The Nebraska Supreme Court is currently weighing in on whether voters will have the opportunity to reject a new law that allocates taxpayer funds for private school tuition. The law was primarily supported by Republican legislators. At the heart of the matter is a potential decision by the Nebraska Secretary of State that could prevent voters from having a say in the issue.
The State Supreme Court heard arguments in a lawsuit brought forward by a woman from eastern Nebraska, whose child was one of the first recipients of a private school tuition scholarship under the new law. The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of a referendum initiative seeking to repeal funding for the program, arguing that it goes against the state constitution’s ban on voter initiatives that revoke legislative appropriations.
On the other side of the argument, the attorney for the referendum effort defended the ballot question, stating that it specifically aims to address the creation of the private school tuition program and not the accompanying appropriations bill. Notably, lawyers on both sides revealed that the Nebraska Secretary of State is considering decertifying the ballot question, despite having initially certified it, unless directed otherwise by the Supreme Court.
The Secretary of State had certified the repeal measure after confirming that organizers had gathered a sufficient number of valid signatures. However, a recent filing by the Nebraska Attorney General’s office indicates that the Secretary of State now believes the referendum is legally insufficient. If the Supreme Court does not rule on the challenge and the case is dismissed on procedural grounds, the Secretary of State plans to retract the certification and exclude the referendum from the ballot.
In a similar turn of events in Missouri, the Secretary of State there had initially certified a ballot measure related to abortion but later reversed the decision. The Missouri Supreme Court intervened, ordering the measure to be reinstated on the ballot.
The dispute in Nebraska stems from a significant struggle over the issue of public funding for private schools. Advocates for public schools successfully gathered signatures to prompt a vote on halting the use of public funds for private school tuition. This effort followed a previous petition drive that aimed to reverse a law permitting the diversion of state income taxes for private school scholarships. Lawmakers later replaced the original law with a new one that directly funds private school scholarships from the state budget, circumventing the earlier petition.
Nebraska’s move to support private school funding aligns with similar efforts in other conservative-leaning states such as Arkansas, Iowa, and South Carolina, which have implemented various forms of private school choice programs.
