A majority of voters oppose LB 753 and want to repeal the bill passed by the Nebraska Legislature this year that creates state tax credits for donations made to organizations granting private school scholarships.
After LB 753 was passed, Lake Research Partners led a public opinion survey in partnership with OpenSky Policy Institute. The survey conducted May 31-June 5 included 600 voters closely matching the likely 2024 electorate in Nebraska. The margin of error is +/- 4%.
When asked about the bill, 55% of those voters surveyed expressed opposition to LB 753, with 42% voicing support for the bill. Alone, those voters strongly opposed to LB 753 (43%) topped the percentage of all supporters.
The bill passed by the Legislature on May 24 would give dollar-for-dollar tax credits to individuals or businesses who donate to organizations granting private school scholarships. The tax credits are capped at $25 million initially but could expand to $100 million in subsequent years.
LB 753 is the subject of a referendum petition signature-gathering campaign organized by Support our Schools Nebraska, a coalition including OpenSky Policy Institute. The group’s goal is to secure 90,000 signatures in 90 days to put LB 753 before voters next year.
When voters were asked how they would weigh in on the November 2024 ballot, a majority of those surveyed (55%) said they would vote to repeal the bill. Again, those strongly backing repeal (47%) outpaced those who expressed any level of support to retain the legislation (37%).
As part of the survey, likely voters were asked to prioritize several proposals for spending state tax dollars on K-12 education. Expanding career training and vocational education programs (8.2 out of 10) and reducing the teacher shortage in public schools (7.8) ranked as the highest priorities. Conversely, providing tax credits for donations to help parents pay for students to attend private schools ranked lowest (3.9).
Overall, a majority of likely voters (51%) said the state’s spending and investments do not reflect Nebraska priorities. Of those surveyed, 39% felt strongly that spending does not reflect our priorities as a state. Meanwhile, only 29% said current spending reflects our shared priorities.
Regarding funding of K-12 education, nearly half of voters surveyed (49%) said public schools need more resources than they have right now in order to provide children with a quality education. Only 12% said public schools can continue to provide a quality education with fewer resources.
Methodology
This analysis is based on a survey conducted by Lake Research Partners on behalf of OpenSky Policy Institute. The survey was conducted May 31-June 5, 2023, among 600 likely 2024 voters in Nebraska. The interviews were completed by interviewers over the phone and online via a link shared by text message. The data were weighted slightly by gender, region, age, race, party registration, children, education and voting history. The sampling error is +/- 4%.