Nebraska college savings accounts expand to cover private K-12 tuition
A proposal to expand tax-advantaged Nebraska college savings accounts to cover the costs of private K-12 tuition passed as part of a larger bill related to property taxes. (Camilla Forte/The Hechinger Report)
LINCOLN — A proposal to expand tax-advantaged Nebraska college savings accounts to cover the costs of private K-12 tuition passed Friday as part of a larger bill related to property taxes.
The passage of Legislative Bill 647 was delayed because State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha wanted to remove State Sen. Tony Sorrentino's proposal due to what she called a broken 'agreement' regarding State Sen. Ashlei Spivey of Omaha, which would have helped schools fund long-term substitutes so teachers could take paid time off around significant life events.
State Sen. Brad von Gillern of the Elkhorn area said there was no 'agreement' with the Legislature's Revenue Committee.
'There was no deal,' he said. 'I was invited into a conversation to talk about the bills that were at play, including Senator [Ashlei Spivey]'s bill. I told the participants in that meeting clearly that I will not make a deal. Each bill needs to stand on its own.'
The 'deal' involved a bipartisan group on the Education Committee and the state's largest teachers' union — which led to a month-long effort to get a package of proposals out of committee. That package is dead, replaced by a watered-down clean-up bill.
LB 647 advanced 35-13. That tally included the support of two Democrats, State Sen. Eliot Bostar of Lincoln and Dan Quick of Grand Island. Bostar said that he voted against including Sorrentino's proposal during the last round of debate but decided to vote for LB 647 as a whole because it was needed to balance the budget. State Sen. Dan Quick of Grand Island said his constituents have asked to be in favor of Sorrenino's proposal.
At least 42 states already allow such savings accounts to cover tuition at K-12 private schools, which was first allowed federally in 2018 after congressional passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, for up to $10,000 per beneficiary per year. A 529 savings plan — in Nebraska, NEST 529 — offers tax breaks to encourage families or students to donate and allows the savings to grow tax-free and be used for an approved educational purpose.
Nebraska voters in November repealed the state's new school voucher or scholarship program that was set to steer public dollars to private schools, though conservative lawmakers and Gov. Jim Pillen have pledged to keep trying to pass a replacement. Public school advocates have argued against using public funds for that purpose and said voucher programs in other states have bled public money needed for public education.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Chicago Tribune
24 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
Democratic leaders share vision for party's future in Valparaiso town hall
State and Porter County leaders discussed the future of the state and national Democratic Party during a town hall Saturday at the Laborers' Local 81 in Valparaiso. The town hall was led by Indiana Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Tallian, State Sen. Rodney Pol, D-Chesterton, State Rep. Chuck Moseley, D-Portage, and Center Township Trustee Jesse Harper. About 45 people attended the meeting, and a handful of them submitted questions on note cards about the future of the Democratic Party in the upcoming midterm elections, voter turnout, party messaging and engaging younger people to run for office. While a lot of people are mad about the current national political landscape, Harper said an equal amount of people are mad at the Democratic Party. 'They are angry and mad at the Democratic Party. We have to take responsibility for our losses. We have to figure out what happened,' Harper said. 'Everything you're concerned about, I'm going to tell you right now it doesn't mean a damn thing. The reason it doesn't mean a damn thing is because we can't do anything about it because we don't have the votes. The only way we get those votes is by getting Democrats elected.' For the midterm elections, Tallian said the state party has been reaching out to all the county chairs, holding town hall meetings and creating a program to focus on candidate recruitment. 'This year, we're in an off year, we need to build and to recruit candidates,' Tallian said. 'We've got 92 counties, and every one of them has down ballot elections. We have township advisory boards, we have county councils, and now we have school boards. All of these down ballot positions need to get filled.' Every precinct committee person also needs to help with voter registration and canvassing, Tallian said. In 2024, 330,000 Hoosiers registered as Democrats but did not vote, she said. 'One of the things we're trying to do this year is to canvas neighborhoods for those people and find out why,' Tallian said. 'We need to get that done this year so that people can be ready for the elections in 2026.' For Democrats to win in Center Township, Porter County and in Indiana, Harper said Democratic candidates need to secure Republican votes. 