LB 653 Legislature · 109th Legislature (2025-2026)

Change provisions relating to acceptance of students under the enrollment option program and discipline of students under the Student Discipline Act

LB 653 updates Nebraska's education funding rules for special education programs, support services, and the enrollment option program (which allows students to attend schools outside their district). It requires school districts to deny no more than 16% of enrollment applications from students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) due to capacity limits, while ensuring non-discriminatory criteria for acceptance. The bill also revises reimbursement processes for certain students in the enrollment program and modifies how the Education Future Fund can be used. These changes aim to standardize district capacity rules and clarify funding mechanisms for educational programs.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Apr 2025
Legislature Passage
Feb 2026
Legislature Passage
Jan 2026
Signed into Law
Mar 2026
Introduced Jan 22, 2025 Signed Mar 4, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Enrollment and Review ER102 Final Reading · 2 edits
MINOR
The bill was re-introduced with updated sponsors and a new session year (2026). The substantive text was reformatted to remove previous amendment markings, but the core policy content regarding student enrollment capacity, priority tiers, and the reissuance of specific statutes remains identical to the previous version.
Scope change
The bill's scope and applicability remain unchanged; it continues to govern option school district enrollment and student discipline in Nebraska.
TECHNICAL

The bill header was updated to reflect the 2026 legislative session and new sponsors, while removing the 'Enrollment and Review' amendment label.

All text was reformatted to remove bracketed deletion/insertion markers (e.g., 1...1) and standardize line breaks, resulting in a clean final version of the text.

Floor votes · Legislature Jan 23, 2026

How they voted

343
Passed · 12 other
Total votes 49
Jan 23, 2026
N Nonpartisan49
34 Yea 3 Nay 12
69% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
48
Key actions
8
Committee
2
Amendments
1
Apr 17, 2026
Introduced
Provisions/portions of LB430 amended into LB653 by AM995
legislature
Mar 4, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor on March 4, 2026
executive
Feb 27, 2026
Legislature · Passed
President/Speaker signed
legislature
Feb 27, 2026
Legislature · Passed
Passed on Final Reading 33-15-1
legislature
Feb 17, 2026
Legislature · Passed
Dungan AM2041 adopted
legislature
Feb 12, 2026
Legislature · Passed
Enrollment and Review ER102 adopted
legislature
Jan 23, 2026
Legislature · Passed
Education AM995 adopted
legislature
Jan 23, 2026
Legislature · Passed
Murman AM1701 adopted
legislature
Apr 14, 2025
Legislature · Passed
Placed on General File with AM995
legislature
Jan 24, 2025
Committee
Referred to Education Committee
legislature
Jan 22, 2025
Introduced
Date of introduction
legislature
1 primary · 1 co-sponsor

Sponsors