The petition campaign aiming to place the issue of school-choice in Nebraska before voters on the November ballot is making their final push to gather signatures this week.
This isn’t the first rodeo for Support Our Schools Nebraska (SOSNE), who collected more than 117,000 signatures in 2023 to repeal LB 753, which authorized a baseline of $25 million of dollar-for-dollar tax credits for donations to organizations that provide scholarships to private Nebraska schools.
In response to the successful petition drive, the bill’s author Senator Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn introduced LB 1402 which rendered the previous legislation null and void, and replaced it with a tweaked but similar proposal.
Since LB 1402 is longer in effect, Secretary of State Bob Evnen decided in May that the original referendum would not be on the ballot. This gave rise to a new referendum petition from SOSNE, focusing on one section of LB 1402 which devotes $10 million for scholarships to private schools.
With the signature turn-in deadline of July 17 quickly approaching, campaign volunteers will be collecting signatures in Lincoln from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Tuesday through Friday, July 9 – 12, at three locations:
- The Mill @ Telegraph (330 S. 21st Street)
- Eisley Branch Library (1530 Superior Street)
- Gere Branch Library (2400 S. 56th Street)
While several other Nebraska petition campaigns [1][2] hit their turn-in deadline earlier this month, the petition effort operates on a different timeline because it seeks to place an existing law on the ballot, as opposed to trying to enact a new law. These referendum petition efforts have 90 days once that legislative session ends to gather the necessary amount of signatures.
The Nebraska Legislature’s abbreviated 60-session ended in mid April, rendering the campaign with less preparation time than last year. However, hasn’t been the campaigns biggest hurdle.
“A number of people believe they’ve already signed this… They say, ‘Oh, I signed it last year,'” SOSNE Treasurer Tim Royers tells KLIN News. “Once people realize what’s happened, they become even more motivated to try and work on this… While there is an education barrier, once we break through that barrier, people are even more motivated this year than last year to try and make sure this gets on the ballot.”
A map of signing events for the campaign can be viewed at supportourschoolsnebraska.org.