Petitions Submit Signatures, EPIC Petition Falls Short

Some, but not all, of the petitions recently circulating in Nebraska have collected enough signatures to be on the upcoming general election ballot. Others, including one high-profile tax initiative known as the EPIC (Eliminate Property, Income and Corporate taxes) Option, did not garner enough signaturesWednesday, July 3, 2024, was the deadline for initiative petitions to be turned into the Nebraska Secretary of State's Office. It was the first of two petition turn-in deadlines for the November 5 General Election. The second is July 17, which is the deadline for referendum petitions. Nebraska is one of 24 states that allow citizens to initiate legislation through the petition process.Petitions seeking to create a constitutional amendment needed to collect valid signatures from 10 percent of registered Nebraska voters. Petitions seeking to create a new state law needed to collect valid signatures from seven percent of registered Nebraska voters. Every petition needed to meet the distribution requirement, meaning valid signatures from at least five percent of registered voters in 38 counties. The percentages will be based off a voter registration list processed by the Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office on July 5, 2024. EPICThe EPIC Option proposed replacing the current tax system with one that collects consumption and excise taxes exclusively.One of the petitions that is part of the EPIC tax proposal reads, “To add a new section 14 to Article VIII of the Nebraska State Constitution: VIII-14 Notwithstanding any other provision of this Constitution, beginning January 1, 2026, no governmental entity in the State of Nebraska may impose taxes other than retail consumption taxes or excise taxes.” A related petition would amend the state constitution to prevent exemptions.Volunteers started collecting signatures on January 6, 2023, in the Capitol Rotunda. To place a voter initiative on the 2024 general election ballot, the petition must collect a minimum of 23,190 total registered voter signatures. On May 21, 2024, the EPIC team announced they had reached the five percent minimum voter signatures at a press conference in the Capitol Rotunda. However, in a press release on Wednesday, the EPIC team said, “Therefore, we are disappointed that our EPIC Option volunteer team was unable to collect the required total amount of 123,190 registered voter signatures for the 2024 general election ballot.” Recent increases in property valuations has resulted in an increased interest in the EPIC proposal, with supporters proclaiming it the solution to ongoing problem of property tax relief in Nebraska. According to the EPIC team, “If the county assessors had published their huge 2024 valuation increases in March instead of mid-June, we would likely have made our 123,190 signature goal.” Other PetitionsOf the other petitions, five submitted signatures by the deadline. One is the Paid Sick Leave Initiative, which would provide eligible employees in Nebraska the right to earn paid sick time for personal or family health needs. Two are related to medical cannabis. Two are opposing initiatives regarding access to abortion in Nebraska. It will take several weeks to verify signatures. The Secretary of State’s Office will paginate each petition page and distribute petitions to county election offices. Upon receiving petition pages, county election offices will have 40 days to verify signatures. “Nebraska law outlines a thorough process for verifying signatures on petition pages,” said Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen. “County election commissioners and county clerks will be vigilant about ensuring each signature accepted will be that of a Nebraskan currently registered to vote in our state.”

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