Press Release

OMAHA, NE — Today, Common Cause Nebraska joined the Nebraska Civic Engagement Table, Dr. Steve Dunbar and UNL law professor Anthony Schutz in filing an amicus brief with the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals regarding the challenge to Nebraska’s ballot qualification process in Christa Eggers and Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana v. Nebraska Secretary of State.

Nebraska lobbyists hired to influence the decisions of state lawmakers earned a record-breaking compensation of $20,789,181 in 2021, according to a new report released today by Common Cause Nebraska.

When redistricting is a community-led process, the outcome will be fair maps that benefit the voters, not the politicians. Sadly, that is not the case in this year’s redistricting cycle. These maps have done nothing more than split our state along partisan lines with the goal of helping those in power win their next election. The way these maps have been drawn drowns out the voices of everyday Nebraskans who deserve to have a say in the major decisions that impact their lives.

When redistricting is fair, transparent, and includes everyone, our maps are more likely to be representative and secure free, fair, and responsive elections for the next decade. That is why we are advocating for a process that prioritizes opportunities for meaningful public input, public access to the redistricting data used by mapmakers in Nebraska, and a mapmaking process conducted openly rather than behind closed doors.

Today, Common Cause Nebraska released its annual report detailing the state’s lobbying activity. The report, “Lobbyist Spending: Nebraska’s Other Pandemic Thrives During COVID-19,” found that while gross lobbying expenditures dropped in 2020, lobbyist compensation increased for more than half of the state’s top ten firms.