Board Skips Cavanaugh for Committee She Proposed
Nebraska lawmakers advanced the main budget bill last Thursday evening after a prolonged debate that shifted away from the spending measure to focus on an Omaha senator’s absence from a special committee assignment.
Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha railed against senators Thursday after they declined to add her as a member of a special committee that she pushed to create. The committee was set up to investigate major problems associated with Saint Francis Ministries, a Kansas-based child welfare contractor that serves Douglas and Sarpy counties.
Cavanaugh — who has asked tough, probing questions of state administrators — said she was excluded from the committee by senators who personally dislike her and view her as too critical of the state’s contract.
Cavanaugh is a Democrat in the officially nonpartisan Legislature, and the board that chose the investigative committee’s members is led by Republicans. The agency that signed the contract, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, operates under Gov. Pete Ricketts, also a Republican, who has defended using a contractor to provide the services.
“Anytime I think you can’t go any lower, you prove me wrong,” Cavanaugh said.
The members of the Eastern Service Area Child Welfare Contract Special Investigative and Oversight Committee of the Legislature are Sens. John Arch of La Vista, Robert Clements of Elmwood, Suzanne Geist of Lincoln, Matt Hansen of Lincoln, Mark Kolterman of Seward, Terrell McKinney of Omaha, Dave Murman of Glenvil, Rita Sanders of Bellevue and Justin Wayne of Omaha.
Late last month, senators approved requiring any subpoenas from the special committee to be subject to review by the Executive Board. An amendment to limit the reasons the board could turn down a subpoena request failed.
Daily Record Managing Editor Scott Stewart contributed to this report.
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