Policy Priorities
Early childhood issues will be a central theme of the 2024 session of the Nebraska Legislature. Visit this page often to stay up-to-date on legislative developments and First Five Nebraska’s current policy priorities.
Nebraska early childhood legislation
Informed citizens and advocates play an important role in Nebraska’s political process. First Five Nebraska monitors and reports on legislation in the Unicameral related to the care and education of young children. This includes policy developments affecting child care, the early childhood workforce, economic development, maternal and child health, prenatal-to-age-3, K-3 education and a wide range of related issues.
Policy priorities
The second session of the 108th Nebraska Legislature convened January 3, 2024. First Five Nebraska’s policy priorities this session focus on expanding options for setting child care subsidy reimbursement rates, making the subsidy more accessible to child care providers with their own children in care, offering additional services through Medicaid to expectant mothers at risk of adverse birth outcomes and more.
LB64 | (Carry-Over Bill) Require the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services to provide notice in certain cases of child abuse and neglect
Introducer | Sen. Jen Day (Dist. 49) | ||||||||||
Co-Introducers | Sen. Danielle Conrad (Dist. 46); Sen. Brian Hardin (Dist. 48) | ||||||||||
Summary | LB64 requires the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services to notify parents of children at a licensed child care facility when an instance of child abuse or neglect is substantiated. | ||||||||||
Committee | Health and Human Services | ||||||||||
Hearing | 1/26/24 | ||||||||||
Status (Carry-over bill from 2023) |
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LB65 | (Carry-Over Bill) Change provisions relating to the complaint tracking system and disciplinary action under the Child Care Licensing Act
Introducer | Sen. Jen Day (Dist. 49) | ||||||||||
Co-Introducers | Sen. Brian Hardin (Dist. 48) | ||||||||||
Summary | LB65 requires Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (NDHHS) to identify whether child care licensing violations are self-reported or the result of a complaint. Also requires NDHHS to notify parents of disciplinary actions against a child care license holder. | ||||||||||
Committee | Health and Human Services | ||||||||||
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LB856 | Change eligibility requirements for the federal child care subsidy program [Sen. Fredrickson Priority Bill]
Introducer | Sen. John Fredrickson (Dist. 20) | PRIORITY BILL | ||||||||||
Co-Introducers | Sen. Mike Jacobson (Dist. 42); Sen. Jane Raybould (Dist. 28); Sen. Teresa Ibach (Dist. 44); Sen. Jana Hughes; (Dist. 24); Sen. Danielle Conrad (Dist. 46); Sen. George Dungan (Dist. 26) | ||||||||||
Summary | LB856 excludes all earned and unearned income for child care subsidy applications if the applicant or household member is self-employed at a licensed child care program or is employed at a licensed child care program, Head Start or Early Head Start for a minimum of 20 hours a week. As a result, qualified child care providers will be income eligible for the child care subsidy program. An accompanying bill amendment will reduce regulatory obstacles that prevent certain providers (including family child care home providers and employees in smaller programs) from accessing the subsidy for their own child care needs. As amended, LB856 is capped at $10M per year and sunsets October 1, 2026. | ||||||||||
Committee | Health and Human Services | ||||||||||
Hearing | 1/26/24 | ||||||||||
Amendment(s) | AM2544, AM2510 | ||||||||||
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LB857 | Create the Nebraska Prenatal Plus Program [Sen. Dungan Priority Bill]
Introducer | Sen. George Dungan (Dist. 26) | ||||||||||
Co-Introducers | Sen. Danielle Conrad (Dist. 46); Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh (Dist. 6); Sen. Tony Vargas (Dist. 7) | ||||||||||
Summary | LB857 offers additional services to mothers receiving Medicaid coverage who are at risk of an adverse birth outcome. Among other components, the bill identifies which mothers are eligible for Prenatal Plus services, offers additional services including targeted case management and allows NDHHS to offer an enhanced payment structure to providers. As amended, LB857 sunsets June 30, 2028. | ||||||||||
Committee | Health and Human Services | ||||||||||
Hearing | 2/7/24 | ||||||||||
Amendment(s) | AM2409; FA218; AM2761 to AM2409 | ||||||||||
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LB874 | Change requirements relating to child care licensing and child care facilities
Introducer | Sen. Eliot Bostar (Dist. 29) | SPEAKER PRIORITY BILL | ||||||||||
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Summary | LB874 streamlines state licensing requirements under the Child Care Licensing Act and standardizes local regulations governing child care. The bill clarifies a number of state licensing requirements to allow for a more seamless operation of child care and requires a report to the Legislature on licensing regulations promulgated by state agencies. It also standardizes a number of local regulations regarding the oversight of child care and provides for consistency in the permissive exemption of property taxes for educational purposes. | ||||||||||
