One of the questions we often receive about the EPIC Option Consumption Tax concerns the two ballot initiatives. Many folks ask us, “How is the petition drive doing?” Today I am prepared to give an update and I have some very good news to report.

The EPIC Option Consumption Tax currently has two petition drives running concurrently to put two separate ballot initiatives on the ballot for the voters to decide on November 5. The first ballot initiative would eliminate all taxes other than consumption taxes and excise taxes. The second ballot initiative directs the Legislature to enact a consumption tax with a single exemption for grocery items purchased for off-premises consumption.

We began the petition drives for these two ballot initiatives on a cold winter day back in January 2023. The first individual to sign both petitions was Mr. Craig Bolz, a farmer from Lancaster County. Mr. Bolz is also the father of former Nebraska State Senator, Kate Bolz. We held a press conference to inaugurate the petition drive that day, and Mr. Bolz was the first person to ceremoniously signed both petitions.

So, what is the good news? Today I am proud to announce that the two EPIC Option Consumption Tax petition drives have successfully crossed a significant milestone. Thanks to the nearly 250 circulators we have recruited all across the State of Nebraska, we have now collected the necessary signatures from at least five percent of registered voters in 38 of Nebraska’s 93 counties as required by the Nebraska State Constitution, Article III, Section 2! Sheridan County continues to lead the way. More than 20 percent of registered voters in Sheridan County have signed our petitions! Reaching this goal is a significant accomplishment, which ought to show even our most ardent critics that Nebraskans are serious about the need for meaningful tax reform.

The days of meaningless tax shifts and slight-of-hand tactics by legislators in the Unicameral Legislature are now quickly coming to an end. Although Nebraska’s politicians often love to brag to their constituents about how they have delivered on property tax relief, the truth is that our tax system is broken, it cannot be fixed, and every attempt to fix it in recent years has failed miserably. Trying to fix our broken tax system is like putting a Band-Aid on an amputation. In order to demonstrate that these recent attempts to deliver on tax relief have failed, a person merely needs only to ask himself or herself the following question: “Did I pay more in taxes this year than I did last year?” Meaningful tax relief does not occur until a person’s overall tax burden goes down, not up.

Although the EPIC Option Consumption Tax team has passed this significant milestone of collecting signatures from at least five percent of registered voters in 38 counties, we still have some work to do. Article III, Section 2 of the Nebraska State Constitution also requires a signature total of ten percent of registered voters statewide. According to the Nebraska Secretary of State’s website there are currently 1,232,411 registered votes in Nebraska. That means that petition circulators will have to meet the minimum threshold of 123,242 signatures by July 3 in order for these ballot initiatives to be placed on the November 5 ballot. To ensure that we get enough legitimate signatures, we have set our goal at 160,000 signatures.

If you have not yet signed our petitions, if you would like more information about the EPIC Option Consumption Tax, or if you would like to join our team, then please visit our website at www.epicoption.org.