Last year’s Legislative Bill 753, known as the Opportunity Scholarships Act, was petitioned for a referendum and eventually put on the 2024 general election ballot, but in the Nebraska Legislature’s first session of this year, a new bill was introduced, and now it seems the issue is far from over. 

LB 753 was first introduced in Jan. 2023 by Sen. Lou Ann Linehan and signed into law by Gov. Jim Pillen in May of that year. The bill allotted dollar-for-dollar state tax credits to those who donated to organizations that grant scholarships to private schools. The maximum allocation would start at $25 million every year for the first three years but could grow to an annual maximum of $100 million. 

The Nebraska State Education Association responded with a petition to repeal the bill. They ended up with over 117,000 signatures, which was enough to put the bill on the fall 2024 ballot. The issue seemed mostly resolved: voters would decide if they wanted Nebraska to have “school choice” in the fall. 

However, in January of this year, LB 1402 was introduced, and the issue became more complicated. Linehan introduced a similar bill to that of 753 that gives the State Treasurer $10 million a year to grant private school scholarships. LB 1402 has been described as an “end run” to get around the referendum from the NSEA because part of 1402 will repeal 753, effectively dismissing the ballot initiative. Unless the NSEA can make a specific claim against both bills, it is likely Nebraska will end up with some form of “school choice” legislation. This progression of bills and referendums has caused much confusion and Linehan did not respond to a request for clarification. 

Sen. Danielle Conrad, a lawyer and opponent of the bill, said there could be a legal battle because of the measure that would repeal 753, and Sen. George Dungan also said 1402 is more constitutionally suspect than the Opportunity Scholarship Act passed a year ago. 

The NSEA’s next president, Tim Royers, criticized state senators for passing another measure to keep this issue from the ballot box. 

“We thought we had resolved this question last summer when we turned in 117,000 signatures, that Nebraska voters want to have their say on whether public dollars should go to private schools,” Royers said.  

He said the union was now trying a partial repeal of LB 1402 with another petition drive. The NSEA needs 61,000 valid signatures by mid-July to get their new initiative on the 2024 ballot. Despite this, there is still a chance of a legal battle that could go unresolved for years. 

Mary Davies, an ESL teacher at Central High, collected signatures for the 753 ballot initiative and now has concerns about LB 1402.  

“It was an end run around democracy. Senator Linehan said in her own words that she’s concerned the voters are going to repeal 753. You’re going around the voters,” Davies said.  

Davies noted that many people believe the Nebraska constitution forbids an appropriation for private schools and related entities. 

“Are they pursuing this in order to change the Nebraska constitution without taking it to the public?” Davies said. 

Davies went on to say that if a case is made, it could go all the way to the Supreme Court but said she did not know if it would even be heard or how it would be ruled.  

Meanwhile, Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen, who oversees ballot issues and elections, has not given his official statement on the first ballot initiative.