LB705, the omnibus education package for Fiscal Year 2023-24, allocates lottery funds to education programs; requires public high school students to submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid before graduation; and prohibits public colleges and universities from considering an applicant’s criminal history, among other provisions.
The Senate passed LB705 on May 30, 2023, by a vote of 47 to 0. We have assigned minuses to the ayes because neither education nor a lottery is the legitimate role of government. Rather, a child’s education is the responsibility of—and a fundamental right of choice retained by—his or her parents, not the state. Likewise, the lottery, along with the public-school system it purportedly funds, only serves as a tool to increase the power of the state. It is a highly regressive tax and wealth redistribution scheme which targets poor people by means of consumer fraud. Any legislative act, let alone a massive ‘omnibus’ bill, that causes the citizens of Nebraska to hand over their hard-earned tax dollars on behalf of compulsory, government-run, and failing K-12 schools violates their individual liberties protected by the U.S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights and 14th Amendment.