'It's not this elusive Independent vote … you've got to get Republican votes,' Harper said. 'The way to do that is you are the adult in the room and you talk about issues that people are scared about.' For example, Harper said health care cuts impact the elderly, children and people with disabilities, which is 'a bipartisan issue' that also allows Democrats to be 'the adults in the room.' One of the questions raised concerns about 'watering down' Democratic values to get Republican votes versus 'doubling down' on Democratic issues to encourage more Democrats to vote. If the party were to double down on Democratic issues, 'there aren't enough Democrats' in Indiana to vote on those issues, Harper said. 'It's a question of mathematics,' Harper said. 'We have to decide what our Democratic messaging is, when we use it and how we use it. I think we can have a strong Democratic message.' When it comes to messaging, Moseley said property taxes, future economic stability and health care are major issues that the Democratic Party can focus on. 'People want to vote for something, not just always against something,' Moseley said. Another important issue in Northwest Indiana is the environment, as it's located near Lake Michigan and environmental protections are rolled back, Pol said. Pol said public education is also an important issue the party could focus on because public education in Indiana has been experiencing a 'death by 1,000 cuts' with each passing legislative session. The state's voucher program allows wealthy families to receive a discount for sending their children to private schools, while public education has been eroding through various pieces of legislation, he said. 'It's the funding of defunding public education, is what it is. We'll give you money to send your kids to a private school, so you don't send your money to a public school,' Pol said. As she talks to people at town halls throughout the state, Tallian said the themes she's heard people should focus on are the economy, 'Big Brother' and stability. Under 'Big Brother,' Tallian said Republican Party leaders 'at the state and federal level are telling us what to think, they're telling us what our universities can do and they're cutting who can go to which schools.' 'The 'Big Brother' aspect of what's going on in this country is, to me, one of the scariest things going on right now,' Tallian said. When it comes to stability, Tallian described the constant switch between tariffs being on and off and chaos caused by the deportation methods under President Donald Trump's administration. 'Things keep moving every day in Washington and you can't keep track of anything,' Tallian said. 'We want to have stability.' When it comes to engaging younger people, Tallian, a former state senator, said Pol took over her seat and he's younger than her youngest child. The party needs to 'build a bench,' Tallian said. 'The bench can't just be people who want to burn everything down and start over. We've seen the burn down, start over (with) DOGE,' Tallian said, referencing Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. Indiana's Democratic Party leaders at the county level range in age from 22 to 82, Tallian said, and she wouldn't 'throw out anyone' because they are either too young or too old. 'But building the bench is something that we absolutely need to do, and I'm encouraging that every single place I can,' Tallian said. Pol said when he first joined the Senate he was 37 years old and he was the youngest senator at the time. Pol said he's now 41 years old and he's still the youngest Senator. 'I think that's criminal because there are younger people who are much smarter than I. There are younger people who have a voice that needs to be heard,' Pol said. Pol encouraged young people to get involved in political groups and organizations to have their voices heard and engage in the process. Moseley said anyone coming to town halls or other political events should bring a younger person they know to the event to educate them on the process. 'It's up to us to let them know, 'Hey, you are welcome,'' Moseley said. Tallian has come under fire after an IndyStar opinion piece written by Elise Shrock, sharing her story of being dragged out by sheriff's deputies from an Indianapolis City-County Council meeting earlier this month for seeking accountability for survivors of sexual assault. Shrock shared her disappointment with the state Democratic Party's silence on the issue. In response to a question about the situation Saturday, Tallian said it's 'partially an Indianapolis problem.' Referencing her written statement issued after the op-ed was published, Tallian said just days apart, she saw U.S. Senator Alex Padilla from California shoved to the ground and handcuffed at a news conference in Los Angeles, and in Indianapolis, multiple women were shoved out of a public meeting. 'Forcibly removing people from a public meeting is not the way that we fix our problems in this country,' Tallian said.
