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LINCOLN — A new amendment to the Nebraska state budget eliminates a $3.5 million “bridge” program to use state dollars to offset attendance costs at private K-12 schools, possibly ending the fight for the year.
The latest amendment filed Wednesday to Legislative Bill 1071 by State Sen. Rob Clements of Elmwood, chair of the Legislature’s budget-writing Appropriations Committee, leaves out the $3.5 million program and the extra $150,000 in associated administrative costs.
An amendment to remove that funding failed in the full Legislature on a 23-17 vote last week. But State Sen. Tom Brandt of Plymouth had pledged to fight again.
Brandt and Clements each confirmed that leaving the provision in would leave the Legislature short of the necessary 33 votes to end second-round debate on the budget and move forward. Brandt and State Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston, both Republicans, promised to vote against the full budget if the funding remained.
Nearly all Democratic senators were expected to do the same, though some for broader budget concerns.
“I didn’t really want to go through another fight to pull it out and argue over it when I didn’t have the votes if it stayed in,” Clements said.
The bulk of the funding is meant to help students currently attending private schools under voter-repealed state funding be able to still attend the school of their choice this fall, before a new federal tax credit comes online next year. Voters defeated a similar state law at the ballot in 2024, with 57% of the vote.
If additional funding had been left after the “bridge” funding, public, private and home school students could have applied for scholarships through the Nebraska Department of Labor.
The Appropriations Committee limited the new program to families earning up to 185% of the federal poverty level. For 2026, that’s $40,034 for a family of two, or $61,050 for a family of four.
‘Chair’s amendment’
But this time, Appropriations did not vote on the funding, nor did the full Legislature. It was Clements alone, in a unilateral decision.
Clements described the latest amendment as the “chair’s amendment,” making the change as he couldn’t get 33 “solid” yes votes for cloture, a procedural motion to end debate after a set amount of time.
The bill itself also needed at least 33 votes to become law.
While the Clements amendment still needs 25 votes Thursday to take effect, it includes various other Appropriations proposals toward reaching a balanced budget. It is expected to pass.
State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha, a Democratic member of the Appropriations Committee, said some of her colleagues probably would have preferred to meet to fight for the program but understood Clements’ decision to remove it. His opposition would have given 5-4 votes to remove the program, a flip from the 5-4 vote to put it in, she noted.
State Sens. Christy Armendariz of Omaha and Rob Dover of Norfolk were Appropriations members who had been among the staunchest supporters of the funding. Armendariz declined to comment, and Dover said he was sad it couldn’t come back to the floor for a full vote.
Dover said he would have preferred the committee weigh in.
“I do understand some of the dynamics behind it,” he said. “But I don’t think that anyone in the Legislature would know for sure if the budget would have gone to cloture.”
It was not immediately clear whether lawmakers would fight to reinclude the funding Thursday, when debate on the budget bill resumes.
Budget ‘obstacle’ removed
Democratic State Sens. Eliot Bostar of Lincoln and Wendy DeBoer of Omaha were considered two swing votes, who would cancel out Brandt and Riepe. But multiple senators said at least two other Republicans made the same pledge.
Brandt said he communicated that status to Clements and Speaker John Arch of La Vista. Brandt said he was “glad that they saw the wisdom” of taking out the program, given the state’s budget deficit, totaling $646 million, while other cash funds and programs have been cut.
“For me, this was the only obstacle to voting for the budget on second round,” Brandt said. “I look forward to moving that ahead and keeping us on track.”
Of further comments, Clements said simply, “I’m sorry.”
He noted he has been a strong supporter of such programs and that thousands of families pay property taxes to local public schools, but their children don’t receive that public service.
“I think it was a small amount to ask to give them some gap assistance for low-income families,” Clements said. “I thought it was a very reasonable request, but it couldn’t get votes for cloture.”
Reactions to the decision
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen initially called for $7 million in funding and praised lawmakers for sustaining the reduced $3.5 million funding. His office had no immediate comment Wednesday.
Lauren Gage of Opportunity Scholarships of Nebraska, a scholarship granting organization, spoke against the latest amendment. The organization formed in 2023 to route state tax credit savings to students under one school choice law and later partnered with the state for a direct appropriation law in 2024, a second program that replaced the first and was repealed by voters.
“If state senators adopt the budget amendment as-is, it will put the education of thousands of Nebraska’s most vulnerable children and families at risk — the very same type of children and families that will be served by the child care subsidy program,” Gage said in a statement.
That refers to the Appropriations Committee’s decision last week to fold in funding to extend income eligibility for the state child care subsidy program, also at 185% of the federal poverty line.
Tim Royers, president of the Nebraska State Education Association, which has led opposition to such private school funding and voucher laws in recent years, was grateful for the change.
“We’re thankful for the bipartisan group of senators who drew a firm line in the sand and were consistent in their stance that the budget could not move forward with vouchers in it,” Royers said in a statement. “We thank them for respecting the will of the voters on this important issue.”
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