LINCOLN- Voters might have a say this fall, after all, on the future of Nebraska’s first major school choice law in years. Secretary of State Bob Evnen, with legal advice from Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers, decided the measure will stay on the ballot. Evnen declined to boot the measure in response to a complaint letter from Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, who authored the Opportunity Scholarship Act.

Linehan argued that the ballot measure to repeal Legislative Bill 753 overstepped by targeting a tax credit for donors funding scholarships for needy students at private K-12 schools. Evnen, in his response letter to Linehan, wrote that case law and previous attorney generals’ opinions leave him little room to reject the referendum. The opinions he cited were issued in 1969 and 1996.

Primarily, he argues that the state constitution reserves a wide berth for the people to repeal acts of the Legislature as long as they don’t tread too far toward eliminating sources of revenue. Karen Kilgarin of Support Our Schools Nebraska said her group was pleased with Evnen’s decision. She said she hopes the Legislature will respect the will of the voters and not try to circumvent a vote before it happens.

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