Nebraskans have spoken. If only some people would have listened.

In November, Nebraska voters said no to Referendum 435, which repealed Legislative Bill 1402, a school voucher measure born in the state Legislature.

Last week, however, Gov. Jim Pillen announced that the state would opt into a federal school voucher plan, part of H.R. 1, the Big Ugly, which Congress passed earlier this year. Among the celebrants joining him in sidestepping the will of Nebraska voters were U.S. Reps. Mike Flood and Adrian Smith, both of whom voted yes on H.R. 1.

This end run around Nebraska voters continues a troubling trend in the state where the voting public’s voice, in part, has been questioned, hedged — or, in this case, muted.

The federal plan, which starts in 2027, will allow up to $1,700 a year in federal tax credits to those donating to organizations providing scholarships for students to attend private and religious K-12 schools. To be eligible for scholarship funds, a family’s household income must not exceed 300% of the “area’s median household income.” According to census data, in Scottsbluff that makes eligible any family earning as much as $180,000 a year; in Gretna it’s $350,000.

During his enthusiastic endorsement of the opt-in, Pillen said Nebraskans “totally agree” on “school choice,” the PR term used to sell school voucher programs. Not sure from where he culled that data, because when Nebraskans spoke against school vouchers last November, they did so loudly, too. The final tally was 57% to 43%, a clear, decisive victory. Nor was the win an urban/rural split. The referendum carried only five of the state’s 49 legislative districts.

The governor also questioned the process, saying initiatives such as 435 are beholden to writers of big checks who pay to gather petition signatures to get initiatives on the ballot. While he’s right about modern petition gathering, you still have to get the votes once it’s there.

Governing by ballot initiative does have its own set of problems, not the least of which are time consumption and ballot language. Nevertheless, we shouldn’t forget that petition drives that end up on ballots are part of a process known in its origin story as a “redress of grievances” and are, like speech, religion, assembly and press, enshrined in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights.

Nor should Flood and Smith overestimate the popularity of the Big Ugly, which, according to a number of research firms including KFF and the Pew Research Center, remains underwater by  14 points to a whopping 29 points. Flood did not specifically tout this part of H.R. 1 when he held a town hall in Lincoln in early August. Maybe now we know why.

While the votes were the votes and the numbers are the numbers, the state will nonetheless be offering the federal voucher program to families in the state starting in 2027. As they did in last year’s campaign against 435, opponents such as Nebraska State Education Association president, Tim Royers, pointed out that the program “… diverts public resources into private systems without accountability or limits.”

The federal dodge of last fall’s ballot box is on brand for a worrisome way the state has responded to voter intentions. In 2018, Nebraska voters chose to expand Medicaid coverage by a margin of 53.5% to 46.5%, not really close as elections go. Then-Gov. Pete Ricketts and his administration slow-walked the implementation of the law for nearly two years, using a series of add-ons and requirements that gummed up the works needed to enact what Nebraskans wanted … and said so via their votes.

Voters in 2022 passed a ballot initiative that incrementally raised the state’s minimum wage only to watch a concerted effort in the Legislature to weaken the language of the initiative and tack on exceptions, both of which ran contrary to the spirit and the details of ballot measure.

In November 2024, over 75% of voters supported a ballot initiative requiring the state’s businesses to offer paid sick leave for employees. The Legislature intervened again, fiddling with portions of the initiative over the protests of some senators, unions and other labor groups, who argued once again that the Unicameral was diluting the chorus heard in the voting booth.

The law went into effect last week.

No one is arguing Nebraska students shouldn’t have the best when it comes to educational opportunities. The way to achieve that, per those who took the time to vote, was not, however, school vouchers. Which, apparently went unheard — or ignored — in high places.

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/2025/10/06/volume-of-voting-voices-turned-down/

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