‘Support our Schools Nebraska’ petition hits benchmarks needed for ballot measure

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - There is just one petition left in circulation in Nebraska.

It’s the “Support our Schools Nebraska” petition to repeal a new law that publicly funds private school scholarships.

Earlier this year, the campaign collected almost double the necessary signatures required to put the issue on the ballot in November, but a new law passed by Nebraska senators essentially voided that petition seeking to repeal the Opportunity Scholarships Act.

Now, with just more than a week left to submit a second petition to repeal the second scholarships law, 6 News spoke with both sides of the issue.

The referendum petition needs about 63,000 signatures covering 5% of voters across 38 Nebraska counties.

“Unfortunately the actions of the legislature clearly indicate that we needed to send that signal again,” said Tim Royers with Support Our Schools.

The sponsor of LB1402 said the mission is to make private school accessible for families regardless of income.

“Why would you not let them have the same freedoms and the same options as the children whose parents have more income?” said Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn.

Linehan’s new bill still provides scholarships for students to attend private schools, but it takes out the tax credit for donations. Instead, it appropriates the money. Her new bill also cut down the funding cap from 25 million to 10 million dollars per year.

“We have tried very hard to meet them halfway and to be reasonable on this,” said Linehan.

For the Support Our Schools campaign, no compromise by the senator is good enough.

“This is an issue that there is no meeting in the middle,” said Royers. “For us it’s an absolute line of we don’t want public resources going to private schools.”

Royers said they’ve hit the benchmarks – getting at least the 63,000 signatures from 5% of the 38 counties.

“We’re just trying to build as much of a cushion as possible before we turn in. It’s just a matter, we want to make sure that we send a strong of a signal as possible before that deadline.”

Scholarships have already been awarded through the Opportunity Scholarship Act, the first bill, which will sunset in October. One of the scholarship granting organizations receiving tax credit contributions is the “Opportunity Scholarships of Nebraska.” To date, they’ve received $2.15 million in contributions and have gotten more than 2,000 applications for scholarships funded through the tax credit law, LB753.

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