Nebraska government system shutdown disrupts the Legislature, DMV and other offices

OMAHA, Neb. — A systemwide outage of state goverment computers shut down everything from the work of the Legislature to driver’s licensing offices for several hours Thursday.

The state Office of the Chief Information Officer confirmed that the outage affected all state connections and shut down most state office websites, including the Health and Human Services and Transportation departments. It even shut down the lighted board in the legislative chamber that shows how lawmakers voted.

The outage was disruptive enough that the Legislature adjourned less than an hour after convening without debating a slate of bills that had been set for consideration. Lawmakers were later able to hold afternoon committee hearings on proposed legislation.

State websites and communications were back online before 1 p.m., but the reason for the shutdown was not immediately disclosed.

“We are currently investigating a root cause,” said Ezra Effrein, spokesman for the chief information officer. Asked if a malicious act was behind the outage, Effrein said it was too early to say.

Gov. Jim Pillen’s office, which also saw its website shut down, said it did not have more information on what might have caused the outage.