I am the product of a Catholic School education with a little bit of a Public School experience thrown in. I went to Benson when we moved to Omaha my junior year of High School. Prior to that, I spent ten years in Parochial schools. Next to my parents, Sister Marlene had the biggest influence on my young life. (The Beatles were the third biggest influence, but I digress.)

I recall my dad complaining about how he had to pay property taxes to fund public schools while paying to send his kids to Saint Agatha’s. But I also remember him talking about why the government shouldn’t pay for a religious education. I was brought up to believe that a person’s faith was an individual’s right, and the government should stay out of it.

Why am I telling you this?

I’m telling you to give you an idea of my background and why I support the Unicameral doing what they are supposed to do, and listening to the will of the people, and defunding the 3.5 million currently in the state budget to support religious and private schools.

I am not against a religious education. In fact, I support it. And I know that, sadly, not every family that would like to be able to send their kids to a Catholic school can afford it. But the people voted to take those 3.5 million dollars out of the budget, and if the voters have spoken, the leaders need to listen.

The state is currently running a projected 646 million dollar deficit. As of now, no legislation has moved forward to significantly remedy that. While that 3.5 million is just a drop in the bucket, it’s also spending millions that the state doesn’t currently have.

But this is more than just dealing with the budget deficit. It’s also about the Governor and a majority of Republican Senators ignoring the will of the people once again.

They’ve done it with legalizing medical marijuana, and now they’re doing it with school choice.

Nebraska is a unique state in more ways than one. One of those unique characteristics is the supposedly nonpartisan Unicameral form of government.

With only one house of government, the petition process is truly the voice of the people.

It’s a voice that Governor Pillen, Senator Ricketts, and others choose to ignore when the will of the people clashes with their own political beliefs.

In a February 5th interview with the Nebraska Examiner, Governor Pillen admitted he’s not a very educated voter and thinks Nebraskans aren’t educated voters either.

In that interview, Pillen admitted he is “guilty” of not studying ballot measures before he casts his vote. He thinks being an uneducated voter is “pretty normal” and that a large percentage of Nebraska voters are just as uneducated as he is.

In that same interview, he said, “I believe the ballot initiative process today does not represent the people speaking.”

Saying Nebraska voters are uninformed is a pretty amusing position, considering he got elected by not informing the voters what he would do if he were elected. His TV ads didn’t deal with policies but rather showed pictures of him with his grandchildren and a shotgun.

I have more faith in the Nebraska voters than the governor seems to have. I believe the people did know what they were voting for. But even if they didn’t, those uneducated votes count just as much as the uneducated votes that put Governor Pillen in office.

The voters have spoken. Maybe if a private or religious school is having a tough time keeping tuition rates down, they can hold a few more bake sales, carnivals, or raffles to help the parents out.

Public schools aren’t perfect. Maybe I’m just another uneducated Nebraska voter, but I fail to see how giving money to private schools makes them any better.

And I fail to see how ignoring the will of the people makes Nebraska any better either.

The voters have spoken. Governor Pillen and the members of the Unicameral need to listen.

Tom Becka is a long time Nebraska broadcaster who for over 30 years has been covering Omaha and Midwest issues on both radio and TV. He has been a guest on numerous national cable and news shows, filled in for nationally syndicated talk radio programs and Talkers Magazine has recognized him as one of the Top 100 talk show hosts in the country 10 times. Never afraid to ruffle some feathers, his ‘Becka’s Beat’ commentaries can be found online on Youtube and other digital platforms.

Opinions expressed by columnists in The Daily Record are not necessarily those of its management or staff, and do not constitute an endorsement or recommendation. Any errors or omissions should be called to our attention so that they may be corrected. Contact us at news@omahadailyrecord.com.