for it using a new payroll fee on teacher salaries to cover the costs of paying long-term substitutes. The fee also would help pay for special education teacher recruitment and retention. The importance of that underlying bill to teachers, now in LB 306, made unusual allies of the Nebraska State Education Association and some of the Legislature's members who want more Christianity in schools. Also part of the deal was the Legislature's Retirement Systems Committee. Tim Royers, president of the NSEA, had no immediate comment on the bill's advancement. He had said earlier Friday that his union was only willing to accept Lippincott's 'release time' bill if allowing students to leave school for religious instruction was optional, not required. As such, the committee amended Lippincott's part of the package to change its 'shall' language to a 'may' on the requirement that schools let students leave. Other changes clarified that they had to leave for at least 42 minutes and that they couldn't miss core classes. The three amendments to Lippincott's proposal are a big reason why the bill secured at least six votes to get out of committee — and might get a seventh. It needed five to advance to the legislative floor. Republican State Sens. Dave Murman of Glenvil, the chair, Jana Hughes of Seward, the vice chair, Dan Lonowski of Hastings, Glen Meyer of Pender and Rita Sanders of Bellevue all voted to advance the package. Democratic State Sen. Margo Juarez of South Omaha voted yes as well. The lone no vote came from progressive nonpartisan State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha, who warned about the door to more religious bills in schools. Hunt acknowledged that Lippincott's bill does not change the process for students leaving under current law but endorses what she called 'missionary work.' She said the organization behind the bill, Lifewise, brings a bus for students and entices them with a popcorn party or other incentives to grow membership. Students left behind feel pressured, she said. Lonowski said he didn't see Lifewise getting involved in Nebraska, but that he might be wrong. Hunt said he was wrong. Jesse Vohwinkel, LifeWise Academy's Vice President of Growth, testified in favor of Lippincott's bill during its public hearing in February. Lonowski said the bill was pragmatic, as public schools are losing students when families want religion. Murman said it gives parents and school boards 'a little bit of cover' to get the programs off the ground. Juarez said if other religions were not allowed, she would oppose the bill. She noted Satanists have already said they would use provisions of Lippincott's original bill if it required schools to open doors to groups. Given the time constraints of budget bills and the likelihood of the education bill facing a filibuster, Speaker John Arch will have to decide whether scheduling the bill is worth the floor time. Arch said late Friday that he would need to wait until the bill is officially reported out of committee and he has a chance to review it to determine whether to schedule it. The committee was holding open its vote until Monday to let State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln weigh in. Examiner reporters Zach Wendling and Juan Salinas II contributed to this report. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
