---
type: "Bill"
title: "Recognize American Sign Language, provide for the teaching of American Sign Language in schools and postsecondary educational institutions, and establish a language assessment program for children who are deaf or hard of hearing"
description: "Recognize American Sign Language, provide for the teaching of American Sign Language in schools and postsecondary educational institutions, and establish a language assessment program for children who are deaf or hard of hearing"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ne"
legislature: "Nebraska Legislature"
session: "106"
identifier: "LB 965"
citation: "Nebraska LB 965 (106)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["McDonnell"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 20
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2020-01-13"
last_action: "2020-08-18"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/35613198-56e3-48a5-9d79-9c19e46e827f"
source_url: "https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/search_by_date.php?SessionDay=2020"
source_hash: "19bd89324c99691425d59e48c5bba35a4f19272e41d3c5b95ce16fc4dd3fbf65"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ne"]
---

# Nebraska LB 965 (106) — Recognize American Sign Language, provide for the teaching of American Sign Language in schools and postsecondary educational institutions, and establish a language assessment program for children who are deaf or hard of hearing

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/106/PDF/Intro/LB965.pdf)
2. **Final Reading** (committee substitute) — [source](https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/106/PDF/Final/LB965.pdf)
3. **Slip Law** (committee substitute) — [source](https://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/106/PDF/Slip/LB965.pdf)

## Votes

- McDonnell AM2992 adopted — **34–0** (fail) · legislature
- Passed on Final Reading 48-0-1 — **48–0** (pass) · legislature
- Education AM2234 adopted — **45–0** (fail) · legislature
- Advanced to Enrollment and Review Initial — **45–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- McDonnell — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-08-18** Provisions/portions of LB839 amended into LB965 by AM2234
- **2020-08-18** Approved by Governor on August 15, 2020 `executive-signature`
- **2020-08-12** Presented to Governor on August 11, 2020 `executive-receipt`
- **2020-08-11** President/Speaker signed `passage`
- **2020-08-11** Passed on Final Reading 48-0-1 `passage`
- **2020-08-03** Placed on Final Reading `reading-3`
- **2020-07-30** Advanced to Enrollment and Review for Engrossment
- **2020-07-30** McDonnell AM2992 adopted
- **2020-07-30** Enrollment and Review ER199 adopted
- **2020-07-28** McDonnell AM2992 filed `filing`
- **2020-03-10** Enrollment and Review ER199 filed `filing`
- **2020-03-10** Placed on Select File with ER199 `filing`
- **2020-03-05** Advanced to Enrollment and Review Initial
- **2020-03-05** Education AM2234 adopted
- **2020-02-25** Speaker priority bill
- **2020-02-05** Education AM2234 filed `filing`
- **2020-02-05** Placed on General File with AM2234 `filing`
- **2020-01-21** Notice of hearing for January 28, 2020
- **2020-01-14** Referred to Education Committee `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-13** Date of introduction `introduction`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/35613198-56e3-48a5-9d79-9c19e46e827f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Nebraska legislature records).