LINCOLN- The Appropriations Committee signed off on a budget plan Tuesday that would boost pay to providers caring for the most vulnerable Nebraskans and fund nearly $500 million worth of building and infrastructure projects.

But two sentences left out of the three-bill package could prove to be its most controversial feature.

The sentences would have barred the State Department of Education from using any of its appropriation to “research, adopt or implement state sex education standards for Nebraska schools.”

Gov. Pete Ricketts had included that language in his budget recommendations to the Legislature, specifying that the prohibition was to apply whether the sex education standards were mandatory or voluntary for schools.

The Appropriations Committee plan makes changes to the two-year budget passed last year. Under the plan, state spending would hit $9.8 billion during the two years ending June 30, 2023.

But, based on new, more optimistic projections of state revenue, it would leave $453.6 million of state general funds available for tax cuts or other spending priorities.

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