A sometimes fiery debate erupted Wednesday in the State Legislature over whether Nebraska schoolchildren are learning enough about slavery and genocide.
The discussion was spiced by complaints about the power of the governor.
The dialogue came over the last bill to be considered for passage by state lawmakers in the 2022 session, a measure designed to ensure that the state’s students are taught about “the Holocaust and other acts of genocide.”
State Sen. Jen Day of Gretna said that Legislative Bill 888 was the culmination of years of work designed to make sure that Nebraskans are aware of the horrors of the Holocaust, the murder of 6 million Jews at the hands of the Nazis during World War II.
Wayne seeks amendment
But just before the final vote on the bill was taken Wednesday, Omaha Sen. Justin Wayne objected. He sought to delay the vote so that lawmakers could re-attach his amendment to also include education about “slavery in America” and “massacres of Native Americans.”
Wayne had won 31-0 approval of a similar amendment to the bill April 7, but the amendment was stripped out of the bill Monday after Day said that she had been told the governor would veto LB 888 if the Wayne amendment was included.
There was also a procedural problem, Day said: Bills deemed speaker priority bills cannot be amended, and the Speaker of the Legislature, Sen. Mike Hilgers, told her LB 888 would not be scheduled for approval if the Wayne amendment remained.
The Gretna senator said that she supported what Wayne was trying to accomplish but that she was unwilling to let the Holocaust bill die because of his amendment. She tearfully described the stories of two Jews executed by the Nazis during the war.
Custom to withdraw amendment
Several other senators sided with Day, saying Wayne could come back next year and win passage of legislation about slavery and genocide of Native Americans. Others said it was customary for a senator to withdraw an amendment if it threatened the underlying bill.
Fremont Sen. Lynne Walz, who chairs the Education Committee, added that Nebraska schools are already teaching kids about the Holocaust, slavery and Native Americans and that LB 888 ensures only that they won’t drop such instruction.
But Wayne said that it was wrong to “pick winners and losers” among races subjected to genocide. He said it was cowardly of the Legislature to bow down to the threat of a veto by Gov. Pete Ricketts.
“When things get tough, it seems like people always disappear,” Wayne said.
The biracial senator added that he had once been called the N-word by some schoolchildren visiting the State Capitol and another time was mistaken for Hispanic and told to “go back to where you came from,” illustrating the need for education about racism.
When asked about the controversy earlier in the day, Ricketts said the decision to strip out the Wayne amendment was a procedural matter decided by the Speaker of the Legislature, Sen. Mike Hilgers.
The governor did say that his aides had pointed out the procedural problem.
Ricketts denied that his opposition to the racism amendment was inspired by his campaign against teaching of critical race theory in Nebraska schools and universities.
CRT, the governor has written, is an attack on the American goal of a “more perfect union” and should be banned from being taught. Defenders of CRT say it is a theory, taught only in graduate-level college classes and not in K-12 schools, that acknowledges racism is embedded in institutions and the history of the country.
‘Ridiculous political talking point’
Omaha Sen. Megan Hunt defended Day’s bill, saying it would strike a blow against white supremacists. Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh said she was disappointed by “the reach” of the governor’s office and the ”ridiculous political talking point of CRT.”
“We should be treating our history for what it is and acknowledge the mistakes of our past,” Cavanaugh said.
North Omaha Sen. Terrell McKinney spoke in favor of reattaching the racism amendment, saying “we will never learn unless we get the full history of our nation.”
But in the end, the goal of saving the Holocaust bill won out, and senators voted down Wayne’s attempt to reinstate his amendment, giving LB 888 final approval, 40-1. Henderson Sen. Curt Friesen was the sole “no” vote. Wayne was present but not voting.
Other bills given final-round approval on Wednesday included:
- LB 876, which allows casinos initially to be established at the state’s six existing horse racetracks. Any other communities seeking to open a casino would have to conduct a comprehensive study on the impacts of more gambling and an additional racetrack, a study that could take months to complete. The communities would also need approval from the State Racing Commission.
- LB 921, which would give higher priority to be admitted to the Lincoln Regional Center for treatment for criminal defendants deemed incompetent to stand trial. Omaha Sen. Steve Lathrop has labeled it “inhumane” to let such mentally ill defendants languish in county jails.
- LB 1173, which ends Nebraska’s failed experiment with privatizing management of child welfare services in the Omaha area. The privatization effort culminated in the cancellation of a contract last year with St. Francis Ministries. The Nebraska Appleseed Center, which had sued to halt the experiment, hailed the bill as “historic.”
- LB 927, which will double the state’s investment in paying off debts incurred by the CHI Health Center arena in Omaha and the Liberty First Credit Union Arena in Ralston. The two arenas are seeking to build parking structures to replace the loss of surface parking lots. The bill ups the amount of state “turnback” sales taxes generated in the vicinity of the Omaha arena from up to $75 million to $150 million. The Ralston arenas turnback goes from $50 million to $100 million.
Editor’s note: This story has been revised to correct the details of the final vote.
Nebraska Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Cate Folsom for questions: info@nebraskaexaminer.com. Follow Nebraska Examiner on Facebook and Twitter.
