UNITED STATES NEWS

Nebraska’s top election official might try to remove a ballot measure to repeal school funding law

Sep 10, 2024, 4:56 PM

The Nebraska Supreme Court appears set to decide if voters get to determine whether to reject a new law pushed through largely by Republican lawmakers to provide taxpayer money for private school tuition. But depending on how they rule, the Nebraska Secretary of State could unilaterally deprive voters of that choice.

The state’s high court heard arguments Tuesday in a lawsuit brought by an eastern Nebraska woman whose child received one of the first private school tuition scholarships available through the new law. Tom Venzor, a lawyer for the woman, argued that the referendum initiative to repeal the funding violates the state constitution’s prohibition on voter initiatives to revoke legislative appropriations.

Daniel Gutman, the attorney for the referendum effort, countered that the ballot question appropriately targets the creation of the private school tuition program — not the $10 million appropriations bill that accompanied it.

But what drew more attention was the assertion by lawyers on both sides that Republican Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen intends to decertify the ballot question — only days after certifying it — unless specifically ordered by the high court to keep it on the ballot.

Evnen certified the repeal measure last week after finding that organizers of the petition effort had gathered thousands more valid signatures than the nearly 62,000 needed to get the repeal question on the ballot. He apparently changed his mind, according to a brief filed late Monday afternoon by the Nebraska Attorney General’s office, which states that after reviewing the court challenge to it, “Secretary Evnen is convinced that the referendum is not legally sufficient.”

The brief adds that if the high court fails to rule on the merits of the challenge and simply dismisses the case for procedural reasons, “Secretary Evnen will immediately rescind his legal sufficiency determination and not place the referendum on the ballot.”

Asked whether state law allows for a secretary of state to decertify an already certified ballot measure, Gutman said there is “nothing in the statutes that we’re aware of that says that he can revoke that decision.”

The problem, he said, is that the law requires the November ballot to be set by Friday.

“I think that his threat of revoking the decision threatens the credibility of certification generally,” Gutman said. “Our frank concern is that if this court dismisses this case for lack of jurisdiction, or basically on a procedural ground, that there will be a decertification issued on Friday afternoon and there simply will be no time.

“We will have no recourse.”

Evnen declined to confirm or deny Tuesday that he plans to remove the private school tuition repeal measure off the ballot unless ordered to keep it on by the court, offering only, “What we need now is a decision on the merits from the Nebraska Supreme Court.”

A similar scenario played out Monday in Missouri, where Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft had certified a ballot measure last month that asks voters to undo the state’s near-total abortion ban. On Monday, Ashcroft reversed course, declaring he was decertifying the measure and removing it from the ballot.

The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered Ashcroft to put the measure back on the ballot.

The development comes after a long fight over the private school funding issue. Public school advocates carried out a successful signature-gathering effort this summer to ask voters to reverse the use of public money for private school tuition.

It was their second successful petition drive. The first came last year, when Republicans who dominate the officially nonpartisan Nebraska Legislature passed a bill to allow corporations and individuals to divert millions of dollars they owe in state income taxes to nonprofit organizations. Those organizations, in turn, would award that money as private school tuition scholarships.

Support Our Schools collected far more signatures last summer than was needed to ask voters to repeal that law. But lawmakers who support the private school funding bill carried out an end-run around the ballot initiative when they repealed the original law and replaced it earlier this year with another funding law. The new law dumped the tax credit funding system and simply funds private school scholarships directly from state coffers.

Because the move repealed the first law, it rendered last year’s successful petition effort moot, requiring organizers to again collect signatures to try to stop the funding scheme.

Nebraska’s new law follows several other conservative Republican states — including Arkansas, Iowa and South Carolina — in enacting some form of private school choice, from vouchers to education savings account programs.

United States News

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) scores against the Kansas City Chiefs during the fi...

Associated Press

Super Bowl delivers moving tributes, memorable action and a historic presidential visit

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 40–22 in the first Super Bowl to be held in New Orleans in a dozen years. It was played amid heavy security — and with President Donald Trump in attendance — just 41 days after a man plowed a truck into New Year’s […]

15 hours ago

President Donald Trump gestures to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts after being sworn in as...

Associated Press

Supreme Court that Trump helped shape could have the last word on his aggressive executive orders

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will need the Supreme Court, with three justices he appointed, to enable the most aggressive of the many actions he has taken in just the first few weeks of his second White House term. But even a conservative majority with a robust view of presidential power might balk at […]

18 hours ago

Hadi Matar, right, charged with severely injuring author Salman Rushdie in a 2022 knife attack, sit...

Associated Press

Opening statements set in trial of man accused of trying to kill Salman Rushdie

MAYVILLE, N.Y. (AP) — Lawyers are scheduled to deliver opening statements Monday at the trial of the man charged with trying to fatally stab author Salman Rushdie in front of a lecture audience in western New York. Rushdie, 77, is expected to testify during the trial of Hadi Matar, bringing the writer face-to-face with his […]

18 hours ago

Philadelphia Eagles defensive back Cooper DeJean (33) scores a touchdown after intercepting a pass ...

Associated Press

Eagles deny the Chiefs a Super Bowl three-peat with dominant defense in 40-22 rout

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Cooper DeJean, Josh Sweat and the Philadelphia Eagles’ ferocious defense denied Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs a Super Bowl three-peat. It wasn’t even close. 22nd birthday, Sweat tormented Mahomes and the Eagles routed the Chiefs 40-22 on Sunday to secure the franchise’s second Super Bowl championship. Jalen […]

19 hours ago

President Donald Trump is pictured before boarding Air Force One at the Naval Air Station Joint Res...

Associated Press

Trump says he has directed Treasury to stop minting new pennies, citing cost

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he has directed the Treasury Department to stop minting new pennies, citing the cost of producing the one-cent coin. “For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful!” Trump wrote in a post Sunday night […]

20 hours ago

Associated Press

Venezuelan immigrants ask court to block Trump administration from sending them to Guantanamo

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Lawyers for three Venezuelan immigrants arrested in New Mexico during President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown have asked a federal court to prevent them from being sent to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. A court filing Sunday says while the men haven’t been told they’ll be transferred out of the Otero […]

22 hours ago

Sponsored Articles

...

Fiesta Bowl Foundation

Join us for the 52nd annual Vrbo Fiesta Bowl Parade

The 52nd annual Vrbo Fiesta Bowl Parade presented by Lerner & Rowe returns on Saturday, December 28, at 10 a.m.

...

Sanderson Ford

Sanderson Ford’s Operation Santa Claus: Spreading holiday cheer through pickleball

Phoenix, AZ – Sanderson Ford, a staple in the Arizona community, is once again gearing up for its annual Operation Santa Claus charity drive.

...

Schwartz Laser Eye Center

Don’t miss the action with this game-changing procedure

PHOENIX -- The clear lens exchange procedure has emerged as a popular alternative to LASIK eye surgery.

Nebraska’s top election official might try to remove a ballot measure to repeal school funding law