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Respect Nebraska Voters is trying to amend the state constitution to make it harder for lawmakers to override our votes.

Our constitutional amendment changes the number of members of the Nebraska Legislature required to undo or change laws voters have passed from two-thirds of the Legislature to a four-fifths supermajority. It also protects our freedom to vote on important issues facing our communities by requiring the same four-fifths threshold to pass new laws affecting the initiative and referendum process.

Why now? Because Nebraskans know what Nebraskans need, and lawmakers aren’t listening.

The Legislature has disregarded the will of Nebraska voters over and over, reducing workers’ wages, minimizing paid sick leave, stalling access to medical marijuana, and overturning our vote to protect public schools. These lawmakers have made it deliberately difficult for working families to care for themselves and their communities.

Earned Paid Sick Leave

In 2024, Nebraskans overwhelmingly approved earned paid sick leave for Nebraska workers. Almost 75% of us voted YES. Before the law could even take effect, the Nebraska Legislature took earned paid sick leave coverage away from 140,000 hardworking Nebraskans, overriding what voters approved. This year, they introduced a bill to take this earned benefit from even more workers, including teachers. Fortunately, the legislative session ended without that bill passing into law, but the message is clear: this workers’ right is far less secure than it should be.

Minimum Wage

In 2022, Nebraskans approved gradually increasing the minimum wage and linking future increases to cost of living. After repeated efforts to undermine that effort, Nebraska state senators finally succeeded this year, restricting future increases and carving out lower wages for some younger workers — wages that will stay below the current minimum wage of $15 for decades. During debate, one state senator referred to ballot initiatives as “opinion polls” and claimed Nebraskans didn’t know what they were voting for. Passing this constitutional amendment will help safeguard the current minimum wage from future reductions.

Medical Marijuana

More than 70% of Nebraskans voted in favor of legal medical access to cannabis for patients and caregivers. Instead of respecting that vote and swiftly facilitating access, officials have done the opposite, even using a “poison pill” amendment to stop a bill that would have ensured health care professionals can serve patients without fear of prosecution. Raising the legislative threshold for changes to ballot measures can help prevent lawmakers from erasing Nebraskans’ votes and ensure we don’t go backwards when it comes to access.

School Vouchers

After Nebraskans voted against private school vouchers, lawmakers moved forward with a new voucher program that funnels millions of taxpayer dollars that could go to public schools into vouchers for families who electively send their kids to private schools. Referendum efforts have allowed Nebraskans to send a clear message on school funding. If you want to protect the referendum process, you’ll want to support Respect Nebraska Voters’ constitutional amendment. Our amendment protects both the initiative and referendum processes by ensuring that lawmakers can only enact legislation that safeguards these processes, preventing politicians from taking away our power.