LINCOLN – On Wednesday at 9 a.m. Support Our Schools Nebraska, submitted their collection of petition signatures to repeal LB 753, to the Secretary of States Election Office.
According to the organization, 117,145 petition signatures were collected in the past 90 days. They state to have collected more than double the necessary amount of signatures needed to put the question on the 2024 general election ballot.
However, in response to the submission of signatures, Governor Pillen issued the following statement
“The union bosses running this political campaign failed to gather enough signatures to suspend this great program. We should not be fighting this fight. With the support of the Legislature, I provided the largest funding increase in the State’s history for public education. The signatures collected will now have to be certified by the Secretary of State. If this initiative makes it onto the 2024 ballot, I can promise you the fight will not be over. I have confidence in education, both public and private. I will continue to make sure each student in Nebraska has the educational freedom to choose where they want to attend school. We will never give up on our kids.”
The organization will have needed to collect 5% of signatures based on the number of registered voters there are in Nebraska at the time signatures were submitted.
Based on voter registration statistics from August, organizers needed to collect around 61,000 petition signatures to make the general election ballot in 2024.
According to the Secretary of State’s office, over the next few day workers will be numbering each petition page and send them to county election offices of counting a signature verifications. Each county will be given 40 day to process signatures after receiving them. To suspend the law and qualify the issue for the 2024 general election ballot the group would have needed to collect 122,000 signatures.
Additionally, as of Wednesday morning the Secretary’s Office said they have received 172 affidavits filed by people wishing to have their signatures removed from the referendum petition.
On June 6, Support Our Schools Nebraska launched their petition drive to repeal LB753, which was signed into law a week prior by Governor Jim Pillen on May 30. LB 753, also known as the Opportunity Scholarships Act, was introduced earlier this year during the Nebraska Unicameral’s latest session. The bill drew controversy during the session as some questioned who would benefit from it and what it would mean for funding for public schools, as the bill provides tax credits.
However, many have pushed pack against the claims, saying that the policy provides parents the ability to choose the best school for their child, increases competition, and would bring private schools to areas in Nebraska that previously didn’t have them.
The Secretary of State’s Office is expected to know if the measure qualifies for the 2024 General Election Ballot in October once signatures are verified by county election offices.
