Nebraska legislators spent much of their recent session debating and parsing the political landscape in two primary areas: the will of the people via the ballot box and the ongoing culture wars, those nitpicky, divisive punch ups, which often cleave communities.

That focus last session was the subject of an excellent article by Nebraska Examiner reporter Juan Salinas II.

While he meticulously detailed the body’s battles over issues ranging from taxes to school books to whether your cheeseburger came from a petri dish or a pasture, most troubling was the inordinate amount of time senators spent on what can only be described as undoing the will of the people.

By the end, the majority had watered down, thinned or undermined initiatives already approved by voters regarding paid sick leave, medical cannabis and minimum wage requirements, the latter, while not passing muster this past session, is sure to be debated again next year.

Governing by ballot initiative is a tedious, meandering process, often exacerbated by lengthy campaigns to gather petition signatures and court filings disputing everything from language to intent. Nevertheless, that’s our way of doing things.

Yes, democracy isn’t easy. Nor is it quick.

Ergo, I understand and respect — sometimes grudgingly — that once the votes have been counted, game over. For example, after railing in a number of commentaries about how a lie led to a petition that resulted in Nebraska now requiring photo IDs to vote, I dutifully had my driver’s license at the ready to mark my X when the time came.

True, the Legislature is charged with putting flesh on the bones of passed initiatives. But weakening them in any way truly is at odds with the people’s will. In our system, “Put it to a vote” both poses the question and has the expectation that we follow the answer … even when we vehemently disagree with the result because we have other remedies. (See your local civics class for details. Wait, do we still teach that?)

Politics is the mechanism by which we practice these principles of democracy. At its core is the art of creating and selling an idea, one that the majority of those affected believe will better their or their neighbors’ lives. We call voting our civic duty, though usually a third to half who have the right don’t use it. Even so, having the decision subverted or enfeebled by another elected body should be a non-starter in a democratic republic.

That said, if an initiative that passes turns out to be a real stinker or constitutionally challenged, the separation of powers can reign in or block such nonsense going forward. Legislators know that and should act accordingly.

Ballot initiatives as a political solution have become popular. Paid petition circulators and expensive PR campaigns routinely accompany such efforts. Legislators should expect to continue to deal with them while never minimizing the power and voice of a vote of the people nor alter the initiative’s focus.

I hesitate to talk about the culture wars for a number of reasons, not least of which is that I too often seem to write about the horrors and hijinks of too many who don’t like how others chose to live, love, pray, eat, read … the list could go on.

The Legislature last session joined the fray debating transgender issues and sports, lab grown meat, what books kids can read in school, and, most curious, that Nebraska public schools should only be deemed full and functioning if they posted the Ten Commandments in every classroom. The proposal never made it out of committee. Thank God.

I’m often hard-pressed to see what problems are solved by shaking down colleges and universities for being “woke.” Or banning books not simply because you don’t want your child to read them, but because you don’t want anyone’s child to read them. Or continually obsessing about transgender youth, which, in practice and new laws, effectively questions their actual being — who they are.

While issues such as trans athletes’ participation in scholastic sports are up for debate, it seems that much of what has transpired in legislative chambers, political debates and coffee shops about trans kids specifically and the LGBTQ+ community generally could have been avoided by simply minding our own business.

But what do I know? White hot culture war arguments still erupt on social media and nearly 600 pieces of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation were proposed in state legislatures in 2025. Go figure.

Here’s the most critical point of the culture wars: What are the spoils for winning?

This story was published by Nebraska Examiner, an editorially independent newsroom providing a hard-hitting, daily flow of news. Read the original article: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/08/04/wills-wars-and-knowing-what-is-the-peoples-business/

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