Amendment added to Opportunity Scholarship Act

Many major issues were debated this past week in the legislature, with LB 626 and LB 574 being the two most highly-contested bills considered by senators. LB 626 would adopt the Nebraska Heartbeat Act and restrict abortion to when a fetal heartbeat is first detected, thereby reducing the current 20-week abortion time window to about six weeks. This bill includes exceptions for rape, incest, sexual assault, medical emergencies (such as ectopic pregnancies and the removal of the remains of an unborn child who has already died), and in vitro fertilization or another assisted reproductive technology. LB 626 is a response to the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court last summer, in which the court held that the U.S. Constitution does not confer a right to abortion, thereby returning to individual states the power to regulate any aspect of abortion not protected by federal law. After eight hours of debate, a motion was made to invoke cloture so that a vote could be taken on the advancement of the bill. LB 626 received the necessary 33 votes for cloture and was advanced to Select File on a 33-16 vote.

The following day, senators debated LB 574, which would adopt the Let Them Grow Act and prohibit the performance of gender-altering procedures on minors. Since LB 574 was moved to Select File on March 23, this legislation has the been the topic of filibusters on almost every bill brought to the floor of the legislature. This week, with the Let Them Grow Act again discussed during filibusters on unrelated legislation, Speaker Arch placed LB 574 on the calendar to get the issue out of the way. During debate, several senators indicated they would like to see a compromise amendment to the bill moving forward. The cloture motion for LB 574 was successful, and the bill was advanced to Final Reading on a 33-16 vote.

LB 753 was also given second-round approval. This bill, which would adopt the Opportunity Scholarships Act, was debated for four hours. Central to the discussion was amendment AM 1253, which was the product of work between Sens. Linehan and Hughes and myself.

M 1253 would add additional accountability for the use of tax credit dollars as provided for in LB 753.

First, AM 1253 would close a potential loophole by limiting how much a scholarship granting organization, or SGO, can "carry over" to the next year. SGOs are capped at carrying over 25 percent of the net eligible contributions per year and must transfer excess funds to another qualified SGO. If there are no SGOs that can take the funds, then the money will be transferred to the General Fund. This amendment would prevent SGOs from sitting there and accumulating money without doing anything year after year.

Second, AM 1253 would require that each SGO report annually to the Department of Revenue. This report would then be forwarded to the governor and members of the legislature to review. There would also be biennial reports to the chairpersons of the Education, Revenue, and Appropriation committees that will take into effect on June 30, 2027. This reporting requirement would give the legislature better information to evaluate where the money is going and how it is being used. With this data, we as senators can be better informed on how to make tweaks and fixes going forward. AM 1253 was adopted on a 41-0 vote, after which senators voted 33-11 to move LB 753 to Final Reading. I am a co-sponsor of LB 626, LB 574, and LB 753.

The legislature considered LB 565 which would appropriate $250,000 in General Fund dollars in fiscal years 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 to the state Department of Economic Development for the purpose of providing grants to any public power district that serves a majority of Nebraska counties. This bill supports Nebraska's efforts to be selected as one of the six to 10 regional clean hydrogen hubs to be designated by the U.S Department of Energy. If selected, Nebraska and its partner states could receive approximately $1 billion in federal matching funds for projects that would secure regional access to fertilizer production, create new markets for hydrogen-based biofuels, and give Nebraska's transportation industry and electric utilities an opportunity to diversify their fuel sources. LB 565 was amended to contain provisions from LB 568, which would require the state Department of Economic Development to create a working group to determine the workforce training needs of the nuclear and hydrogen industries. LB 565 was moved to Select File on a 35-0 vote.

Feel free to call my office anytime at 402-471-2801 or email me at [email protected]. My mailing address is: Senator Barry DeKay, District #40, P.O. Box 94604, State Capitol, Lincoln, NE 68509.