Lawmakers Vote to Keep School Choice Provision in Budget
by John Gage
LINCOLN – Nebraska lawmakers voted to keep a $3.6 million school choice provision in the state budget on Monday. The vote came after an attempt by State Senator Tom Brandt to strip the provision out of the budget.
“I’ve always been opposed to this, and this is fundamental,” Brandt said. The senator said he believed the funding violated the separation of church and state by providing for scholarships for children in poverty.
Brandt was joined by Democrats as well as a handful of Republicans in attempting to strip school choice funding from the budget. The funding will go towards “gap” scholarships for students who are on scholarships from the state’s previous school choice scholarship program.
His amendment failed 23-17. Every Democrat, except State Sen. Terrell McKinney, voted to strip out the funding. Brandt was joined by Republican State Senators Stan Clouse, Myron Dorn, Jana Hughes, Fred Meyer, Tanya Storer, and Dave Wordekemper.
Hughes said she changed her position on supporting the scholarship program following the 2024 ballot referendum that repealed a similar program.
“The second house, the people overwhelmingly voted to say they did not want their money to go to these programs,” she said. “I will listen to Nebraskans and now not support this.”
State Senator Christy Armendariz, who supported the school choice provision, said that the state has a responsibility to support kids' education from K-12 and that should include funding scholarships for “the families and children who don’t fit into the system.”
A report from earlier this year by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) showed Nebraska ranks last in the nation for “State Education Freedom.” ALEC said the ranking reflected the fact that Nebraska repealed its school choice program.
Senator Kathleen Kauth said she viewed the new program as a “stopgap measure” until the 2027 federal school choice program, which was passed as part of the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” goes into effect. She said she supported the measure because “we made promises to these kids.”
John Gage is the executive editor of The Plains Sentinel.
