A bill that would set turnout requirements for school bond measures is making its way through the legislature in Nebraska, but at a Wednesday hearing, it faced much opposition.
Nebraska State Sen. Rick Holdcroft's
Holdcroft, R-Bellevue, declined to comment on the legislation.
There hasn't been a vote on the bill in the government, military and veterans affairs committee yet, according to an aide to Sen. Dave Wordekemper, R-Fremont, who sits on the panel.
There was "pretty strong opposition" to the bill in the hearing, he said, estimating the testimony was 80% opposed to 20% in favor of the bill.
The Nebraska Association of School Boards (NASB) was among those testifying in opposition, said Colby Coash, associate executive director and director of government relations at NASB.
"From the volume of testifiers, I'd say 80-20" is about right, Coash said.
"He wants fewer bonds to pass, so that's where it's coming from," Coash said of the bill's author.
Nebraska is one of four states in which the state does not contribute to the cost of school buildings, Coash said.
"So 46 other states put state dollars into buildings and facilities and (school) bonds are mostly (for) buildings and facilities," he said. In Nebraska "districts are forced to utilize the tool of a bond to get facilities built, so if the state wants to see fewer bonds," it should join the states that contribute to capital costs for school facilities.
During Wednesday's hearing, Holdcroft said the bill was a response to constituent complaints about rising property taxes in Nebraska.
He said his goal was to make sure "local school patrons are not saddled with a large property tax burden unless a majority of voters have turned out on Election Day and made their wishes known," according to
Voter participation rates in Nebraska elections range "anywhere from 27% up to about 70%, but it varies drastically by election," said NASB Communications Director Matt Belka.
The Nebraska secretary of state's office maintains a database of special elections stretching from July 2016 to December 2025. According to a spreadsheet shared with The Bond Buyer, when those special elections are filtered for local school bonds, 38.54% had turnout below the 50.1% threshold.
A public information officer with the secretary of state's office said the office does not track bond referendums on statewide primary or general election ballots.
Erick Lee, a school board member at Arapahoe-Holbrook Public Schools, who serves on the NASB legislation committee, testified on behalf of NASB at the hearing. According to a copy of his testimony shared with The Bond Buyer, he stressed that "government is run by the people who show up."
The bill would place "substantial financial strain on local subdivisions," Lee said.
"By making bond approval more difficult, you would most likely also be driving up long-term costs," he said. "Projects that cannot move forward due to elevated procedural barriers do not become cheaper — they become more expensive. Deferred maintenance, safety risks, inflation and the potential need for short-term financing all create heavier burdens for taxpayers."
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It added, "Any potential costs would be contingent upon (a school district's) voluntary participation in pursuing bond financing and would be limited, infrequent and locally determined."
In addition to setting the turnout threshold at 50.1%,
School district employees could not use paid work time to support or advocate for any campaign to sway voters in a bond election under the bill. They could only provide general information.
School districts could not use public funds — including building funds, cash funds and discretionary funds — to promote or advocate for the bond measures up for referendum. Only privately donated funds could go toward any campaign supporting the bond measure, according to the bill.
"If (a school district) were to participate in a bond election, there could be costs associated with providing required election notice and neutral, informational communication across the full educational service unit (ESU) service area to meet the 50.1% qualified elector threshold," the legislative fiscal analysis said. "Such costs would vary based on the size and geography of the ESU and are not readily quantifiable."
Campaign materials for the bond referendum, including supportive T-shirts, could not be posted or displayed in any facility, grounds or vehicle associated with a school district.
The bill also applies to any joint entity created after Feb. 13, 2024, that includes a Nebraska school district or educational service unit.
At the hearing, Doug Kagan of Nebraska Taxpayers for Freedom testified, "holding school bond elections results in lower voter turnout, partly because of mail-in ballots, giving advantage to proponents who muster support from their ranks," according to
"Without rigorous restrictions, school districts can approve non-essential projects on a wish list that are not absolutely necessary, for instance, weight rooms or specialized turf," Kagan added.
Five of the 16 school bond measures that passed in Nebraska last year would have fallen short of the participation threshold set by Holdcroft's bill, according to Nebraska Public Media.
"Every other election in our state, the success of that is (based on) the majority of people who vote," NASB's Coash said. "So this would be an outlier."
The Nebraska Association of School Administrators referred questions to NASB.
A spokesperson for the Nebraska State Education Association declined comment.