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Senate parliamentarian rejects GOP's attempt to limit courts' contempt powers
The Senate parliamentarian has ruled against a controversial provision in the Senate Republicans' megabill that would have made it significantly more difficult for courts to enforce contempt findings against the Trump administration. The parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, ruled that limiting courts' ability to hold Trump officials in contempt violated the Senate's rules governing what can be passed with a simple-majority vote on the budget reconciliation fast track. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) hailed the parliamentarian's decision as a major victory. 'Senate Republicans tried to write Donald Trump's contempt for the courts into law — gutting judicial enforcement, defying the Constitution and bulldozing the very rule of law that forms our democracy,' Schumer said in a statement responding to the development. 'But Senate Democrats stopped them cold. We successfully fought for rule of law and struck out this reckless and downright un-American provision,' he said. The provision, tucked into the thousand-page bill House Republicans passed in May, would have required anyone suing the federal government to pay a bond before a court would be allowed to use its contempt power to enforce injunctions and other rulings. Courts have already ruled more than 190 times against the Trump administration since January. The controversial language received little notice when it came to the floor, and Rep. Mike Flood (R-Neb.) later caused an uproar at a town hall meeting when he admitted he didn't know the provision was in the legislation when he voted for it. 'If enacted, this would have been one of the most brazen power grabs we've seen in American history — an attempt to let a future President Trump ignore court orders with impunity, putting him above the law,' Schumer said Sunday afternoon. 'Donald Trump is not above the law. And thanks to Senate Democrats – including the tireless work of Senator Durbin and the Judiciary Democrats – the courts can still hold him and any president accountable,' Schumer said.
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Republicans order key panel to score extension of Trump tax cuts as budget neutral
Senate Republicans have directed the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) to score the cost of extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts as a continuation of current policy that would not add significantly to federal deficits, which would allow them to make those tax rates permanent. The joint panel on taxation, which projects the deficit impact of all tax bills, scored the extension of 26 provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as a continuation of 'current policy' and therefore budget neutral, which dramatically lowers the project cost of President Trump's megabill. In a score released Saturday, the JCT projects tax-related provisions of the Republican bill as adding $441.5 billion to the deficit over the next decade, instead of the $4 trillion that Democrats say would be the projected cost of the tax provisions if they were scored on a 'current law' baseline. Much of the 2017 tax law, including the reduction in individual income tax rates, is due to expire at the end of 2025. 'Republicans finally showed their hand, and it's completely dishonest. 'Current policy baseline' in a budget gimmick that is nothing more than smoke and mirrors instead of honest accounting. This bill will add trillions upon trillions of dollars to the national debt to fund tax breaks for billionaires — while Republicans want everyone to think it adds zero,' said Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), the ranking member of the Budget Committee. 'Republicans who claim to care about fiscal responsibility should be outraged and doing everything they can to stop it. This is the Great Betrayal of working families where families lose, and billionaires win,' Merkley said. Senate Republicans have argued for months that Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has authority under the 1974 Budget and Impoundment Control Act to determine the baseline for scoring the budget reconciliation bill. Republicans argue that Congress has used an asymmetrical system for scoring spending bills and tax bills in recent decades, as extensions of spending reauthorizations are often scored as extensions of current policy and therefore as budget neutral while extensions of expiring tax law are scored as adding to the deficit. Democrats could challenge the Republicans' use of a 'current policy' baseline to score the extension of the expiring 2017 tax cuts as a violation of the Byrd Rule. The Byrd Rule states that changes in law that increase the deficit for fiscal years beyond the 10-year budget window are subject to a 60-vote point-of-order objection. If the parliamentarian rules that scoring the extension of the 2017 tax cuts as largely budget neutral in the years beyond 2034 as a violation of the Byrd Rule, Republicans may have to vote to override the parliamentarian or rewrite the bill.
