A bill to shrink the Omaha Public School board has won first-round approval in the Nebraska legislature.
Lawmakers spent the majority of Thursday morning discussing the bill, even though it did not affect most of the state senator's constituents.
Senator's advanced the bill that would reduce the 12 - member board to nine members, and set school board elections on dates that coincide with Omaha's city elections.
"My district needs help," says bill introducer Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh. "Our kids need help, and I think you've seen what would've been a full-throated opposition kind of evaporate to nothing because it has to happen now."
Despite hours of debate, none of the senators from western Nebraska took the floor to weigh in on this legislative bill.
