A poll conducted earlier this year indicates a majority of Nebraska voters oppose a law providing tax credits for donations made to scholarship funds for private and faith-based schools.
The phone survey done on behalf of OpenSky Policy Institute shows 55% of Nebraska voters oppose the “Opportunity Scholarship Act” (LB753) that passed in the Legislature this year, including 47% who “strongly support” repeal.
The law, which goes into effect in January, provides up to $25 million in dollar-for-dollar tax credits to individuals and entities that donate to scholarship-granting organizations. Over time, the total amount of tax credits available to donors could grow to $100 million.
Rebecca Firestone, executive director of OpenSky Policy Institute, which is part of an effort to put the matter before voters next year, said the tax credits could ultimately shift state funds away from funding public education, career and vocational training, and hiring new teachers.
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“Voters overwhelmingly said those should be the priorities for spending tax dollars for education in Nebraska, not creating these tax credits for private schools,” Firestone said in a statement.
OpenSky partnered with Washington, D.C.-based Lake Research Partners on the survey, which gauged the opinions of 600 Nebraskans likely to vote in the 2024 elections.
The survey was conducted between May 31 and June 5. Support Our Schools Nebraska, the organization seeking to put the measure before voters, launched its campaign on June 6.
The coalition, led by the Nebraska State Education Association, plans to gather 90,000 signatures, including 5% of registered voters in 38 of Nebraska’s 93 counties, to put the repeal before voters.
Of the respondents to OpenSky’s poll, more than half (53%) were female, while a majority (52%) were registered Republicans.
Respondents were also evenly distributed between Nebraska’s three congressional districts (33% came from the First District, 32% from the Second District, and 35% from the Third District).
The margin of error is plus or minus 4%, according to a summary of the poll results.
Compared with the 55% of Nebraskans who oppose the new tax credit, OpenSky said 37% of respondents said they wished to retain it.
A total of 9% of respondents said they were undecided on whether to retain or repeal the law.
OpenSky said the percentage totals do not add up to 100 due to rounding.
Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, who introduced LB753 in the Legislature this year, said the questions put to likely voters in the poll did not accurately reflect the language of the petition now in circulation.
She also said the survey did not ask about voters’ opinions of children and families that might benefit from the program, and misled respondents about other bills passed by lawmakers this year to boost teacher training and retention programs.
“If you read their questions, I can’t believe that only 55% of people support this,” Linehan said. “It doesn’t mention children at all, and it doesn’t mention that this money ends up going to kids.”
Linehan said the tax credits provided in the Opportunity Scholarships Act would not take money away from public schools, arguing instead the Legislature boosted funding to the state aid formula by $300 million and created the $1 billion Education Future Fund this year.
She said national polling done by the American Federation For Children, a school choice advocacy group, which is the biggest supporter of Keep Kids First — a “decline to sign” effort running television and radio ads — shows school choice programs are popular.
Other results from the OpenSky survey include:
* Just under half (46%) of respondents said Nebraska lawmakers should seek out new sources of revenue and funding, “even if it means raising taxes for some wealthy people and corporations in Nebraska,” while 33% signaled support for cutting government spending, “even if it means reducing services like childcare, education, health care, roads, and public safety.”
* Nearly half (49%) said public schools “need more resources than they have right now,” while 34% said public schools can provide a quality education with their current resources, and 12% said schools could do the same with fewer resources.
* More than half (51%) of respondents said they do not believe the state budget reflects the state’s priorities, with 39% saying they strongly believed the state’s priorities were not reflected in the budget.
* A majority (58%) said they worried Nebraska politicians “will continue to protect millionaires and corporations from tax increases, making it harder to invest in our priorities like health care, public safety, and public schools.” Thirty percent said they worried politicians would chase millionaires and corporations out of the state by raising their taxes.