We should know soon if a group called Support Our Schools Nebraska was successful in gathering enough petition signatures to allow voters to decide the fate of the Opportunity Scholarship Act passed by the Legislature in its tumultuous session.
The tax credit law (LB753) gives tax credits for individuals and entities making donations to scholarship funds intended to help students attend private and faith-based schools. Under the bill, $25 million will be available for credits in 2024, with the same amount available for the next two years.
While the tax break is capped at $25 million a year for three years, it could rise by the tenth year to $100 million, or about 10% of what the state spends today on state aid to public schools. Petition circulators say that public money should be reserved for public schools.They need signatures from 5% of registered voters, roughly 60,000 valid signatures, by the close of business Aug. 30.They said they expect to reach their goal.