Committee | Health and Human Services | ||||||||||
Hearing | 2/15/24 | ||||||||||
Amendments | AM2803 | ||||||||||
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LB898 | Adopt the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact
Introducer | Sen. Teresa Ibach (Dist. 44) | ||||||||||
Co-Introducers | |||||||||||
Summary | LB898 enters Nebraska into the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact, which facilitates background check information sharing among states and the federal government. This would include federally mandated background checks in child care. | ||||||||||
Committee | Judiciary | ||||||||||
Hearing | 2/7/24 | ||||||||||
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LB904 | Change duties of the Department of Health and Human Services regarding child care reimbursement rates [Legislature's Planning Committee Priority Bill]
Introducer | Sen. Wendy DeBoer (Dist. 10) | PLANNING COMMITTEE PRIORITY BILL | ||||||||||
Co-Introducers | |||||||||||
Summary | LB904 allows the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services to determine child care subsidy reimbursements by assessing both market rates and costs of providing care. The bill also establishes the 75th percentile of the market rate as the baseline for subsidy reimbursement. LB1178 (intergenerational care facilities bill) was amended into LB904 through AM2734. | ||||||||||
Committee | Health and Human Services | ||||||||||
Hearing | 2/14/24 | ||||||||||
Amendment(s) | AM2734; AM2775 to AM2734; ER87 | ||||||||||
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LB913 | Require a state plan amendment for postpartum coverage under the Children's Health Insurance Program [AMENDED TO LB62]
Introducer | Sen. Megan Hunt (Dist. 8) | ||||||||||
Co-Introducers | Sen. Danielle Conrad (Dist. 46); Sen. Tony Vargas (Dist. 7) | ||||||||||
Summary | LB913 extends coverage of mothers covered by the unborn child option in the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The bill requires NDHHS to submit a state plan amendment to provide postpartum coverage for at least 6 months and specifies that coverage would be identical to the postpartum offerings in Medicaid. | ||||||||||
Committee | Health and Human Services | ||||||||||
Hearing | 2/2/24 | ||||||||||
Amendment | AM2321 | ||||||||||
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LB946 | Change requirements for payments to Child Care Subsidy program providers
Introducer | Sen. Jen Day (Dist. 49) | ||||||||||
Co-Introducers | Sen. Danielle Conrad (Dist. 46) | ||||||||||
Summary | LB946 amends the State Plan for Services to pay child care providers participating in the child care subsidy based on a child’s enrollment in the provider’s program rather than their attendance. | ||||||||||
Committee | Health and Human Services | ||||||||||
Hearing | 2/21/24 | ||||||||||
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LB997 | Require the State Department of Education to establish criteria for salary supplements for child care and early education providers
Introducer | Sen. Teresa Ibach (Dist. 44) | ||||||||||
Co-Introducers | |||||||||||
Summary | LB997 creates the Child Care Wages Fund with the intent of making distributions to the Child Care WAGE$ Nebraska program to provide salary supplements to child care and early education providers working with children five years of age or younger in licensed child care. | ||||||||||
Committee | Education | ||||||||||
Hearing | 2/5/24 | ||||||||||
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LB1003 | Change a requirement relating to child care licensing in cities, villages or counties
Introducer | Sen. Ben Hansen (Dist. 16) | ||||||||||
Co-Introducers | Sen. Dave Murman (Dist. 38) | ||||||||||
Summary | LB1003 allows municipalities to establish their own staff-to-child ratio requirements in child care. NOTE: FFN is monitoring this bill’s implications as they relate to children’s safety and the quality of child care settings. | ||||||||||
Committee | Health and Human Services | ||||||||||
Hearing | 2/2/24 | ||||||||||
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LB1054 | Adopt the Child Care Safety and Security Act
Introducer | Sen. Lynne Walz (Dist. 15) | ||||||||||
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Summary | LB1054 creates the Child Care Safety and Security Fund with a $300K appropriation. The Fund would help communities establish safety and reunification procedures for child care providers. | ||||||||||
Committee | Health and Human Services | ||||||||||
Hearing | 2/8/24 | ||||||||||
Amendment(s) | AM2748 | ||||||||||
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LB1055 | Require development of a reading instruction system and programming for adults and children, create a steering committee and provide for a literacy coordinator
Introducer | Sen. Lynne Walz (Dist. 15) | ||||||||||
