The Sam Adams Alliance - Building a network for liberty

Nebraska Resource Guide

October 23, 2007

Sam Adams State Resource Guides are designed to help citizens get involved in their home state.

Do you have additional information that you'd like to see on this list? Please email your tips to resources@samadamsalliance.org.

Background:

Nebraska has historically been dominated by Republicans. President Bush took the state in both 2000 and 2004 with very high margins of victory. All three representatives to the U.S. House are Republican, while Nebraska’s U.S Senate representation is split. Nebraska is only one of two states that allow for a split in electoral votes. Two of the state’s electoral votes are allotted to the winner of the statewide election and the other three electoral votes go to the winner of each of the state’s three respective congressional districts.

Nebraska’s state government is very unique—the state legislature is unicameral. It is the only state legislature that is nonpartisan. Although it is officially nonpartisan, currently there are twice as many members affiliated with the Republican Party than Democrat Party. The speaker and committee chairs are chosen at large and all members of the legislature are referred to as senators. Senators are also subject to lifetime term limits. They can only serve 2 terms (4 yr terms).

Issues:

Citizen Initiative and Referendum

Nebraska citizens have extensive initiative and referendum rights. Nebraska law allows for direct citizen and legislative referendum for statutory changes, as well as citizen initiative and legislative referendum for constitutional amendments. Nebraska does not allow for recall of statewide officials. However, there is recall at the local level.

Spending and Taxes

State spending has increased dramatically in recent years. Political action groups are looking to not only limit state spending, but also to increase government transparency.

In November of 2006, a large majority of Nebraska voters rejected Initiative 423 (the "Stop Over Spending" amendment) that would have capped state spending increases to 3% per year. Opponents of the measure campaigned aggressively against the measure as it was seen as a threat to their favorite government programs. However, the success of getting the initiative on the ballot proved to be a victory for Nebraska's network of taxpayer groups. Currently, the state has one of the highest tax burdens in the American Heartland.

School Choice

Nebraska is one of only ten states in the country without legislation allowing for charter schools. Recent proposals to merge local school districts have sparked renewed interest in the debate over school choice freedom.

Think Tanks:

Nebraska Tax Research Council
http://www.nebraskataxresearch.org/

Action Groups:

FreedomWorks - Nebraska
http://www.freedomworks.org/nebraska/

Nebraska Taxpayers for Freedom
http://www.netaxpayers.org/

Stop OverSpending Nebraska
http://www.sosnebraska.com/

Lincoln Independent Business Association
http://www.liba.org/

Nebraska Charter School Coalition
(402) 558-4644

Nebraska Taxpayer’s Association
(402) 393-7840

Western Nebraska Taxpayer's Association
(308) 530-7741

Blogs:

Nebraska Tax Blog
http://netaxpayers.blogspot.com/