The petition campaign opposing tax dollars for private school scholarships hit their signature turn-in deadline today, submitting over 86,000 signatures to the Nebraska Secretary of State for validation.
This wasn’t the first referendum 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.
The success was short lived, however, after 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 that provides a direct appropriation of $10 million for private school scholarships. SOSNE’s new petition seeks to remove the first section of 1402 which provides the appropriation.
This signature drive followed a different timeline than other Nebraska petition campaigns because it seeks to place an existing law on the ballot, as opposed to trying to enact a new law. These referendum campaigns have 90 days once that legislative session ends to gather the necessary amount of signatures.
After all the paperwork was finalized, SOSNE says they effectively had only 67 days to collect the necessary minimum of 61,621 signatures — making this the shortest timeline for a petition drive in the Nebraska history.
“Nebraska public school supporters rose to the occasion, again,” said Jenni Benson, Support Our Schools Nebraska sponsor and president of the Nebraska State Education Association (NSAA), during a Wednesday press conference. “The incredibly short timeline was a huge challenge, but Nebraskans wanted to sign this petition – many were appalled that LB1402 was passed to block citizens
from voting on the issue and to impose a costly new voucher scheme on taxpayers.”
Benson added that the last petition’s signature validation rate was “very high,” signaling confidence in comfortably clearing the minimum signature hurdle. The group also says they exceeded the 38-county requirement with 5% of voters signing the petition in more than 60 of the state’s 93 counties.
“Nebraskans have wisely rejected public funding of private institutions at the ballot box three times previously and we
need to do so again,” said Tim Royers, a sponsor of Support Our Schools Nebraska and president of the Millard
Education Association. “All we have to do is look at states with similar voucher programs. Those states and their
taxpayers are struggling with the skyrocketing cost of these programs, as well as with the lack of transparency and
accountability.”
Numerous campaign stakeholders delivered remarks on the drive’s success Wednesday, including members of the Nebraska Parent Teacher Association (PTA).
“Nebraska PTA is proud to stand with the Support Our Schools Nebraska Coalition. We align with the National PTA in advocating for the improvement of public education for all children and to guarantee that public funds are not diverted to any private
school choice proposal and/or voucher systems,” said Christine Clerc, member of the Executive Committee of the Nebraska PTA.
The campaign says these results were achieved with more than 2,800 volunteers who circulated petitions and coordinated more than 800 signing events, and more than 1,300 individuals donations with an average donation amount of $42.
Opposition Response
Shortly after Wednesday’s press conference, Senator Linehan issued a statement saying the SOSNE drive was fueled by “a tangled web of leftwing special interests, liberal elites and union bosses” citing several organizations like the Open Sky Policy Institute, a Lincoln-based progressive think-tank, and prominent families of wealth like the Buffett and Weitz families.
“Supporters of school choice will continue to fight for parental rights and education opportunity for our kids. It’s the right thing to do for our kids today and for our kids tomorrow,” Linehan concluded.
What’s Next
The Secretary of State will forward the petitions to local election officials, who have 40 days to verify the petitions and
the signers’ information. Once all petitions have been reviewed and requirements met, the Secretary of State will certify
the measure for the November 2024 General Election ballot.