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Summary | LB1055 would appropriate $10M to create a professional learning system to provide sustained professional learning and training in high-quality instruction in reading for teachers and early childhood educators who teach students birth through fifth grade. It also appropriates $2M to support adult literacy programs and creates a Literacy Steering Committee. | ||||||||||
Committee | Education | ||||||||||
Hearing | 2/13/24 | ||||||||||
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LB1083 | Change provisions relating to the Nebraska Career Scholarship Act
Introducer | Sen. Danielle Conrad (Dist. 46) | ||||||||||
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Summary | LB1083 includes early childhood education programs of study in the Nebraska Career Scholarship Act. Scholarship recipients must obtain an internship, apprenticeship, or employment related to their major. | ||||||||||
Committee | Education | ||||||||||
Hearing | 2/5/24 | ||||||||||
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LB1124 | State intent to appropriate funds to the Department of Health and Human Services [AMENDED TO LB1412]
Introducer | Sen. Tony Vargas (Dist. 7) | ||||||||||
Co-Introducers | Sen. Mike McDonnell (Dist. 5); Sen. Danielle Conrad (Dist. 46) | ||||||||||
Summary | LB1124 appropriates $900K per year over two fiscal years from the Medicaid Managed Care Excess Profit Fund to the Department of Health and Human Services for evidence-based early intervention home visiting programs. | ||||||||||
Committee | Appropriations | ||||||||||
Hearing | 2/12/24 | ||||||||||
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LB1125 | State intent to appropriate funds to the Department of Health and Human Services [AMENDED TO LB1412]
Introducer | Sen. Anna Wishart (Dist. 27) | ||||||||||
Co-Introducers | Sen. Teresa Ibach (Dist. 44); Sen. Mike McDonnell (Dist. 5); Sen. Danielle Conrad (Dist. 46) | ||||||||||
Summary | LB1125 appropriates $500K from the Medicaid Managed Care Excess Profit Fund to the Department of Health and Human Services for evidence-based early intervention nurse home visiting programs. | ||||||||||
Appropriations | |||||||||||
Hearing | 2/12/24 | ||||||||||
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LB1178 | Create the Intergenerational Care Facility Incentive Grant Program [AMENDED TO LB904]
Introducer | Sen. Anna Wishart (Dist. 27) | ||||||||||
Co-Introducers | Sen. Jana Hughes (Dist. 24); Sen. Brian Hardin (Dist. 48) | ||||||||||
Summary | LB1178 creates the Intergenerational Care Facility Incentive Grant Program to provide grants for nursing homes and assisted living organizations to modify their structures to co-locate child care facilities on site. LB1178 has been amended into LB904. | ||||||||||
Health and Human Services | |||||||||||
Hearing | 2/7/24 | ||||||||||
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LB1252 | Provide for a professional learning system and regional coaches for teaching students to read
Introducer | Sen. Lou Ann Linehan (Dist. 39) | ||||||||||
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Summary | LB1252 would appropriate $10M to create a professional learning system to help provide sustained professional learning and training in reading for teachers that teach students in kindergarten through grade three and early childhood educators. | ||||||||||
Education | |||||||||||
Hearing | 2/13/24 | ||||||||||
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LB1254 | Provide for a professional learning system and regional coaches for teaching students to read [AMENDED TO LB1284]
Introducer | Sen. Lou Ann Linehan (Dist. 39) | ||||||||||
Co-Sponsors | |||||||||||
Summary | LB1254 would appropriate $10M to create a professional learning system for teachers and early childhood educators. | ||||||||||
Education | |||||||||||
Hearing | 2/13/24 | ||||||||||
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LB1410 | Change provisions relating to tax incentives under the ImagiNE Nebraska Act
Introducer | Sen. Lou Ann Linehan (Dist. 39) — At the request of the Governor | ||||||||||
Co-Sponsors | |||||||||||
Summary | LB1410 would allow employers to pay up to fifty percent of child care costs for employees with a tax credit received under the ImagiNE Nebraska Act. | ||||||||||
Revenue | |||||||||||
Hearing | 2/2/24 | ||||||||||
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LB1416 | Adopt the Child Care Capacity Building and Workforce Act [AMENDED TO LB164]
Introducer | Sen. Eliot Bostar (Dist. 29) — At the request of the Governor | ||||||||||
Co-Sponsors | |||||||||||
Summary | LB1416 creates the Child Care Capacity Building and Workforce Grant Program and the Family Child Care Home Grant Program to support the child care workforce, child care programs and working families. AM3104, which amends LB1416 to LB164, removes funding provisions for the original bill. | ||||||||||
Committee | Banking, Commerce and Insurance | ||||||||||
Hearing | 2/6/24 | ||||||||||
Amendment | AM2659 | ||||||||||
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Elizabeth Lopez Everett
Deputy Director, Public Policy Manager