CV NEWS FEED // Two petitions regarding medical marijuana and a petition to repeal school choice scholarships have received enough signatures to qualify for Nebraska’s November ballot.
The Nebraska Examiner reported that the petitions have not yet been certified, which must be done by September 13.
The school choice ballot option would partially repeal Legislative Bill 1402. The bill, which was passed this spring, allowed the state treasurer to distribute $10 million in the form of scholarships for families to attend private schools.
Nebraska’s teachers’ union, along with other advocates, backed the ballot measure partially repealing the bill. According to the Nebraska Examiner, “Public school advocates have argued that creating a voucher program in Nebraska for private K-12 education poses long-term risks to the state funding available for public schools.”
Opportunity Scholarships of Nebraska Executive Director Jeremy Ekeler expressed his opposition to the ballot measure, according to the Examiner.
“Opponents of education freedom can’t keep Nebraska families from accessing the school that is best for their children,” Ekeler said.
For the medical marijuana ballot option, there are two separate petitions: one for the legalization and one for the regulation of marijuana. Both petitions received enough signatures to pass.
Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana had previously campaigned for the legalization and regulation of medical marijuana under one petition in 2020. The state’s Supreme Court struck down that petition, since the petition promoted two separate subjects at once, which the state forbids.
There are also two options on the ballot regarding abortion, one expanding access and one restricting abortions, as CatholicVote previously reported.
