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Legislative vote history on school choice by rural district representatives in Nebraska (2024)

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Out of 49 total state legislative districts in Nebraska, there were 25 (51%) that contained rural school districts. Ballotpedia analyzed private school choice legislation vote history across partisan affiliation and according to rural school district representation.

Current status of school choice in Nebraska
  • As of the November 2024 elections, Nebraska does not have universal school choice.
  • Nebraska Referendum 435, the Private Education Scholarship Program Referendum, was on the ballot in Nebraska as a veto referendum on November 5, 2024.[1][2] Electors voted to repeal the Legislative Bill 1402, which authorized the state treasurer to administer an education scholarship program.
    • State Unicameral Senate Analysis Highlights
  • 25 (51%) state legislature seats represented at least one rural school district.

    Historical data for a vote on private school choice policy (2024)

  • All Republicans voted in support of private school choice.
  • The rate of support for private school choice among Democrats representing rural school districts was 93 percentage points higher than the support among Democrats representing urban/suburban areas without any rural school districts.
  • All rural Democrats who cast a vote voted in support.
  • For urban/suburban Democrats, 7% voted in support and 93% voted in opposition.


    • Vote history analysis overview
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    • State Senate vote analysis
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    • List of legislators representing rural school districts
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    Analysis background and methodology

    Eighteen (18) states had universal private school choice programs as of June 2025. Universal school choice programs provide public funds for alternatives to public schools, such as private schools and homeschooling, and are designed for all students to qualify.[3][4][5]

    • 15 of the 18 states were Republican trifectas, and 9 Republican trifectas did not have universal school choice.
    • All 15 Democratic trifectas did not have universal school choice.
    • Three states with universal school choice policies are divided governments, and nine divided government states do not have universal school choice.

    As of June 2025, 12 Republican trifecta states had enacted universal school choice programs since 2021. In 2025, Idaho, Tennessee, Texas, Indiana, Wyoming, and New Hampshire passed universal private school choice legislation.

    Arguments surrounding private school choice legislation may incorporate claims about the impact of private school choice on rural school districts.

    Ballotpedia aggregated and analyzed legislative vote data on private school choice in Republican trifecta states that, as of January 2025, had not enacted universal private school choice policies. This project analyzes vote history across party affiliation and between legislators representing at least one rural school district and those without any rural school districts in their districts. It also shows how many legislative districts there are in each state containing at least one rural school district and lists out the legislators representing those districts.

    Click here to see the vote history analyses for the other states.

    The analysis is based on the vote history data for full chamber floor votes on a selection of recent bills or amendments containing provisions substantively expanding or restricting private school choice programs including Education Savings Accounts (ESA), voucher programs, and education tax credit programs.

    For the analysis, Ballotpedia classified as rural any school district within an area designated by the U.S. Census Bureau as rural, which means any area not within a densely developed area with at least 2,000 housing units or a population of 5,000 or more. This analysis does not reflect any particular legislator's position on any policy or legislation. It does not evaluate reasons or motives for legislative votes.

    Analysis of vote history on school choice policies

    In 2024, the Nebraska State Legislature voted 32-14 to pass LB 1402. The bill repealed the Opportunity Scholarships Act, which was a tax credit program, and required the State Treasurer to establish education scholarships to replace the repealed act.[6][7]


    Nebraska Republican school choice voting analysis
    100% of Republicans in the Nebraska Legislature voted to support private school choice, including both the rural and urban/suburban district representatives.

    Analysis is based on votes on LB 1402 (2024), which required the State Treasurer to establish education scholarships and eliminated the Opportunity Scholarships Act. "Yes" votes were in support of the bill and coded "support" to private school choice, and "No" votes were opposed to the bill and coded "opposed."



    State Senate vote analysis

    The map below displays how representatives from Nebraska's unicameral senate voted on LB 1402 (2024). This bill required the State Treasurer to establish education scholarships and eliminated the Opportunity Scholarships Act. "Yes" votes were in support of the bill and coded "support" to private school choice, and "No" votes were opposed to the bill and coded "opposed." Hover over the legislative districts to display the legislator name, party affiliation, vote tallied on HB 1540, vote coding, and if the legislator's district contained at least one rural school district.


    Nebraska legislators representing rural school districts

    The table below lists all the members of the Nebraska Unicameral who represented as of April 2025 a legislative district that contained at least one rural school district as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. The table includes the legislators' names with a link to their Ballotpedia profiles, their district numbers, their party affiliations, and the years they were first elected. The linked Ballotpedia profiles include contact information such as their websites, facebook pages, and other social accounts.

    Nebraska Unicameral members representing rural school districts (April 2025)
    District Number Name Party Year first elected
    District 1 Robert Hallstrom Republican Party 2024
    District 13 Ashlei Spivey Democratic Party 2024
    District 15 Dave Wordekemper Republican Party 2024
    District 16 Ben Hansen Republican Party 2018
    District 17 Glen Meyer Republican Party 2024
    District 19 Rob Dover Republican Party 2022
    District 2 Robert Clements Republican Party 2018
    District 21 Beau Ballard Republican Party 2022
    District 22 Mike Moser Republican Party 2018
    District 23 Jared Storm Republican Party 2024
    District 24 Jana Hughes Republican Party 2022
    District 30 Myron Dorn Republican Party 2018
    District 32 Tom Brandt Republican Party 2018
    District 33 Dan Lonowski Republican Party 2024
    District 34 Loren Lippincott Republican Party 2022
    District 36 Rick Holdcroft Republican Party 2022
    District 37 Stanley Clouse Republican Party 2024
    District 38 Dave Murman Republican Party 2018
    District 40 Barry DeKay Republican Party 2022
    District 41 Daniel McKeon Republican Party 2024
    District 42 Michael Jacobson Republican Party 2022
    District 43 Tanya Storer Republican Party 2024
    District 44 Teresa Ibach Republican Party 2022
    District 47 Paul Strommen Republican Party 2024
    District 48 Brian Hardin Republican Party 2022

    See also

    Other school choice-related content:

    Other education policy content


    External links

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ Nebraska State Legislature, "Legislative Bill 1402," accessed May 2, 2024
    2. ↑ Nebraska Secretary of State's Office, "Current Petitions in Circulation," accessed May 2, 2024
    3. ↑ A District Court judge ruled on April 18, 2025, that Utah's universal school choice program, Utah Fits All, violated the Utah Constitution. The program will continue to run until the Utah Supreme Court rules on its constitutionality.
    4. ↑ A judge in Franklin County, Ohio, ruled that Ohio's EdChoice Scholarship, a universal school choice voucher program, violated the Ohio Constitution by funding private schools at the expense of public schools. The case is expected to be appealed in Ohio's Tenth District Court of Appeals.
    5. ↑ A Laramie County District Court judge instituted a preliminary injunction on Wyoming's universal Steamboat Legacy private school choice program, preventing payouts to families during litigation over the legality of the program. The program was enacted by the state legislature in March 2025 and set to begin on July 1, 2025, but was delayed on June 27, 2025, then temporarily blocked on July 15.
    6. ↑ Nebraska Revenue, "Opportunity Scholarship Act - General Information," accessed May 30, 2025
    7. ↑ Legiscan, "Votes: NE LB1402 | 2023-2024 | 108th Legislature," accessed May 30, 2025
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