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LINCOLN — Lawmakers moved a step closer Tuesday to providing six weeks of paid maternity leave to all female Nebraska state employees after they give birth or adopt a child.
Nearly all female state employees are already offered six weeks of paid maternity leave after giving birth in their employment contracts. The exceptions under current state contracts: state troopers, correctional guards and teachers in correctional or youth rehabilitation and treatment centers.
Last year, those exceptions exempted 13 employees who gave birth.
“These employees are fiercely loyal to our state, and, in return, we should be providing them with the stability and security they deserve,” said State Sen. Dunixi Guereca of Omaha.
The expanded benefit, if passed, is estimated to annually cost the state and federal government a combined $109,000. However, the estimates also suggest that extending the benefit to all female employees after giving birth, one part of Guereca’s Legislative Bill 878, might have minimal to no cost to the state, because most employees already take paid leave.
There was no data on adoptions in preparing the fiscal estimates.
LB 878, as introduced, would have also offered six weeks of paid maternity leave to any employee, regardless of sex, after adopting a child. Guereca described the current state contract protections as a “massive” win that should be extended to all employees. The bill advanced 29-5.
Defining ‘maternity’ leave
An amendment adopted 27-9 Tuesday, from State Sen. Kathleen Kauth of Omaha, over Guereca’s objections, clarified that “maternity” leave only extends to female employees. Her changes also limited the benefit to permanent full-time or part-time state employees and directed the Nebraska Department of Administrative Services to administer the law.
Kauth described her amendment as “small clarifications, certainly nothing, I think, to tank the bill.” She said she supported Guereca’s bill and said she would also support adding paternity or parental leave.
Guereca criticized Kauth’s “unfriendly amendment” and said that he would hate to call state troopers who supported his bill and tell them his bill died “because politics took the wheel.”
“This bill means a lot to me, and I would hate to see it die because we’re choosing to play political games,” Guereca said.
State Sen. Bob Andersen of Sarpy County, who opposed Guereca’s bill, repeatedly sought to clarify how there could be minimal to no cost to the state. Guereca said he hoped for clarification before future rounds of debate.
‘Words matter’
State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln said at the “heart” of the legislation was centering and valuing families, workforce recruitment and retention and human dignity. She questioned whether the bill and Kauth’s amendment could be penalizing or disparately treating women who give a child up for adoption, but who are still recovering from birth.
Conrad also asked whether limiting the adoptive maternity leave to women would exclude single dads or LGBTQ state employees and first responders.
“It’s important that when we say we’re going to value Nebraska families, we value all Nebraska families,” Conrad said.
State Sen. John Fredrickson of Omaha, a father and Nebraska’s first openly gay legislator, said a child deserves time to bond with parents and that families come in different forms. He said that shouldn’t bar some from being “set up for success” in starting or growing a family.
Kauth countered that Guereca’s original bill used “maternity” as the descriptor. In 2025, she defined “male” and “female” in state law, defined by one’s reproductive system.
She said she agreed a single dad or gay family adopting a child needs time to bond but said opening up Guereca’s law would be a different amendment, though one she’d support.
“People say, ‘It’s all political, and this is just a show.’ Well, those words matter,” said Kauth, chair of the Legislature’s Business and Labor Committee.
Role of fathers
After Kauth’s amendment was adopted, State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha urged the body to reconsider. Cavanaugh said she thought it was a time where senators just voted “because you thought that you were supposed to” and “you’re not paying attention.”
“If you don’t like dads, then I guess, vote for Senator Kauth’s amendment,” Cavanaugh said. “But if you think that dads have a role to play in the early childhood development of their babies, then vote for my motion to reconsider.”
Her motion failed 13-21, with no supporters changing their vote.
Guereca, reached Tuesday evening after the vote, said it was always his intention to extend the benefit to adoptive parents regardless of sex. He worried that allowing women who adopt but not men could tread on sex discrimination. Guereca said he will work with the Administrative Service Department to ensure the original intent of his bill, including paid parental leave for adoptive fathers, is reflected in a possible second-round amendment.
Said Guereca: “I want to be sure that it helps people and we don’t inadvertently deny someone who wants to adopt a kid the ability to bond with their child.”
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