A bill which provides tax credit reimbursements for businesses or individuals who donate to private school scholarship organizations has passed the Nebraska Legislature by a 33 to 11 vote.
Legislative Bill 753, otherwise known as the Opportunity Scholarships Act, was introduced by Senator Lou Ann Linehan of Omaha.
LB 753 is apart of Governor Jim Pillen’s package of education proposals. The bill is now headed to his desk expected to be signed next week.
The maximum amount that can be donated is $100,000 per year, while estates and trusts could offer up to $1 million a year. The funds set aside for the bill is capped at $25 million a year over the next two years. This threshold is upped to $100 million in 2026. Unclaimed money would otherwise go into the state’s general revenue fund.
Supporters of the bill have purported that this measure would expand education access and autonomy for kids and parents.
The bills sponsor Lou Ann Linehan said on the flood, “This is about choice. It’s something that every student and child and parent that lives in 40 other states has access to…and we’re not letting Nebraskans have it.”
Nebraska and North Dakota were the only 2 state in the country that did not have similar legislation in place.
Senator Rick Holdcroft, “This is about giving families and parents an opportunity to send their children to a school that is most appropriate to them.”
Senator Kathleen Kauth appealed to low public schooling test scoring and an apparent correlation between reading proficiency and criminal behavior, “Reading ability is directly correlated with crime rates. We are failing our kids in some of these public schools.”
Opponents of the bill argued that public tax revenue should not be reallocated towards private schooling institutions. Senator George Dungan of Lincoln, “We’re finding ourselves in a situation where I do believe we’re running afoul of the constitutional provision that says we’re not allowed to give public funds to private schools.”
Senator John Cavanaugh of Omaha, “It’s putting power in the hands of these institutions that are allowed to discriminate. I know everybody wants to say, ‘But mine doesn’t. Mine’s the good one. I’m part of this organization. Of course they don’t discriminate.’ But they do. They can and they will.”